You know it’s going to be a great new music Friday, and summer, when Little Simz drops an album in the first week of June.

Coming in at just under 50 minutes—49:57 to be exact—Lotus is the follow-up to her 2022 album, NO THANK YOU, and the sixth studio album from Little Simz. Drop 7 was the perfect EP to hold me over until this album dropped. Combining her usual genius production, introspective lyrics, and experimentation across genres, Lotus is another in a long line of albums that will be on repeat for most everyone. Little Simz takes what she does and lifts it higher than it’s ever gone before, leading listeners right along with her so they’re not left behind.

No stranger to collaboration, Little Simz has twelve different features on Lotus. “Only,” the dedicated love song on the album, features Lydia Kotto on the chorus and bridge. With an undercurrent of smooth piano and drums, the two artists flow together like magic. It makes you want to dance. Moses Sumney and Miraa May are on “Peace,” an almost spectral track that relies on repetition throughout each verse. The two choruses feature all three artists singing, “Don’t be afraid when you’re falling, you’re falling (I’ve got to find some peace of mind) / Tryna find yourself on the way (I’ve got to find some peace of mind).” With basic instrumentals underneath them, it forces you to hone in on the lyrics. The three of them together on this track easily make this the song of the year for me.

“Lonely,” the penultimate song on the album, revolves around Little Simz’s anxieties with an undercurrent of bongos throughout. The start of verse two goes hard with, “I was lonely making an album, I ran into mad blocks / Tryna find that girl everybody’s a fan of / Couldn’t even say what I thought was good anymore.” She turns inward, expressing her innermost thoughts, and while we may not be musicians, listeners can relate to the anxieties Little Simz deals with. On the other hand, “Young” is a playful single that was released ahead of the album, but is no less funky when listened to along with the rest of Lotus. The pantomime rap focuses on ridiculous rich kids living their best lives. It’s a concept song that you can dance along to with a drink in your hand.

With so many funky songs on the album, it would be easy to overlook the ones where Little Simz is a bit more vulnerable. But the lyrics, as well as the album art, remind us that this is all about growth. She’s welcoming us in and letting us acknowledge that she has some growing to do, and part of that is being vulnerable in front of her audience.

One of my favorite things about listening to Little Simz is that her accent comes through. If there’s anything I know about London, it’s that each part of the city has a different accent — anyone who grew up in a major city knows this. But, it’s rare at times for English artists to allow their accents to come out in their music. Little Simz utilizes her own accent to her advantage, and it makes her music stand out from that of other artists.

Lotus is the album of the summer. It solidifies Little Simz as one of the best artists in the current music scene and reminds us exactly why listening to her stuff is a trip. Her clever wordplay and emphasis on production on Lotus shows us that she creates banger after banger. There, I said it.

Lotus is out now on all streaming platforms.

Album cover courtesy of AWAL and Forever Living Originals.