If You Wait [LP]

English trio London Grammar have quietly amassed a body of atmospheric, electronic pop material since they first posted "Metal & Dust" on the internet in 2012. Partnered with an appearance on Disclosure's Mercury-nominated album Settle, the Nottingham University alumni had set the internet hype machine in motion, less than a year after forming. With obvious nods to the unfussy, reverbed guitar motifs of the xx, alongside Hannah Reid's beautiful, emotive vocal ability -- which rises and falls with an alarmingly disarming effect -- the album is a practice in refrain, where each song is pushed to the brink of an inevitable climax and achingly, no further. The percussive production, synths, and basslines provided by multi-instrumentalist Dot Major, build on this sense of drama and urgency and are displayed perfectly in one of the highlights of the record, "Wasting My Young Years." Its throbbing chorus is chastened by the slow-burning synths and guitars that come together with stunning