Tracks: Mura Masa, Bloc Party, Yard Act and more

Mura Masa threw everyone a curveball at the start of last year with second album ‘R.Y.C’, a record that saw him swap his steel drum-filled electronic bangers for punk ragers and introspective, guitar-based musings. On his comeback single ‘2gether’, the two worlds of Alex Crossan combine brilliantly: a lo-fi, guitar based intro slides into a gloopy, hyper-modern drop, and feels a satisfying moulding of the old and new Mura Masa. (Will Richards)

In everything we’ve heard from Yard Act’s debut album ‘The Overload’ so far, frontman James Smith has a scything take on popular culture, whether skewering his own personality and views or casting aspersions on others. On new track ‘Payday’, a song about “gentrification and class fetish,” he takes aim at capitalism over brilliantly catchy, bouncy post-punk. “Take the money, take the money, take the money and run,” he sings, with just enough self-awareness that the band’s debut album is due next year via major label Island. (Will Richards)

daine’s teen angst-fuelled emo-pop has never rung clearer than on her latest offering ‘IDC’. As the title suggests, the singer truly doesn’t care, setting haters and naysayers firmly to one side on the self-described revenge fantasy of a track. After an opening that sounds disconcertingly relaxed - setting us up for a lo-fi kind of chill - daine’s nonchalantly moody vocals kick in with lyrics that are closer to the kind of sting we’re expecting: “fuck you, does it look like I care about you, fuck your mom and your sister and your dad too”. No family member is safe and daine is deliciously evil in delivering the news. (Ims Taylor)

Over the past decade, Bloc Party’s music has veered wildly from brash electro pop experiments and attempts to recreate the angular guitars of their heyday, with mixed results. From the off, comeback single ‘Traps’, the first teaser of forthcoming album ‘Alpha Games’, proves it means business. Over a filthy guitar riff and energetic disco drum beat, Kele Okereke sounds more animated than we’ve ever seen him before, showing that the new Bloc Party mean serious business. (Will Richards)

Never let anyone tell you three’s a crowd; the trio of Chloe Moriondo, Alfie Templeman and Thomas Headon - who are all dreamy on their own - come together to amplify one another’s strengths. Moriondo’s reflective choruses shimmer against the lowkey brightness of the instrumentals, while Headon and Templeman’s similarly cosy delivery combine to make for something woozy and magical. ‘Dizzy’ toes the line between being a complete banger and a comfort blanket of a tune, the groovy beat rivalled by the softness of everything else. (Ims Taylor)