Grian Chatten - Chaos For The Fly (Album Review)
Photo: Eimear Lynch Angular, aggressive and acerbic, last year's ‘Skinty Fia’ found Fontaines D.C. setting an increasingly stagnant post-punk scene alight. Now, though, vocalist Grian Chatten has temporarily struck out on his own with ‘Chaos For The Fly’, revealing a far more introspective and mellow side to his songwriting.
Written by: Jack Terry | Date: Monday, 10 July 2023
Bdrmm - I Don't Know (Album Review)
Bdrmm see themselves as four fools from Hull, and their disbelief at the prospect of their second album ‘I Don’t Know’ charting upon release was a refreshing example of humility. The reality is a little bit more complicated. The quartet are a great new hope for the shoegaze scene, having won a legion of fans with their 2020 self-titled LP, but its follow up sits far more loosely under that umbrella, leaning towards a softer, dream-pop state rather than the abrasive nature of their root sound.
Written by: Graeme Marsh | Date: Friday, 07 July 2023
Militarie Gun - Life Under The Gun (Album Review)
Photo: Daniel Topete Originally known for delivering the scabrous powerviolence assault of Regional Justice Center, hardcore veteran Ian Shelton re-emerged during the pandemic with Militarie Gun, eschewing immediate fury for short, sharp melodic bursts inspired by ‘90s alt-rock. In just 27 minutes their debut LP ‘Life Under the Gun’ turns in a strong case for album of the summer.
Written by: Will Marshall | Date: Tuesday, 04 July 2023
Kim Petras – Feed The Beast (Album Review)
Sometimes things don’t go the way you expect them to. And Kim Petras serving up a dud of a debut album was not what most people expected to happen. Over the course of multiple EPs and mixtapes released over the past decade or so, the German pop artist has carved out a space as an LGBTQIA+ icon, fusing sex-positive lyrics with massive hooks and no little flair.
Written by: Issy Herring | Date: Monday, 03 July 2023
The Japanese House - In The End It Always Does (Album Review)
Photo: Jay Seba The cover of ‘In the End It Always Does’ depicts an imperfect circle drawn crudely by hand. It is an apt summation of the themes driving Amber Bain’s second album as The Japanese House.
Written by: Craig Howieson | Date: Friday, 30 June 2023
Portugal. The Man - Chris Black Changed My Life (Album Review)
It perhaps shouldn’t take six years for a Grammy-winning band to follow-up their breakthrough record, but for Portugal. The Man, broken jaws, global pandemics, and a death in the family derailed their takeover.
Written by: Jack Press | Date: Wednesday, 28 June 2023
Kelly Clarkson - Chemistry (Album Review)
Photo: Brian Bowen Smith Kelly Clarkson has now presided over a chart-topping solo career spanning more than two decades, parlaying her show-stopping voice into eight studio albums that have gone top three at home in the US, with six of them running all the way to Platinum certifications. And there are no signs of Clarkson coming up for air anytime soon on her superb new LP ‘Chemistry’.
Written by: Issy Herring | Date: Tuesday, 27 June 2023
King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard - PetroDragonic Apocalypse... (Album Review)
It’s best to think of King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard’s mammoth discography in terms of genre experiments. Their more tonally-rigid collections tend to be the Melbourne band’s best, while their most genre-fluid albums (eg. 2022’s gigantic 'Omnium Gatherum') are their most scattershot and tiring.
Written by: Tom Morgan | Date: Monday, 26 June 2023
Maisie Peters - The Good Witch (Album Review)
Photo: Alice Moitié How do you bandage a broken heart from the claustrophobic confines of a tour bus? According to the plan set out by Maisie Peters’ ‘The Good Witch’, you surround yourself with hitmakers, pour your sorrow into a pop song (or 15), and call it a second album.
Written by: Jack Press | Date: Friday, 23 June 2023
Queens of the Stone Age - In Times New Roman... (Album Review)
Photo: Andreas Neumann Both ‘…Like Clockwork’ and ‘Villains’, Queens of the Stone Ages’ two most recent albums, were noticeably less hard-hitting than earlier efforts. But on ‘In Times New Roman...’, Josh Homme and his band are back in snarling rock mode. While that will appeal to their hardcore fans, the record lacks the killer tunes that they earlier used to break the mould in stunning ways.
Written by: Graeme Marsh | Date: Thursday, 22 June 2023
Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit - Weathervanes (Album Review)
Photo: Danny Clinch Everything you need to know about this deeply humane record from Jason Isbell, which delivers character-driven storytelling of the highest calibre, can be gleaned from the album’s opening and closing lines. Beginning with ‘everybody dies, but you gotta find a reason to carry on’ and culminating by way of ‘you didn’t see the hand that turned the page’, ‘Weathervanes’ is an unflinching exploration of how people struggle to survive after life’s cruel winds have torn through their world.
Written by: Simon Ramsay | Date: Thursday, 22 June 2023
Killer Mike - Michael (Album Review)
Photo: Jonathan Mannion Killer Mike has said about his new solo album that if “Run the Jewels is the X-Men, this is my Logan,” a reference to the more sombre Wolverine spin off that reset expectations for emotional complexity in a blockbuster superhero franchise.
Written by: Tom Morgan | Date: Wednesday, 21 June 2023
Christine and the Queens - Paranoïa, Angels, True Love (Album Review)
Photo: Jasa Muller Carrying on with the narration that began on his 2022 release ‘Redcar les adorables étoiles’, ‘Paranoïa, Angels, True Love’ allows Chris to reembody the titular Redcar character on an album that is is drenched in enough emotion and psychodrama to make its 97 minute, 20 track running order feel involving and worthwhile.
Written by: Katie Macbeth | Date: Tuesday, 20 June 2023
King Krule - Space Heavy (Album Review)
Photo: Frank Lebon For almost a decade now, King Krule has traded in an immediately recognisable sound. In Archie Marshall’s world, jazz-influenced chords are bullied and bashed into post-punk shapes while he groans and grumbles through introspective, existential takes on his absurd surroundings. His new album, ‘Space Heavy’, carries a lot of this on from its predecessors, but mutates into something altogether more holistic.
Written by: Jo Higgs | Date: Tuesday, 20 June 2023
Squid - O Monolith (Album Review)
Photo: Studio UJ Following such a well thought out and meticulously assembled album as ‘Bright Green Field’ was never going to be an easy undertaking for Squid and, at first, it really wasn’t. Frontman Ollie Judge found himself in the rut to end all ruts when it came to writing for the album that eventually became the excellent ‘O Monolith’.
Written by: Jack McGill | Date: Monday, 19 June 2023
Janelle Monáe - The Age Of Pleasure (Album Review)
Janelle Monáe is feeling themselves, and for good reason. Over the course of three albums—dating back to 2010's ‘The ArchAndroid’—they have become an accomplished multi-hyphenate with award-winning turns on the big screen going hand in hand with tours, books and social justice work. It's no wonder then that ‘The Age Of Pleasure’ is brimming with a self-confidence that has only been hinted at before now.
Written by: Jack Terry | Date: Monday, 19 June 2023
Youth Lagoon - Heaven Is A Junkyard (Album Review)
Photo: Tyler T. Williams With the benefit of hindsight, Youth Lagoon’s 2015 record ‘Savage Hill Ballroom’ felt like an ending of sorts. It was luscious and bold, and in many ways less idiosyncratic than everything Trevor Powers had released to that point.
Written by: Craig Howieson | Date: Friday, 16 June 2023
Dream Wife - Social Lubrication (Album Review)
Photo: Sophie Webster What do you do when there are endless reasons to be angry? If we let our rage dominate our every waking minute, it would drain us, permanently weigh us down and block out any grain of hope.
Written by: Emma Wilkes | Date: Thursday, 15 June 2023
Jenny Lewis - Joy'all (Album Review)
Photo: Bobbi Rich It’s all there in the title of Jenny Lewis’s new album. Armed with an uplifting set of tracks, some stemming from a songwriting workshop hosted by none other than Beck, the Nashville transplant sounds positively elated on ‘Joy’all’.
Written by: Craig Howieson | Date: Wednesday, 14 June 2023
Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds - Council Skies (Album Review)
Photo: Matt Crockett While the tedious will-they-won’t-they Oasis reunion rumours continue to swirl—along with talk of eye-watering sums available should the Gallagher brothers bury the hatchet long enough to tour—Noel has rolled on with his High Flying Birds and their fourth album ‘Council Skies’.
Written by: Graeme Marsh | Date: Tuesday, 13 June 2023
Bully - Lucky For You (Album Review)
Photo: Sophia Matinazad At this point in her career, Alicia Bognanno knows exactly what her work is about. The Nashville-based musician, songwriter and producer’s fourth album as Bully is a masterpiece, displaying hard-won understanding of what it takes to craft a record that is vulnerable, vitriolic and absolutely vital.
Written by: Laura Johnson | Date: Monday, 12 June 2023
Rufus Wainwright - Folkocracy (Album Review)
Photo: Miranda Penn Turin Never one for ambiguity or subterfuge, and well known for being delightfully tongue in cheek, Rufus Wainwright has been typically open, about why he chose to craft this beautifully executed, guest-heavy set of folk-based covers. In short, he wants to win a Grammy and felt there was more chance of achieving that aim within this genre than the world of pop, where being difficult to define has often worked against him.
Written by: Simon Ramsay | Date: Friday, 09 June 2023
Protomartyr - Formal Growth In The Desert (Album Review)
Photo: Trevor Naud Protomartyr have given in and accepted that the past few years have been nothing short of dreadful, and on their new record, the Detroit-reared post-punk band predict that little will change in the foreseeable future. But ‘Formal Growth In The Desert’ also proves to be the perfect vessel through which to express that sentiment, using their unforgiving sound to explore what frontman Joe Casey describes simply as “getting on with life”.
Written by: Jack McGill | Date: Thursday, 08 June 2023
Foo Fighters - But Here We Are (Album Review)
Photo: Danny Clinch When Taylor Hawkins unexpectedly died last year, there were many Foo Fighters fans who believed it would be the end of the band. The drummer was such a force, and an integral part of the group on stage and off, that their three decade, 10 album legacy looked like it might be set in stone. But when all-round-nice-guy Dave Grohl ended a series of tribute concerts with a "see you soon", there was a glimmer of hope.
Written by: Jack Terry | Date: Wednesday, 07 June 2023
Avenged Sevenfold - Life Is But A Dream... (Album Review)
Photo: Brian Catelle Across a career spanning more than two decades, Avenged Sevenfold have taken on assorted guises. They were once a band that made furious, technical metalcore, before pushing into Metallica worship and, eventually, prog with 2016’s ‘The Stage’.
Written by: Will Marshall | Date: Tuesday, 06 June 2023
Sparks - The Girl Is Crying In Her Latte (Album Review)
Not many bands manage to rack up 50 years in the game. Then again, there aren't many bands quite like Sparks. Brothers Ron and Russell Mael have been plying us with quirky, idiosyncratic art pop since the late ‘60s, and are as notable for their narrative lyrics as they are their visual peculiarities. But they’re also oddly reliable—Ron still dons a pencil moustache under his trademark scowl—and on ‘The Girl Is Crying In Her Latte’, they sound just as Sparks as ever.
Written by: Jack Terry | Date: Monday, 05 June 2023
Arlo Parks - My Soft Machine (Album Review)
Love is a bottomless well in pop music. Whether it's being celebrated, lamented, mourned or craved, it has inspired volumes upon volumes of songs and albums. Since the release of her 2021 Mercury Prize winning debut ‘Collapsed In Sunbeams’, Arlo Parks has swapped London for LA and fallen for rapper Ashnikko. If 'My Soft Machine' is anything to go by, things seem to be going great for the couple.
Written by: Jack Terry | Date: Friday, 02 June 2023
Water From Your Eyes - Everyone's Crushed (Album Review)
Photo: Ariel Fisher Water From Your Eyes don’t make things simple. Or do they? The New York duo’s oddball indietronica can seem abstract and challenging but their compositions are often sparse and their lyrics deceptively simple.
Written by: Tom Morgan | Date: Wednesday, 31 May 2023
Kevin Morby - More Photographs (A Continuum) (Album Review)
In an age of almost unlimited options when it comes to new music, with scores of new songs added to streaming services daily, one may question the merit of companion albums such as the latest missive from the mind of Kevin Morby.
Written by: Craig Howieson | Date: Tuesday, 30 May 2023
Sufjan Stevens - Reflections (Album Review)
Photo: Dawn Miller At this stage in his career you would forgive even Sufjan Stevens for struggling to keep up with his own output. A masterful songwriter, composer, performer and collaborator, his collected body of work is now close to requiring a dedicated cataloguing system.
Written by: Craig Howieson | Date: Friday, 26 May 2023
Sleep Token - Take Me Back To Eden (Album Review)
Photo: Andy Ford Sleep Token are an enigma. Totally anonymous, with zero interviews out there, they have risen through metal’s ranks faster than you can say “worship”, becoming one of the hottest things in the alternative space right now.
Written by: Will Marshall | Date: Thursday, 25 May 2023
Alex Lahey - The Answer Is Always Yes (Album Review)
Photo: Pooneh Ghana It is almost inevitable that all of us will spend time in our lives feeling stuck, in harmful cycles, dead end jobs, relationships that are not right for us, or simply as a result of the social constructs we are subjected to. For Alex Lahey, two critically acclaimed records and a host of impressive songwriting commissions have not left her immune from experiencing that same feeling of having your feet glued to the floor.
Written by: Craig Howieson | Date: Monday, 22 May 2023
Paul Simon - Seven Psalms (Album Review)
Photo: Myrna Suarez Paul Simon’s new album is classic Paul Simon: erudite, urbane, observant. Formally unusual, it’s a guitar-led song suite presented as one 35-minute track, and it takes us through the New Yorker’s spiritual musings as he approaches his ultimate destination.
Written by: Jacob Brookman | Date: Friday, 19 May 2023
Brian Eno and Fred Again - Secret Life (Album Review)
‘Secret Life’ is an ambient collaboration album between muzak pioneer and reluctant national treasure Brian Eno and downtempo house producer Fred Again. The two met in the early 2010s when the latter was still a teenager, and the result has been a kind-of menteeship as he has moved through the grades of electronica.
Written by: Jacob Brookman | Date: Wednesday, 17 May 2023
Cattle Decapitation - Terrasite (Album Review)
Photo: Nick Van Vidler Who’d have thought that a deathgrind band named Cattle Decapitation (famed for their macabre album artwork) would become one of the most thoughtful and acclaimed metal bands of recent years?
Written by: Tom Morgan | Date: Tuesday, 16 May 2023
The Smashing Pumpkins - Atum (Album Review)
Photo: Paul Elledge Smashing Pumpkins frontman and band leader Billy Corgan has described his latest opus 'Atum' as “going in a million different directions”. When the infamously self-indulgent Corgan is labelling one of his projects in this way, you know the release is going to feature plenty of ups and downs.
Written by: Tom Morgan | Date: Friday, 12 May 2023
Billy Woods & Kenny Segal - Maps (Album Review)
Billy Woods doesn't want the limelight. He never has. The New York-based rapper has always been tantalisingly faceless, with official images scrambled or blurred and balaclavas worn in videos and at live shows to keep an air of mystery about the straight-talking storyteller.
Written by: Jack Terry | Date: Thursday, 11 May 2023
Ed Sheeran - - (Album Review)
Photo: Annie Leibovitz Ed Sheeran has been at the top of the pop game for more than a decade now, becoming one of the world's best selling artists while executing genre-hopping collaborations with everyone from Stormzy to Cradle Of Filth. His fifth album '-', though, is his most stripped back yet, arriving influenced by depression, loss and loneliness.
Written by: Jack Terry | Date: Wednesday, 10 May 2023
Drain - Living Proof (Album Review)
California hardcore is having a moment, with cities across the state bursting at the seams with exciting bands. Very few scenes have caught on like the interconnected ones in San Jose and Santa Cruz, though, with genre-shaking albums emerging from the morass like it’s nothing. Few groups embody that spirit quite like Drain.
Written by: Will Marshall | Date: Wednesday, 10 May 2023
Indigo De Souza - All This Will End (Album Review)
Photo: Angella Choe Not unlike the opener of her previous LP ‘Any Shape You Take’, Time Back is a curve ball of an introduction to Indigo De Souza's latest release. The first song on ‘All This Will End’ is a dialled up fusion of Phoenix's indie-pop and EDM, flipping the script on a reputation that has situated the guitarist among the ranks of ‘90s indie-rock revivalists.
Written by: Craig Howieson | Date: Tuesday, 09 May 2023
Jessie Ware - That! Feels! Good! (Album Review)
On Jessie Ware’s previous record, 2020’s 'What’s Your Pleasure', the London singer rebranded herself as a disco soul act, presenting elegant grooves and retro melodies that really built out her sound. New album 'That! Feels Good!' continues the development of those themes with tracks that are larger and more diverse.
Written by: Jacob Brookman | Date: Friday, 05 May 2023
Silver Moth - Black Bay (Album Review)
For a group of musicians looking to escape the confines of lockdown and immerse themselves in some semblance of a life they recognised, the Isle of Lewis may seem a strange choice. After all, the Outer Hebrides are not renowned for hustle and bustle.
Written by: Craig Howieson | Date: Thursday, 04 May 2023
Rodrigo y Gabriela - In Between Thoughts…A New World (Album Review)
Rodrigo y Gabriela have now achieved something that many recording artists dream of, by managing to completely own their sound. If you hear duelling Spanish guitar pop playing in a public space, it is almost certainly going to be them.
Written by: Jacob Brookman | Date: Thursday, 04 May 2023
The National - First Two Pages of Frankenstein (Album Review)
For many years, the National’s sound was defined by the baritone of frontman Matt Berninger. By introducing a phalanx of guest vocalists to complement his recognisable rumble, 2019’s ‘I Am Easy To Find’ delivered a considerable surprise. It’s less surprising, then, that the doors to collaboration remain open on their ninth album ‘First Two Pages of Frankenstein’.
Written by: Graeme Marsh | Date: Wednesday, 03 May 2023
Feist - Multitudes (Album Review)
Feist first came to international attention when her pop ballad 1234 was featured on an Apple iPod commercial in 2007. Since then, the Canadian singer-songwriter has released two excellent albums including 2017’s ‘Pleasure’, a record of deft tones and spiritual fullness. Despite the six year break, ‘Multitudes’ picks up the story with finesse.
Written by: Huw Baines | Date: Tuesday, 02 May 2023
The Mars Volta - Qué Dios Te Maldiga Mí Corazón (Album Review)
Lately, releases by the Mars Volta have arrived like buses, with a 10 year drought of music answered by two bodies of work in the space of seven months. Technically, though, they’re the same album. ‘Qué Dios Te Maldiga Mí Corazón’ is a complete acoustic reimagining of the El Paso duo’s self-titled effort, which was released in September of last year.
Written by: Emma Wilkes | Date: Friday, 28 April 2023
Enter Shikari - A Kiss For The Whole World (Album Review)
Photo: Jamie Waters Enter Shikari are a tough band to pin a label on. Their last album, 2020’s 'Nothing Is True And Everything Is Possible', was worlds away from their debut 'Take To The Skies' in sound and yet there's nobody else out there who could have made either album. ’A Kiss For The Whole World’ continues that inimitable run with another head-spinning foray into drum ‘n’ bass-infused post-hardcore.
Written by: Jack Terry | Date: Thursday, 27 April 2023
Kae Tempest - Nice Idea EP (Album Review)
When Kae Tempest released their fourth album ‘The Line Is A Curve’ last year, it felt like a real lightning-in-a-bottle moment between spoken word and hip-hop. And, after such an accomplished release, you’d expect a quiet period. But when you’re a Mercury-nominated rapper, Ted Hughes Award-winning playwright, Sunday Times bestselling novelist and renowned poet, rest is clearly the last thing on your mind.
Written by: Jack Terry | Date: Wednesday, 26 April 2023
Metallica - 72 Seasons (Album Review)
Photo: Tim Saccenti For Metallica fans who grew up worshipping the band throughout their early ‘80s to mid ‘90s creative peak, it’s almost too easy to dismiss this seemingly derivative 10th studio album based on a few cursory spins. But to rush head first into premature judgement territory with ‘72 Seasons’ might represent a severe mistake.
Written by: Simon Ramsay | Date: Tuesday, 25 April 2023
Angel Olsen - Forever Means EP (Album Review)
Photo: Luke Rogers Angel Olsen introduces her latest EP, ‘Forever Means’, over a sultry, sombre piano score. As a saxophone and electronic organ breeze through in the wake of Olsen’s crooning vocals, opening track Nothing’s Free shines. “Here it comes, no way to stop it now,” she sings.
Written by: Rebecca Llewellyn | Date: Friday, 21 April 2023
