As we shift gears into the spring season, we can look back at the rainy winter months and breathe a cold sigh of relief. Has it been miserable? Yes, but thankfully there’s been plenty of new releases to keep our spirits in check. February’s best albums include Burial’s EP Dreamfear / Boy Sent From Above, a throwback to old-school rave via two lengthy tracks that span breakbeat hardcore, hip-house, techno, electro, and freestyle. At the hot and heavy end of the spectrum, Manuka Honey delivers a new EP, a moody and sensual ode to the club while serpentwithfeet swaps out his gospel music for sexually charged R&B, using the dancefloor as his domain to explore queer desire.

Elsewhere, there’s Allie X’s delightfully weird Girl With No Face and Erika de Casier’s Still (a special shout-out goes out to track “Twice”, a quietly commanding R&B duet with Blood Orange’s Dev Hynes). Embracing his youthful hedonism is Evanora Unlimited’s anarchic 16-track album Perfect Answer featuring underground up-and-comers such as She Diamond and Taraneh, and Ghost Lemurs’ beautifully weird-sounding Wombs and Alien Spirits – take it from us when we tell you its ritualistic rhythms will leave you floating sideways into stranger dimensions.

ALLIE X, GIRL WITH NO FACE

BURIAL, DREAMFEAR/ BOY SENT FROM ABOVE

ERIKA DE CASIER, STILL

EVANORA UNLIMITED, PERFECT ANSWER

GHOST LEMURS, WOMBS AND ALIEN SPIRITS

JOHN GLACIER, LIKE A RIBBON

MANUKA HONEY, 3ETERNETIES BENEATH YOU 

SERPENTWITHFEET, GRIP

WOESUM, PARADISE TREE