Mythic and sprawling, Arooj Aftab’s Night Reign (2024) is awash with sleepy textures of crepuscular hypnagogia. With the Urdu language poet Mah Laqa Bai as a point of inspiration, its epic knottiness isn’t afraid to melt into a slinky Pakistani folk on ‘Autumn Leaves’ or ‘Last Night Reprise’, communicating an ineluctable landscape of woozy majesty. Apparently its creative process was fraught with indecision and compromise as Aftab toyed with the notion of making a full-blown concept album. You’d never guess as this is one of the most confident releases of the past few years. 

Ever wondered what The Slits would sound like if they hailed from China? Probably not, but Beijing-based Hang On The Box answered that question with their 2007 shonky punk powerhouse, No More Nice Girls, a lo-fi outing that embraces the limitations of its production. As China’s first all-female punk act, there’s a quiet revolution happening on every Hang On The Box record, backed up by a proudly ragged approach to craft. 

Other N listens: No One Can Ever Know by The Twilight Sad (2012), New Skin For The Old Ceremony by Leonard Cohen (1974), Neu! by Neu! (1972).