Here are the biggest releases coming your way this month

The music world may still be held captive in Beyonce’s iron grip, thanks to her album ‘Renaissance’ being released last week - but the wheel continues to turn, nonetheless.

If you can prise yourself away from Bey over the coming weeks, here are five albums you should really make an effort to check out…

CALVIN HARRIS - 'Funk Wav Bounces Vol.2' [August 5th]

He’s left it pretty late in the season for his new album to be deemed a ‘soundtrack of the summer’, but you wouldn’t put it past Calvin Harris to steal that title, either. The Scottish producer’s sixth album comes five years after its star-studded predecessor and sees him work with a host of collaborators - some new, some old friends. They include Dua Lipa, 21 Savage, Young Thug, Pharrell, Justin Timberlake, Snoop Dogg, Busta Rhymes, Pusha T and more. Expect to hear a lot of these tracks on the radio and in clubs over the next year or so.

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HOT CHIP - ‘Freakout/Release’ [August 19th] 

A new Hot Chip album is always something worth celebrating. The London synthpoppers return with their 8th studio album, the follow-up to 2019’s ‘A Bath Full of Ecstasy’, later this month. The 11 track-record features contributions from Cadence Weapon, Soulwax, and Lou Hayter, and according to co-vocalist Joe Goddard: “We were living through a period where it was very easy to feel like people were losing control of their lives in different ways. There’s a darkness that runs through a lot of those tracks.” Colour us intrigued. 

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MARKETA IRGLOVA - ‘LILA’ [August 19th]

She is best known as one-half of The Swell Season, but over the past decade the Czech-born musician has been steadily forging her own solo career. ‘LILA’ is actually her third solo record, although it’s been eight years since her last one as she took some time away from touring and writing to nurture her young family. It’s no surprise then, that themes of love and togetherness permeate these elegant tracks, which call to mind the likes of Enya and Tori Amos.

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BRET MCKENZIE - ‘Songs Without Jokes’ [August 26th]

Just like the title suggests, this is a SERIOUS album. Alright, maybe not - but the New Zealand comedian and actor certainly won’t be taking the ‘Flight of the Conchords’ approach to songwriting for his debut solo album. We’re already aware of McKenzie’s prowess as a vocalist, so it’ll be certainly interesting to hear what he’s got to say when he’s not trying to make people laugh.

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MUSE - ‘Will of the People’ [August 26th]

Alright, so at this point, you either love Muse for their OTT rock bombast, or you hate them for precisely the same reasons. Either way, there’s no denying that Matt Bellamy and his bandmates still command their own space in the rock sphere, 23 years after releasing their debut album. ‘Will of the People’ is their 9th album and Bellamy has described it as their ‘greatest hits album… of new songs’, meaning that it incorporates all of their styles and genres across the last two decades. Lyrical themes take inspiration from “the increasing uncertainty and instability in the world,” - so standard lighthearted fare from the Devon trio, then.