January: 18 albums you need to hear this month

Fever Ray 'Plunge' (Rabid Records)

A simmering energy courses through ‘Plunge’, the second album from Karin Dreijer as Fever Ray (it will be available on all formats in February; the early digital release was to stop the LP from being leaked). Each track feels on the cusp of overload, with elements that surge upwards to levels of intense mania, like the horror-esque violin in ‘Red Trails’. Dreijer’s lyrics, meanwhile, tackle themes of love and politics in viscera terms. “Destroy nuclear, destroy boring,” she screams on ‘This Country’, while on ‘To The Moon And Back’ she declares: “I want to run my fingers up your pussy.” Peder Mannerfelt, Paula Temple and NÍDIA are among the producers who worked on ‘Plunge’, bringing 150bpm batida rhythms and searing rave stabs to one of 2017’s most thrilling LPs. Patrick Hinton

8/10