Drake

Take Care Young Money/Universal****

Let's hear it for hip-hop's sensitive, heartbroken Romeo. Drake's second album is a bit of a masterclass in melancholic lyrical soul-searching, about lost love and spurned lovers. For the Canadian rapper, who made his name as an actor in teen soap opera Degrassi, Take Careis about moving his sound and soul to a higher ground, a place previously inhabited by Kanye West (there are many times when 808s & Heartbreakscomes to mind), Stevie Wonder and Maxwell. Where Drake really takes things up a notch is with the production. Be it the tender, beautiful recycling of Jamie XX and Gil Scott-Heron's I'll Take Care of Youfor the title track (with Rihanna perfectly cast as Drake's foil) or the Lex Luger beat that gets Camerasclicking, Drake and his producers and collaborators are veritable sonic high-rollers, always adding to the expansiveness of the sound. The most unlikely bittersweet symphony of the year. See drakeofficial.com

Download tracks: Take Care, Cameras, Doing It Wrong