Albums of the Year 2024 - Number 54

Floating Points releases his new album, Cascade, out via Ninja Tune. Cascade pushes Floating Points’ sound forward into new places. The eight songs here are allowed to smoulder and spark for up to eight minutes at a time, allowing for more expansive exploration of sounds and grooves than before. A subtle homage to his hometown of Manchester ripples across Cascade.

“Afflecks Palace” is an enveloping glide of harp melodies overtaken by otherworldly bleeps and beeps, named after a Mancunian market described as an “emporium of eclecticism.” Elsewhere, there’s ‘Key 103’, named after “an underground Manchester radio station a young Sam Shepherd would listen to “religiously”.

Almost a decade on since Elaenia, his revered debut album, the composer has discovered ways to thread his experiments outside of club music seamlessly into his music designed for the dancefloor.