After a string of inspired singles and an enticing album teaser, R&B revivalist Rochelle Jordan officially drops her debut album Pressure. Produced entirely by long-time collaborator KLSH, Pressure is a collection of well focused, tightly formed, progressive songs that not only channel Jordan’s healthy obsession with 90′s golden-era R&B, but also administer the atmosphere this new era has ushered in. KLSH’s productions have truly flourished over the past year – these beats are complex, airy and fractured in all the right places… but the key objective never forgotten: it bumps.

Fans of Nicole Wray’s Make It Hot,  Aaliyah’s One in A Million or SWV’s Release Some Tension should be particularly excited by this. Melodically speaking, in terms of accuracy, Rochelle Jordan (who wrote every song) is destroying everyone right now. Quote me. But it is ultimately the chemistry between Jordan and KLSH that makes all of this so completely arresting. These two are miles ahead of their competition; Pressure may well be one of the strongest R&B releases of the year.

Listen & download for free below.

Download: Rochelle Jordan – Pressure (LP)

Tagged under ‘Childhood’ on Soundcloud is another gorgeous, harmonic trip produced by 18-year old Parisian wonder kid Dream Koala. Like ‘We Can’t Be Friends’ before it, ‘Treehouse’ is another emotive, confidently executed offering – this time absorbed by a soft guitar melody with perfectly matched instrumental embellishments.

‘You Are Why I Am Invisible’ starts in what is becoming a trademark for XXYYXX, lush filtered drums, corkscrewed vocals set to a hazy Hip-Hop inflected beat. But what sets this track apart from his other offerings is its lightness. The chords played out on the piano and the joyful vocal sample of Sarah Vaughn’s ‘Stardust‘ pierces through the trudging beat and illuminates the track like rays of sunlight smashing through cumulus clouds.

It’s encouraging to witness the rise in popularity XXYYXX has been experiencing over the past few months (a quick look at the numbers on his Soundcloud will affirm his growing fanbase). When you consider his age (16) and in turn how long he’s been doing this for, it’s a pretty safe assumption that he’ll continue to improve and grown.

Make sure you catch him playing C.A.M.P. on the London leg of his european tour this September.

Lupe Fiasco is determined to reaffirm his reputation as one of the most audaciously political emcees in the game. What Lupe does when at his best is combine his dexterity as a social commentator with his incontestable finesse as an emcee. And on ’Lamborghini Angels’ Fiasco accomplishes just that. Issued with the warning ”If you are easily offended or religiously sensitive DO NOT listen to #LamborghiniAngels it contains very strong subject matter”, Fiasco wastes no time going for the jugular, relentless in his mission to address the atrocities rampant in certain sectors of religious societies.

‘Around My Way (Freedom Ain’t Free)’, ‘Bitch Bad’ and ‘Lamborghini Angels’ – we’re currently 3 for 3. Food & Liquor II is due out September 25th.

‘Just What I Am’ taps into the spacey sound KiD CuDi first began rapping over back in ’08. Featuring long-time collaborator King Chip (Chip Tha Ripper), this self-produced single is the first to be taken off CuDi’s forthcoming Indicud album, which according to him will mark his return to rap. After two albums and a few wayfaring side projects it sounds like KiD CuDi is focused again, hopefully his new album will feature more sh*t like this…

In other G.O.O.D Music related news, Kanye’s crew album Cruel Summer has been delayed again – it’ll now be released September 18th.

We’ve been quietly observing the progression of British singer/producer Tev’n Kennedy over the past few months. His growing confidence as a producer has pushed his sound into a more focused space, communicating his experimentalism in a more refined way. His post-Burial influences are channelled superbly on ‘On My Mind’, a shadowy R&B slow jam that stacks compressed chords, pitched down vocals and a classic sample over a shuffled 2-Step beat.

Listen & download below…

Azealia Banks is so bored of going after female emcees, she’s moved on to Jim Jones. Sigh. Produced by araabMUZIK ‘Succubi’  is the result of a few heated exchanges on twitter between the two regarding the word ‘vamp’. Double sigh. Take a listen to Banks’ shooting venom at Jones’… Expect a response from him shortly.

Azealia recently released her Fantasea mixtape – grab that here.

Star Slinger’s consistency is kind of staggering considering his output over the past year or so; His reptutation quickly established him as one of the go-to British remix producers, lending his talents to a diverse selection of artists that includes Mount Kimbie, A$AP Rocky, Jessie Ware, Drake, to name but a few. Time and time again he’s been able to apply his love for colourful 2-Step, Soulful Hip Hop and golden-era R&B onto often unsuspecting and unexpected songs. And now, following on from their dramatic Shlohmo remix last week, the LOL Boys employ the Mancunian beatsmith to again deliver a light, tropical, for-the-dance re-imagining.

‘Sweet Talk’ is the latest single taken off Jessie Ware’s upcoming debut album Devotion. Produced by label mate Julio Bashmore, the Prince inspired ballad stands as one of the highlight tracks off her upcoming LP. A strong statement considering she’s about to release one of the best albums of 2012. Yes.

Devotion is due for an August 20th release and available to pre-order here. Do it.

The air of online mystery, along with growing buzz seems to be building around newcomer Twigs. Little information’s been available on her, yet a couple low-key releases seem to have already ignited a minor compulsion for more in the blogosphere.

Like the 22 year old Londoner’s first single ‘Hide’ that knocked us back a bit last month, ‘Ache’ explores the wider perimeters of the advanced Pop we’ve seen recently in acts like AlunaGeorge, Py, Evy Jane, 14th, Delilah and even Jamie Woon and James Blake stretching back a couple years. Baring the fruits of music made by interbreeding ears, here Twigs pushes a soft fairytale coo over the downtempo drum verbs and harrowing chords of some hazed alt-R&B brigade hurtling towards a castle occupied by neo-psychadelic Bass-heads in the Norse mountains. Like the stark Grace Ladoja directed video featuring a one-grain-short-of-a-bath-salt protagonist sporting a cut up Jordan 5 mask, it reminds of a simplified 90s Trip-Hop accompaniment, from the fluroescent lamps right down to the feel of body-genre led physical incapacitation. There’s just a gut wrenching undercurrent of suspension and release, as the singer yoyo’s in limbo from an estranged lover’s call. Both song and visual teeter on the precipice of minimal maximal.

Whilst evoking that pythoness atmosphere, there’s something subversively British and yet borrowed about the instrumental, that again, cross-pollinates cutting edges from across the hemisphere past and present in the same way Trip-Hop as a concept seemed to in it’s hey day. Whereas as that adapted Hip-Hop, turntabilism and noir, this asserts R&B, digital plug-ins and phantasms. And so like the other above mentioned, advanced popsters who’ve been onto something, so too is this artiste.

Interestingly however, even after the unveling of her i-D Magazine cover, you might recall Twigs popping up in high-profile music videos as a successful dancer in the last couple of years; most noticeably featuring in Jessie J’s ‘Do It Like a Dude’ and ‘Price Tag’. Mystery solved? Sort of. Information on where these singles come from is still pending, but with such a sensational look, sound and aura surrounding this lady there could be a very interesting path ahead for her.