[dropcap]S[/dropcap]pring has sprung, and so have an abundance of new releases. The amount of wonderful albums released already this month has been astounding, so we’ve tried to give a nod to a lot of them in the March playlist. We’ve got the brilliant, racially charged new LP from Kendrick Lamar represented by the storming funk of King Kunta, while Marina and the Diamonds is back with a veritable treasure trove on her new record, including shimmering electro-pop gem Gold. There’s the major label debut from Action Bronson, here encapsulated by spectacular single Baby Blue, featuring hip-hop darling Chance the Rapper. Deadpan dreamer Courtney Barnett released her lovely debut, as did the sweetly sincere Tobias Jesso Jr. But it hasn’t just been about albums this month, and there have been some stand-out tracks across a whole variety of genres. Blur are back, all whimsical and angry, while there are some devastatingly pretty tracks from Grimes, Kelela, Tink and a particular regal solemnity from the new Florence + the Machine. There’s the wavy tribal beat of Fantasma, the offbeat new stylings of Laura Marling and the neat fluidity of our former Homegrown stars Princess’ latest single. Given our main feature this month, it makes sense that grime holds pride of place this month: our interviewee Novelist makes the cut with the experimental Mumdance-produced beats of 1Sec, Stormzy kills it on his latest, Know Me From and — given Kanye’s Brits performance, we’re considering All Day as a part of the grime contingent.  There’s no clear narrative thread tying all this month’s tracks together; instead, the March playlist highlights how happily fertile new music across all genres is right now.