Ice Spice - Y2K! (Album Review)
Photo: Coughs Ice Spice’s debut does everything you want it to, but too often it does plenty of things you don’t. At its most accomplished, ‘Y2K!’ oozes confidence at every intersection, silencing haters each step of the way. At its worst, the album is brash and unnecessarily boastful with lacklustre songwriting at its heart.
Written by: Issy Herring | Date: Wednesday, 31 July 2024
Denzel Curry - King Of The Mischievous South Vol. 2 (Album Review)
Just two years after a foray into jazz-rap on ‘Melt My Eyez See Your Future’, Denzel Curry has upended expectations once again with ‘King Of The Mischievous South Vol. 2’, serving up an ode to the music that raised him.
Written by: Jay Fullarton | Date: Wednesday, 31 July 2024
Soft Play - Heavy Jelly (Album Review)
Photo: Jude Harrison With their first album as Soft Play, Isaac Holman and Laurie Vincent have flipped a switch. Having ditched their problematic former name and emerged from a hiatus sparked by devastating life events and music industry malaise – Vincent’s partner died of cancer in 2020, while Holman struggled with his mental health, at one point considering quitting the band altogether to become a gardener — ‘Heavy Jelly’ is an attempt to wring the fun out of things again.
Written by: Emma Wilkes | Date: Tuesday, 30 July 2024
Johnny Blue Skies - Passage du Desir (Album Review)
Photo: Semi Song In a recent episode of the popular podcast ‘The Rest is Entertainment’, quiz show producer and all round brainbox Richard Osman presented his own study of UK number ones in the 21st Century. Though the exact stats were sometimes a little shaky the general gist was unmistakable: since the year 2000, popular music has pivoted wildly away from bands and groups, and towards individual performers.
Written by: Jacob Brookman | Date: Monday, 29 July 2024
Joe Goddard - Harmonics (Album Review)
Photo: Louise Mason In the mid 2000s, Hot Chip suddenly became ubiquitous in a music scene tired of landfill indie and macho rock. They brightened dancefloors with a particular brand of undemanding electro pop, and when Joe Goddard, one of the band’s founders, released his first solo album as a producer in 2009, it felt like a natural development for easy-going, clubbable music loved by hipster-accountants.
Written by: Jacob Brookman | Date: Friday, 26 July 2024
Los Campesinos! - All Hell (Album Review)
Photo: Martyna Bannister Los Campesinos! have returned just in time. The world feels like it’s going to hell in a handcart (or in a “handjob” as one of the punny titles on ‘All Hell’ suggests) so the Cardiff indie band’s compassion and intelligence feels all the more vital in these dark days.
Written by: Tom Morgan | Date: Thursday, 25 July 2024
Speed - Only One Mode (Album Review)
Photo: James Hartley In case you hadn’t noticed, hardcore is having a moment. Between Knocked Loose playing eye-popping shows in huge rooms and bands such as Gel, Zulu and Scowl igniting the scene’s foundations with boundary-pushing records, the post-Turnstile glow up continues at breakneck pace. Another name to keep a very close eye on is Speed.
Written by: Jack Butler-Terry | Date: Wednesday, 24 July 2024
Childish Gambino - Bando Stone And The New World (Album Review)
Donald Glover’s creative output epitomises ‘metamodern’. His work bulldozes irony in search of complex, messy layers of emotional sincerity. As Childish Gambino, he crafts dense, ambitious albums, rife with self-awareness, juxtaposed genres and cautiously optimistic explorations of human identity.
Written by: Tom Morgan | Date: Tuesday, 23 July 2024
Glass Animals - I Love You So F***ing Much (Album Review)
Photo: Lillie Eiger Glass Animals have been a popular band for a decade but the breakout success of their 2020 album ‘Dreamland’ – in particular the slow-burn smash hit Heat Waves – propelled them to unexpected heights.
Written by: Adam England | Date: Friday, 19 July 2024
Remi Wolf - Big Ideas (Album Review)
Photo: Ragan Henderson ‘Big Ideas’ is a transformative release for Remi Wolf, boldly, almost audaciously redefining genre boundaries, but it’s reflected by the emotional minutiae of her life. These songs draw heavily on the transient nature of her life experiences — from her brief time as a competitive skier to her appearances on American Idol — and pull together an overall theme of impermanence that’s reflected by its many shifts in tone.
Written by: Katie Macbeth | Date: Friday, 19 July 2024
Cigarettes After Sex - X's (Album Review)
Photo: Ebru Yildiz White lines, wine, and a wild imagination are all you need to spend a weekend wallowing with Greg Gonzalez. On the band’s third album ‘X’s’, the Cigarettes After Sex frontman chases that heady mix with a deep dive into a toxic relationship. On paper, it sounds perfect. On record, it's a deadening 40-minute slide through 10 songs that are all indistinguishable from one another.
Written by: Jack Press | Date: Thursday, 18 July 2024
Griff - Vertigo (Album Review)
In 2021, Griff won the Brits’ rising star award, catapulting her into a creative production mode and a touring schedule that left the singer-songwriter nearly burnt out. Now, after an inspiration-seeking grand tour of European Airbnbs, the Hertfordshire native is back with ‘Vertigo’, a debut album defined by exciting and breathy pop.
Written by: Jacob Brookman | Date: Wednesday, 17 July 2024
Clairo - Charm (Album Review)
Photo: Lucas Creighton Clairo has come a long way since her debut. Where ‘Immunity’ traded in hook-heavy, scratchy bedroom-pop, she has followed up her acclaimed 2021 record ‘Sling’ with her most fully realised album yet. Each track on ‘Charm’ is brimming with full-bodied, rich instrumentals produced in collaboration with Leon Michels, whose past attachments to Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings and The Black Keys offer a glimpse of its palette.
Written by: Nieve Elis | Date: Tuesday, 16 July 2024
Eminem - The Death Of Slim Shady (Coup de Grāce) (Album Review)
Much has been made of Eminem’s decision to revive his iconic, foul-mouthed alter ego Slim Shady only to kill him off — supposedly for good this time — but ‘The Death of Slim Shady (Coup de Grâce)’ isn’t really interested in the big question. Namely, do we need Shady in 2024?
Written by: Will Marshall | Date: Monday, 15 July 2024
Previous Industries - Service Merchandise (Album Review)
Photo: Robyn Von Swank For a minute it felt as though hip-hop’s axis had shifted, with wordplay and storytelling ushered out by lean, face tats and Soundcloud rap. What a relief it is, then, to hear ‘Service Merchandise’, the debut album from Previous Industries.
Written by: Jack Butler-Terry | Date: Thursday, 11 July 2024
Stefflon Don - Island 54 (Album Review)
It’s wild to think that — after almost a decade in the game, multiple mixtapes and features on tracks by Ne-Yo, Wiley and Mariah Carey — this Stefflon Don is only now ready to unleash her debut studio album. ‘Island 54’ arrives steeped in anticipation and promise, just about delivering.
Written by: Jack Butler-Terry | Date: Wednesday, 10 July 2024
Megan Thee Stallion - Megan (Album Review)
Right now, Megan Thee Stallion is where most artists want to be — wherever you look in the world of hip-hop, the Houston rapper is right at the heart of it, setting the agenda rather than following it. Her third album ‘Megan’, then, could not come at a better time.
Written by: Jack Butler-Terry | Date: Tuesday, 09 July 2024
Gracie Abrams - The Secret Of Us (Album Review)
Photo: Abby Waisler It rarely hurts to receive a co-sign from the biggest pop star on the planet, as Gracie Abrams recently discovered. ‘The Secret of Us’, her second album, features Us, a co-write and duet with Taylor Swift that the pair recently teamed up to perform together at the Wembley Stadium leg of the Eras Tour. But there’s more to Abrams than this glossy endorsement.
Written by: Emma Way | Date: Tuesday, 09 July 2024
Kasabian - Happenings (Album Review)
Photo: Neil Bedford Kasabian have been one of the most successful indie bands of the past 20 years thanks to enduring hits including Club Foot, Underdog and Fire, seeing off the exit of singer Tom Meighan in 2020 to continue their popularity under Serge Pizzorno.
Written by: Chris Connor | Date: Monday, 08 July 2024
Washed Out - Notes From a Quiet Life (Album Review)
Photo: Landon Speers The name Washed Out has long been synonymous with dreamy chillwave and ‘Notes From A Quiet Life’ slips neatly into Ernest Greene’s catalogue. Following a four year absence, he returns with a typically rich and textured retro synth-pop sound, which is admirable chiefly for its smooth, immaculately polished sonics.
Written by: Matthew McLister | Date: Thursday, 04 July 2024
Loma - How Will I Live Without a Body? (Album Review)
Photo: Emily Cross One knock on effect of the relentless pace of modern life is that time and space have become highly prized commodities. We may often be on our own, but we are rarely alone with just our thoughts for company. On their third record, though, Loma seem to cherish taking some time out to focus inwards.
Written by: Craig Howieson | Date: Wednesday, 03 July 2024
Camila Cabello - C,XOXO (Album Review)
Photo: Dimitrious Giannoudis Camila Cabello’s musical journey has had a consistent theme of self-discovery. Released in 2022, 'Familia' was an embrace of her Cuban roots, where her 2019 album 'Romance' reflected the process of moving on from past relationships. Now, ‘C,XOXO’ ventures into new musical territory, offering 11 tracks that blend R&B and hip hop influences with occasional hints of hyperpop, presenting a willingness to explore new sounds and experiment.
Written by: Katie Macbeth | Date: Monday, 01 July 2024
Wilco - Hot Sun Cool Shroud (Album Review)
Photo: Peter Crosby Wilco have never been ones to stick to the script. Across 30 years together they have continuously broken elements of indie-rock and Americana apart, reassembling them into enduringly popular records such as ‘Yankee Hotel Foxtrot’, ‘A Ghost Is Born’ and ‘Sky Blue Sky’. Led by Jeff Tweedy, they return with the EP ‘Hot Sun Cool Shroud’, a suitably eclectic six track collection that, as with all Wilco projects, is hard to pin down.
Written by: Chris Connor | Date: Monday, 01 July 2024
The Mysterines - Afraid of Tomorrows (Album Review)
Photo: Steve Gullick In 2022, The Mysterines had one of those years. The Liverpool rockers scored a top 10 album with their anthemic debut ‘Reeling’, while there was also the small matter of an opening slot on Arctic Monkeys’ The Car tour. A couple of years on, ‘Afraid Of Tomorrows’ is a more creative and well-rounded return that, crucially, can continue their precipitous rise.
Written by: Matthew McLister | Date: Friday, 28 June 2024
Normani - Dopamine (Album Review)
Photo: Hugo Comte When Fifth Harmony went on permanent hiatus in 2018, it was pretty clear that the first of the band’s members to race out of the traps towards solo stardom would be Camila Cabello, who had quit two years earlier. Four albums later, she has solidified her place in the pop firmament, while at the other end of the scale ‘Dopamine’ is bandmate Normani's long-awaited debut.
Written by: Jacob Brookman | Date: Thursday, 27 June 2024
Pond - Stung! (Album Review)
Should we put into place a set number of albums a band is allowed to release? Four and out, maybe. Get over the infamous difficult second album, enjoy it for a bit and head off the album five identity crisis at the pass, skipping the complete delusion behind album seven and the dead-horse flogging of albums eight and nine entirely. Let’s not talk about album 10.
Written by: Jack McGill | Date: Thursday, 27 June 2024
Kehlani - Crash (Album Review)
A decade on from their first mixtape, ‘Crash’ finds Kehlani bending an R&B sound to their will, offering up unapologetic songs that dive into sexual expression and situationships with nods to queer sensuality. It pushes every boundary possible, and it is totally worth the risks it takes.
Written by: Issy Herring | Date: Wednesday, 26 June 2024
John Grant - The Art of the Lie (Album Review)
Photo: Hörður Sveinsson On his sixth solo record, John Grant leans into 1980s textures and vocoder, delivering 11 songs of varied, entertaining synth-pop that, while offering a marvellous platform for his unique, occasionally hilarious lyricism, don't quite match his best work.
Written by: Jacob Brookman | Date: Tuesday, 25 June 2024
Lola Young - This Wasn't Meant For You Anyway (Album Review)
Lola Young’s path seemed to have been set out for her — the young singer-songwriter has a John Lewis Christmas ad plus BBC Sound of… and Brit Rising Star award nominations under her belt already — but her debut album ‘This Wasn’t Meant For You Anyway’ isn’t interested in following an easy roadmap. Its 11 tracks showcase genuine musical range while offering comfort and tranquillity amid romantic turmoil.
Written by: Katie Macbeth | Date: Monday, 24 June 2024
The Decemberists - As It Ever Was, So It Will Be Again (Album Review)
Photo: Shervin Lainez Given that it’s now almost 25 years since The Decemberists began their voyage into highly literate and theatrical indie-rock, a lot of minds have been made up about the band. The twee charm of frontman Colin Meloy's sordid re-envisioning of historical tales grates on some, as does the impeccable nature of the band's music, a stark contrast to their lo-fi contemporaries in the Pacific Northwest indie scene. But, despite being a hipster’s dream, the group have never strayed into self-parody, with their new record ‘As It Ever Was, So It Will Be Again’ gamely holding true to their course.
Written by: Craig Howieson | Date: Thursday, 20 June 2024
Cola - The Gloss (Album Review)
Photo: Craig Scheihing Moving on is hard. Moving on from something that worked is even harder. Cola rose from the ashes of Ought after the great Montreal band had run its course, all of its precious art-rock ore used up. They dove in at the deep end of a new sound, with their moody debut ‘Deep In View’ trading in sophisticated and wordy post-rock, but now they appear to have reconciled with their former selves somewhat.
Written by: Jack McGill | Date: Tuesday, 18 June 2024
Kaytranada - Timeless (Album Review)
Photo: Jivi Emir Kaytranada’s ‘Timeless’ sounds and feels like a decent mixtape-album fusion, where playful skits and ditties emerge between full songs that feature a diverse and talented stable of collaborators. Over 21 tracks it demonstrates the Haiti-born, Canada-raised rapper, producer and singer’s production expertise and compositional versatility while never quite serving up any absolute bangers.
Written by: Jacob Brookman | Date: Tuesday, 18 June 2024
Peggy Gou - I Hear You (Album Review)
Peggy Gou’s debut album finds the superstar Korean DJ delivering 10 tracks of throwback 1990s dance music that, while dispatched with a lot of creativity and joy, struggles sometimes to find a point of difference. It is a record that begins to carve out its own sound, but which doesn’t always hang together as well as it should.
Written by: Jacob Brookman | Date: Monday, 17 June 2024
John Cale - Poptical Illusion (Album Review)
Photo: Madeline McManus John Cale has never been one to stand still, whether as a member of The Velvet Underground or subsequently as a prolific and highly influential solo artist and producer. Now 82, he returns with the aptly titled ‘Poptical Illusion’, showing he has no intention of slowing down any time soon. It is another creative flex from a master of reinvention.
Written by: Chris Connor | Date: Wednesday, 12 June 2024
Bonny Light Horseman - Keep Me on Your Mind/See You Free (Album Review)
Photo: Jay Sansone Although their merry band has begun to sprawl — incorporating a number of acquaintances and contributors since its inception — the core Bonny Light Horseman trio might be looked upon as masters of heartfelt brevity. With both clocking in at just over 30 minutes, Anaïs Mitchell, Eric D. Johnson, and Josh Kaufman’s first two records delivered perfectly formed folk songs that felt like they’d been plucked from the air.
Written by: Craig Howieson | Date: Wednesday, 12 June 2024
Aurora - What Happened To The Heart? (Album Review)
Aurora has long been happy operating on the fringes of modern pop, creating emotionally rich worlds that defy easy categorisation. Her fifth album ‘What Happened to the Heart?’ is no different, with the Norwegian songwriter offering up another slate of intense musical arrangements, theatrical vocals and radio-ready hits with her own unique twist.
Written by: Will Marshall | Date: Tuesday, 11 June 2024
Charli XCX - Brat (Album Review)
Sometimes, reaching your stated goal is just the start. After 2022’s ‘Crash’ catapulted Charli XCX from cult figure to bona fide mainstream star, the ensuing ‘Brat’ is not just a reaction to its far more accessible predecessor but also an emphatic re-embracing of the pop auteur’s club roots.
Written by: Will Marshall | Date: Monday, 10 June 2024
Bat For Lashes - The Dream of Delphi (Album Review)
Photo: Michal Pudelka Waxing lyrical about the wonder of parenthood is a bit of a high wire act, artistically. At best, it unearths secrets about your own character that may have been hidden since childhood. But at worst it is cloying and indulgent, often drifting into facetious sentimentality. On ‘The Dream of Delphi’, Bat for Lashes manages to stick the landing.
Written by: Jacob Brookman | Date: Friday, 07 June 2024
Ani DiFranco - Unprecedented Sh!t (Album Review)
Photo: Danny Clinch Perhaps unsurprisingly given its title, ‘Unprecedented Sh!t’ finds Ani DiFranco in a spiky and experimental mood, offering up a record of scraggly guitars, chunky production and direct-ish lyricism. It’s a highly listenable turn from a writer whose impressive career — she founded her own label at 19, in 1989 — has often been underscored by folksy urgency and political activism.
Written by: Jacob Brookman | Date: Thursday, 06 June 2024
Jessica Pratt - Here in the Pitch (Album Review)
Jessica Pratt’s music is perfect for a certain niche — the horror movie trailer set to a folk song that cuts to black as the knife-wielding killer does their thing. But it’s so much more than that, with her rich, whimsical voice entirely decade-defying on her fourth album ‘Here in the Pitch’.
Written by: Emma Way | Date: Thursday, 06 June 2024
Beth Gibbons - Lives Outgrown (Album Review)
Photo: Netti Habel If you hear that the singer of a band you like is going to work on a solo project, it’s reasonable to react with a little bit of trepidation. Will it expand upon that established sound or reveal the limits of the artist’s (or group’s) talents? Perhaps most importantly…will it break up the band?
Written by: Jacob Brookman | Date: Wednesday, 05 June 2024
DIIV - Frog in Boiling Water (Album Review)
Photo: Shervin Lainez If you’re not familiar with the expression “frog in boiling water” then rest assured, it’s not something you’d want to experience. Except you are experiencing it right now – we all are – in a world that slowly crushes the life out of even the most optimistic souls. As the Verve once put it, “you’re a slave to money then you die”.
Written by: Graeme Marsh | Date: Tuesday, 04 June 2024
Crowded House - Gravity Stairs (Album Review)
Crowded House have left an indelible mark on pop music through hits such as Don’t Dream It’s Over, Weather With You and Something So Strong, but ‘Gravity Stairs’ is not the work of a band content to ride the coattails of past glories.
Written by: Chris Connor | Date: Monday, 03 June 2024
Richard Hawley - In This City They Call You Love (Album Review)
Photo: Chris Saunders Richard Hawley has enjoyed a highly eclectic career across the past 30 years, initially as a member of Britpop outfit Longpigs and briefly as a touring guitarist with Pulp. It’s his solo work, though, that has made him one of the most venerated British singer-songwriters of recent times and his 10th studio album ‘In This City They Call You Love’ is another delightful tour of his musical influences.
Written by: Chris Connor | Date: Friday, 31 May 2024
Bring Me The Horizon - POST HUMAN: NeX GEn (Album Review)
Expectations are a difficult thing to manage. ‘POST HUMAN: NeX GEn' has been a long time coming, allowing hype to build to fever pitch, but Bring Me The Horizon have also been hamstrung by the record’s protracted build up.
Written by: Will Marshall | Date: Thursday, 30 May 2024
Jordan Rakei - The Loop (Album Review)
“This was the path I had to take,” Jordan Rakei sings during A Little Life. ‘The Loop’, his fifth record, is full of references like this one. Since relocating from his family home in Brisbane to London in 2015 — later collaborating with artists including Tom Misch, Disclosure, and Loyle Carner — he has grown both personally and professionally.
Written by: Emma Way | Date: Wednesday, 29 May 2024
Vince Staples - Dark Times (Album Review)
Few might have foreseen it at the time, but Vince Staples has gone on to forge one of the most interesting and consistently great discographies of any rapper once affiliated with Odd Future.
Written by: Tom Morgan | Date: Tuesday, 28 May 2024
Slash - Orgy of the Damned (Album Review)
Photo: Gene Kirkland Given its heady slate of guest vocalists, from Iggy Pop to Demi Lovato and AC/DC’s Brian Johnson, ‘Orgy of the Damned’ could easily feel like a compilation. It’s to Slash’s credit as a guitarist and bandleader that it hangs together, though, with his playing serving as the glue that binds these blues covers into an exciting whole.
Written by: Adam England | Date: Friday, 24 May 2024
Gatecreeper - Dark Superstition (Album Review)
Photo: Joey Maddon Since the end of the pandemic, we’ve seen a string of young metal bands become breakout stars. Sleep Token are barrelling towards stadium status, Malevolence went viral with their whirlpool-sized mosh pits and, right now, Knocked Loose are one of the most talked-about bands on the planet. ‘Dark Superstition’ declares that, if there’s any justice in the world, Gatecreeper will become the next name on that list.
Written by: Matt Mills | Date: Thursday, 23 May 2024
Shellac - To All Trains (Album Review)
Photo: Daniel Bergeron We tend to become needlessly philosophical whenever a beloved musician dies just before releasing new music, joining dots in a manner that amounts to pareidolia — the human instinct to find meaning in the random. Sure, David Bowie famously made some allusions to his death on ‘Blackstar’, but that was the exception that proves the rule.
Written by: Tom Morgan | Date: Tuesday, 21 May 2024
