Here are the recommended albums for this week.

î Sam Smith - In the Lonely Hour

We fell in love with Sam Smith since we've heard his great track 'Nirvana'. His voice is instantly recognizable and he has been featured in several top singles like Naughty Boy's ubiquitous 'La La La' and Disclosure's 'Latch'. But he has also been building his own career, delivering wonderful songs that are both larger-than-life and intimate. It's easy to project ourselves into his lyrics: everyone who as ever loved and been loved will discover a personal past or present story in his words. That is Sam's most wonderful ability: writing simple yet true and universal love songs, many of which tell about undisclosed feelings, unrequited love and pain for wanting the unobtainable. Sonically, 'In the Lonely Hour' lingers in several pop subgenres, offering r&b aesthetics, acoustic cuts, electronic ballads and soul ramblings. Some songs are more upbeat, others are pure confessional whispers that make us blush, as if we're not meant to listen to them. It's one of the grand albums of the year, that's for sure, and it certifies Sam Smith as one of the most interesting and promising young artists in the music industry at this moment.

î GusGus - Mexico

The Icelandic group GusGus have released their ninth album, 'Mexico', once again on Kompakt label. After the acclaimed 'Arabian Horse' and the minimalistic '24/7', Daniel Ágúst and friends have created an album that resides somewhere in the middle of those two last LPs. The new record is still an adventure through techno and deep house sonic topographies, but it is also reminiscent of their early work. Their music always sounded avant-garde, whether because of their menacing and dark grooves, imaginative basslines or massive beats; at the same time, there was this omnipresent sexual tone in most of their songs, something one still manages to find in 'Mexico'. Some tracks are so raw, acid and nonchalant that it's impossible to fight the urge to jump into the dancefloor and just do nasty things against strange and sweaty bodies. Albeit not as immediate as 'Arabian Horse', it's a strong evidence that there isn't quite anything like GusGus in the music scene and that they are still a relevant act after almost 20 years in the business.

î Ronika - Selectadisc

Veronica Sampson sure loves the 80's. Under her moniker Ronika, she has crafted a debut album that trully serves as an ode to that milestone period of music history and one can only thank her for such a sugary treat. 'Selectadisc' is a fun and electrifying record, one filled with synthetic props and pop melodies where icon figures like Madonna and new artists like La Roux seem to be master influences. Throughout fourteen songs, Ronika takes us into a retro world composed of rainbow chorus and neon flashes; it's hard not to get lost in it and just feel young again, as most of these songs have a genuine feeling of naivety and umpretentious joy. Some of the tracks have been previously released, some of them dating from 2010, but they add perfectly to the overall mood of the album, which is a cohesive ride down memory lane: synth-pop, disco and funk, all are presented with skill and sophistication. Also worth mentioning is the vocal collaboration with jazz singer Charles Washington in two songs. If you want to have fun after a hard day's work, listen to 'Selectadisc'.

î Glass Animals - Zaba

Glass Animals are an English four piece band composed of Dave Bayley, Drew MacFarlane, Edmund Irwin-Singer and Joe Seaward. They are longtime friends and started producing music a couple of years back. Since then, they talked with Paul Epworth and he decided to help them produce their debut album: 'Zaba'. Glass Animals are a indie rock and trip-hop act, which means they might have easily slipped into uninteresting and monotonous compositions; but they eluded the clichés of those genres and crafted a nice and inventive LP. There are strange landscapes: from dark and shadowy tropical forests to urban jams, but all the tunes in 'Zaba' sound experimental and outlandish, riddled with small effects that suggest an unpredictable fauna and a constant sense of danger. The vocals are whispered, as if one should be quiet to avoid waking up some lethal creature. This is a mystical voyage into a world that is not free of perils, and it demands your attention and surrender to its laws. In the end, you'll love 'Zaba', it's freshness and daring structures making you come back again and again.

î Joakim - Tropics of Love

Joakim Bouaziz has always been difficult to categorize. He hasn't a predefined musical style, his remixes are always unexpected and his original songs have an experimental aura that transcends genres. In his fifth album, 'Tropics of Love' all of the above statements are true, even if it is one of his most immediate recordings (maybe the previous 'Nothing Gold' was an easier listening). There are glances of balearic, leftfield, disco, synthpop, electronic, ambient, pop, downtempo and all in between. The whole album can be devided into three sections, each one introduced by an interlude track, and all of them sound different: the first is more exploratory and user friendly, the second ventures into strangeness and disjointed landscapes and the third is the most ethereal of them all. Luke Jenner, Akwetey and Guillaume Teyssier lend some vocal contributions to a few tracks. It's not an easy ride, that's for sure, but as with all of Joakim's work, you'll like this album not for what you can expect from it, but for what you discover throughout the journey. From the start to finish, every song in the album will be sonically diverse and as unforseen as the attitudes of a person with multiple personality disorder.

Once again, Opus Sound recommends you five albums you absolutely should listen to. From funk and pop to rock and house music, whatever fancies your ears, we cover it.

Here is this week's selection:

î Chromeo - White Women

It's no secret that Chromeo always had a passion for women and  their music has, since the very beginning, flirted with romance, the ladies' irresistible power and the sexual side of a relationship. Sometimes, their lyrics can come as sexist at a first glance, with physical love overwhelming the emotional one, male weakness as an excuse for his common uncompromising flirtation, women objectification and lustful anxiety for the female round silhouette transpiring onto every song (and videoclip). But a closer look shows that this rethoric can actually be the goofier side of Chromeo criticizing society's view on women (specially in much of the music industry) and the preconceptions of the female and male roles and sexual behaviours.
As for the new album, 'White Women', expect what Chromeo have been delivering for the past ten years: retro and cool vibes, electro-funk, greasy vintage synths, swaying rhythms, cocky attitudes, but this time with a more clearer focus on the production and some nice vocal collaborations (Solange, Toro y Moi and Ezra Koenig).

î Alpines - Oasis

Being a relatively new act, British duo Alpines seems to know its way through blissful music production, captivating songwriting and classy singing. Catherine Pockson and Bob Matthews are close friends, work colleagues and do almost everything together. That degree of closeness surely helped to shape their music, which has, since 2011, been rippling through the social networks like gentle drops of water on a lake. Their debut album, 'Oasis', is finally out. Imagine AlunaGeorge's music less fragmented and Jessie Ware's coolness and mesmerizing presence being merged together, and you'll have a slight idea of what Alpines sound like. They're not exactly r&b, but they don't quite stray far from it; they're not retro, but there's a nostalgic note on their songs; they're not balearic, but still you could linger by the swimming pool listening to their music and feel freshened up; they're not pop nor house, but sometimes they experiment with those genre's languanges. It's hard to pinpoint what Alpines truly are, because their music can easily be universal and yet so singular. One thing is certain: you'll love their ethereal ramblings.

î Hercules & Love Affair - The Feast of the Broken Heart

After their successful self-titled debut in 2007, Hercules & Love Affair released a less rewarding follow up in the form of 'Blue Songs'. It lacked the surprise element that made their single 'Blind' (sang by Antony Hegarty) a massive hit which drew upon the 70's revivalism to sustain a homage to dance music, but it displayed a new promise for Andrew Butler's project: the house fever that was becoming more and more evident. In 'The Feast of the Broken Heart', H&LA fully embodies those musical blueprints and creates a modern and hypnotizing dance album, one where the hard and deep beats sound butch and powerful, fun and addictive. Its vocal contributions sure add to the songs character: Gustaph, Rouge Mary, Krystle Warren and John Grant, all of them make use of their artistry to ensure each of these club tracks becomes a truly self-sufficient song that also works out of the dancefloor.
Go on. You won't find any other house music album as awesome, raw, addictive and gratifying as this one.

î Archive - Axiom

Archive might be one of the most underrated and undisclosed alternative rock bands of all times. Which is sad, and at the same time, remarkable, actually. Sad because their music is inspiring, demanding, dauntless and wonderful; remarkable because they exist since 1994 (20 years, now...) and still are an underground act (and they don't give a fuck about that). One of their most brilliant features is being able to convey a wide range of emotions throughout an album and even in only one song, hitting us hard with the anger of pure noise textures and, in the next second, comforting us with soothing and fragile love songs. 'Axiom' is their ninth album and most ambitious work to date, as it's the OST for a forty minute short film also created by the band.
If you're new to Archive, we recommend you first listen to albums like "You All Look the Same', 'Noise', 'Controlling Crowds' and the latest 'With Us Until You're Dead'. 'Axiom' is a good album, but it only becomes complete alongside with its visual counterpart (released on some cinemas since May 30). Anyway, you should definitely check it out, because it still is a bold statement by a brilliant band.

î Moto Boy - Keep Your Darkness Secret

Swedish musician Oskar Humlebo, better known as Moto Boy, has just released his third album, titled 'Keep Your Darkness Secret'. After the self-titled debut in 2008 (an album so retro that it sounded more 80s than most of the 80s classics themselves...) and the sophomore 'Lost in the Call' in 2010, this third LP is the natural next step for his sound: a more mature, darker jurney into the pains of love.
Moto Boy's music always had that magical appeal of the doomed lover, certain that his feelings won't be returned but also that he won'te be able to just not love. His ballads are aimed at the heart and most people will easily identify themselves with the feelings sang by Humlebo. And sure, it's mainly a sad album (because it touches on subjects like unrequited love, damage, absence, sacrifice and the toll of love and time), but sometimes it also goes back to promissing times when young and undamaged people still believed in happiness.
But if you love a haunting voice singing love laments over a piano slow crying, you'll feel in rapture while venturing into Moto Boy's world. Don't miss it.

With another week just starting, Opus Sound decided to sugest some relatively new albums you should listen to, in what we expect to become a new feature of the blog. It also represents a new way for us to tell you about some great music that might have slipped under your radars.
Here is this week selection, in no specific order:

î Truls - TRVLS

It's quite hard to believe that such a big guy is able to produce a wonderful falsetto like the one displayed in 'TRVLS' eleven songs. Truls Heggero, a young Norwegian singer, has come to our attention thanks to his massive 2013 single 'Out of Yourself', in which his amazing sweet voice sounds as admirable as it is contagiously fun. His debut album is an enjoyable blend of r&b, dream pop and synthpop, filled with songs that flow seamlessly through a wide spectre of emotions, from contemplative sadness to careless joy. There are moments where chord instruments mingle with synthetic matrixes and easily become larger than life, and by the end of the album you will probably be feeling positive and cheerful.
Even though it has its hits and misses, it's a great start for Truls, a singer you should definetly check, if you haven't already.

î Coldplay - Ghost Stories

'Ghost Stories' might be a decisive album for Coldplay, one that will make some longtime fans to lift their eyebrows in confusion and, at the same time, will reach for new audiences. Also, it represents a return to their more quiescent side from early records. The grandness of the last two albums 'Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends' and 'Mylo Xyloto' have been put aside, as the band decided to dive into a more intimate and personal sound, kind of a voyage through a aurora borealis where time stands still and deep thoughs about love and the end of it are weighted in total lack of gravity.
After listening to the whole album, we've to say it's quite a beautiful endeavor even if Coldplay's trademark sound is diluted and some ambient, experimental and even electronic elements become more proeminent. We suggest you listen to it, not because it's their best album nor will its songs be highly featured on their canon, but because it's the band's most risky step yet. And, for a well-established act like Coldplay, that should be aknowledged and appraised.

î Chet Faker - Built on Glass

You won't be going for an easy listening with Chet Faker's debut, 'Built On Glass'. He likes to play with dissonance as much he loves to shuffle samples in order to create a fragmented sound, one that is rooted in r&b, soul and downtempo electronica. With him guiding your hand, you'll never know what's around the corner, so expect drowsy jazz laments showing up after experimental cuts, and almost bare naked interludes side by side with unforseen danceable tracks.
Chet Faker has surely devised one of the most demanding albums of the year, but also one of the most rewarding. He carefully texturizes the layers of sounds to support his fragile voice and while sometimes his musics sounds scarce, it has many details you only will discover after a few listenings. For those who like artists like James Blake, Nicolas Jaar or How To Dress Well, you might just fall in love with Chet Faker's strange soundscapes.

î RAC - Strangers

If 'Strangers' was a movie, it surely would be an ensemble film. RAC (Remixing Artists Collective) is the music project of André Allen Anjos, a Portuguese musician now resinding in the USA. As RAC he (along with his partners at the time, Andrew Maury and Karl Kling) has become known for the vast repertoire of remixes for other artists like Bloc Party, Foster the People, Lana Del Rey, Penguin Prison, Phoenix, Gigamesh, Teophilus London, Moullinex and many, many others.
Slowly, he started to produce his own music, which kept his trademark sound (vintage samples, hip-hop details and indie pop aesthetics). Through the years and the remixes, he sure has made a lot of friends, so it's only natural his debut album is heavy in collaborations: Kele Okereke, MNDR, Body Language, Penguin Prison, Tegan & Sara, St. Lucia, YACHT, Katie Herzig and Tokyo Police Club are the most sounding names who lend their vocals to the sugar covered pop songs. Check 'Strangers' if you want to have have fun; you won't regret it.

î Eno & Hyde - Someday World

It's not everyday two big names of the electronic music history become together to create a full album, but that's just what experimentalist and ambience master Brian Eno and influencial Karl Hyde (from electronic seminal duo Underworld) have done. The result is 'Someday World'.
The two artists (who had previously worked together in a song called 'Beebop Hurry' in 2011 Underworld's compilation album) jump into the up-tempo music kindgom to deliver a focused voyage into a dimension where several genres are fused together, resulting in a urban landscape which is not confined by any kind of time and space boundaries. Eno's usual atmospheric ramblings are refrained by Hyde's electronic expertise, and both artists find their rightful place in this intrincate work. The whole album is a cohesive journey, and while there aren't many standout moments (perhaps the record's major fault), Hyde's vocals make sure the LP has character and lives to the high expectations.