If there’s one thing that Dean Blunt excels in, it’s his ability to create unique, genre-hopping soundscapes that evoke the strange, lonely times we live in. The sudden release of Black Metal 2, a follow-up to his 2014 album of the same name, then, is particularly timely, given the global isolation we’ve experienced across the last year. 

His first full-length Dean Blunt release since last year’s career-spanning compilation Roaches 2012-2019, Black Metal 2 sees the London experimentalist flex his sonic muscles with distinct and hypnotic sounds that span anywhere from sweeping orchestral arrangements to Bill Callahan-esque guitar melodies that give way to downbeat rap verses and slow, plodding rhythms. All of this is, of course, underpinned by Blunt’s deadpan vocals, which act as the binding thread to what is otherwise an incredibly varied and far-reaching record. 

Elsewhere, Sleater-Kinney channel their fury into a new album, Slayyyter releases her debut, and Danny Elfman drops his first solo album in 37 years.

CROATIAN AMOR AND SCANDINAVIAN SUN, SPRING SNOW

DANNY ELFMAN, BIG MESS

DEAN BLUNT, BLACK METAL 2

FISH NARC, FORAGING WILD MUSHROOMS

LXANDRA, CAREFUL WHAT I DREAM OF

SLAYYYTER, TROUBLED PARADISE

SLEATER-KINNEY, PATH OF WELLNESS