Spector - Here Come the Early Nights (Album Review)

On ‘Here Come The Early Nights’ Spector pull off a difficult trick — they stay true to who they are while moving on, displaying fresh perspective from within the same fizzing indie songs that made them big fish in the UK indie scene of the early 2010s, alongside bands such as Peace, JAWS and Swim Deep.

Written by: Katie Macbeth | Date: Thursday, 07 December 2023

Guided By Voices - Nowhere To Go But Up (Album Review)

Photo: Trevor Naud There is a decidedly festive thrust to The Race Is On, The King Is Dead, the opener on Guided By Voices’ third, and one can only assume final, full length release of 2023. Amid tolling bells and swaggering guitars, frontman Robert Pollard is in celebratory form as he ushers in another set of songs that are almost impossible to fathom.

Written by: Craig Howieson | Date: Wednesday, 06 December 2023

Take That - This Life (Album Review)

Is there still space for Take That in 2023? It’s been more than three decades since the release of their debut album, and almost two since their comeback, while their core appeal has been diluted by the sorts of comings and goings that affect most legacy acts. Robbie Williams rejoined, and then left again, and since the departure of Jason Orange in 2014 the group has become a trio. But ‘This Life’, their first album of new material in six years, shows beyond all else that they still know their audience.

Written by: Adam England | Date: Tuesday, 05 December 2023

The Goa Express - The Goa Express (Album Review)

Photo: Cal Moores Thanks to their infectious, hooky brand of guitar pop, Burnley five-piece The Goa Express have established themselves as one of the UK’s brightest young bands. Their self-titled debut album only underlines that sense of promise, serving up a fantastic collection of explosive indie tracks laden with psych harmonies. 

Written by: Matthew McLister | Date: Monday, 04 December 2023

Peter Gabriel - I/O (Album Review)

Photo: Nadav Kander Peter Gabriel has led an eclectic career, initially as a flautist and vocalist for prog icons Genesis before launching a hugely successful solo career studded with hits including Sledgehammer, Solsbury Hill and Big Time. But, remarkably, it has been 21 years since his last album of original material, 2002’s ‘Up’.

Written by: Chris Connor | Date: Friday, 01 December 2023

2 Chainz & Lil Wayne - Welcome 2 Collegrove (Album Review)

Seven years on from the red-tape nightmare of ‘ColleGrove’, Lil Wayne and 2 Chainz are back together again, this time with both of their names on the marquee. ‘Welcome 2 Collegrove’ has been painstakingly assembled to make sure that the record is co-signed properly this time and Wayne’s face on the cover feels like a real show of “Yes, he's really on this one!”

Written by: Jack Terry | Date: Wednesday, 29 November 2023

Chris Stapleton - Higher (Album Review)

Photo: Becky Fluke Country music as a genre is conservative with both a small and a big ‘C’. When country singers move beyond quite strict musical and storytelling parameters, they risk being ostracised, debarred. “That ain’t country,” is a battlecry for barstool bores from Nashville to Austin.

Written by: Jacob Brookman | Date: Tuesday, 28 November 2023

Danny Brown - Quaranta (Album Review)

Photo: Peter Beste Danny Brown is a busy man. The Detroit rapper has already released one album this year — ‘Scaring The Hoes’, a supreme collaborative effort with JPEGMAFIA — as well as maintaining a weekly podcast. It’s also been a time of immense change, with a stint in rehab a capper to the circumstances that led to the creation of ‘Quaranta’ during a period of heavy drinking and drug use that spilled out of the pandemic.

Written by: Jack Terry | Date: Monday, 27 November 2023

Beirut - Hadsel (Album Review)

Photo: Lina Gaißer Like many of Beirut’s albums, understanding how ‘Hadsel’ was conceived and recorded is important, but only gets you so far. After a ruthless touring schedule and the pandemic Zach Condon, Beirut’s front and often only man, withdrew to a Norwegian church to assemble the follow up to 2019’s ‘Gallipoli’. Despite its reverent, deep organ mingling with weaving Nordic choruses throughout, ‘Hadsel’ emerges as a mostly joyful and surprisingly spirited album.

Written by: Jacob Brookman | Date: Friday, 24 November 2023

André 3000 - New Blue Sun (Album Review)

When André 3000 announced his debut solo album and first full length in 17 years, people immediately paid attention. But when we found out that the OutKast legend’s ‘New Blue Sun’ was an 87-minute instrumental flute record, there were questions. How could it be that one of the greatest rappers and lyricists to ever grace the game was going to do without words?

Written by: Jack Terry | Date: Thursday, 23 November 2023

Dolly Parton - Rockstar (Album Review)

Being the Queen of Country is, apparently, not enough for Dolly Parton. Following her induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2022, she has set out to earn her stripes in that grizzled arena with ‘Rockstar’, a 30 song behemoth of a record that combines covers and a handful of originals performed alongside megawatt guest stars.

Written by: Jack Press | Date: Tuesday, 21 November 2023

Johnny Flynn and Robert Macfarlane - The Moon Also Rises

During lockdown, Johnny Flynn teamed up with nature writer and commentator Robert Macfarlane to record an album of surprising wit, purpose and solemnity based around the Epic of Gilgamesh. Now, with the world sort-of back to normal, the two have collaborated for a second record. It’s bigger and brighter, and continues to build on Flynn’s distinctive catalogue of southern English pastoral folk.

Written by: Jacob Brookman | Date: Monday, 20 November 2023

PinkPantheress - Heaven Knows (Album Review)

Photo: Aidan Zamiri PinkPantheress’s rise has been nothing if not rapid. In the span of a couple of years the 22-year-old has gone from anonymously posting mixes on social media to a couple of million TikTok followers and monthly streaming stats in the same ballpark. Her debut album ‘Heaven Knows’ is perfectly pitched to continue that momentum.

Written by: Katie Macbeth | Date: Friday, 17 November 2023

Baby Queen - Quarter Life Crisis (Album Review)

An album about existential anxiety has no right to be this enjoyable. But in following up her 2021 mixtape ‘The Yearbook’, Baby Queen’s debut LP manages to neatly merge fun with a lurking sense of dread. 

Written by: Adam England | Date: Thursday, 16 November 2023

Jockstrap - I<3UQTINVU (Album Review)

Photo: Eddie Whelan Jockstrap occupy a strange space. They are musical oddballs who produce the sort of music many might baulk at, and yet, they are also radio-play regulars with a Mercury Prize nomination to their name. ‘I<3UQTINVU’ (shorthand for 'I Love You Cutie, I Envy You') is more interested in exploring  the former state than the latter.

Written by: Jo Higgs | Date: Wednesday, 15 November 2023

Kevin Abstract - Blanket (Album Review)

Photo: Arseni Khachaturan Where do you go after a break-up? Usually, nowhere specific. You float around for a while and find out where or how you’re meant to exist without a former constant in your life. Kevin Abstract’s latest solo album ‘Blanket’ finds the former Brockhampton leader in this open-ended spot, navigating a world without the anchor that saw him from adolescent to adult.

Written by: Jack McGill | Date: Thursday, 09 November 2023

King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard - The Silver Cord (Album Review)

How much synth could a lizard wizard synth if a lizard wizard could play a synth? Well, here’s your answer. ‘The Silver Cord’ is King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard’s 25th album, but that doesn’t mean they don’t have new tricks up their billowing sleeves.

Written by: Jack McGill | Date: Wednesday, 08 November 2023

Empty Country - Empty Country II (Album Review)

Not content with releasing four blistering records as the frontman of the post-rocking indie-punks Cymbal Eat Guitars, in 2020 Joseph D’Agostino announced an entirely new project in the form of Empty Country. Far from being a poor imitation of what had come before, it signalled a fresh chapter and reinvigorated way of working for the songwriter, whose razor sharp observations of American life bled into his increasingly fictitious writing style.

Written by: Craig Howieson | Date: Wednesday, 08 November 2023

Tkay Maidza - Sweet Justice (Album Review)

Photo: Dana Trippe It feels as though Tkay Maidza has been set to achieve household name status for several years now. The versatile Zimbabwean-Australian vocalist has all the ingredients to become the next big thing — her sound is a dream fusion of bass-heavy Megan Thee Stallion-esque rap and SZA-style alternative R&B.

Written by: Tom Morgan | Date: Tuesday, 07 November 2023

Bombay Bicycle Club - My Big Day (Album Review)

Photo: Tom Oxley ‘My Big Day’, Bombay Bicycle Club’s sixth studio album, is a collab-laden journey through the neon fairground of the soul, with guest appearances from Damon Albarn, Nilüfer Yanya and Jay Som, among others. The result is a tight and colourful record that keeps the band relevant, but doesn’t break new ground.

Written by: Jacob Brookman | Date: Monday, 06 November 2023