Gary Numan - Savage: Songs From A Broken World (Album Review)

Despite three successive UK number one albums between 1979 and 1980 and over 20 top 40 singles, Gary Numan’s legacy tends to boil down to the same two songs: Cars and Tubeway Army’s Are ‘Friends’ Electric?.

Written by: Graeme Marsh | Date: Thursday, 21 September 2017

Ariel Pink - Dedicated To Bobby Jameson (Album Review)

Sometimes it’s not clear whether Ariel Pink is a genius or a talented fool. Perhaps he’s both. Something that is readily apparent, though, is that he is a master when it comes to making intricate, considered tracks sound lo-fi and off the cuff. Therein seems to lie the secret of his appeal.

Written by: Laura Johnson | Date: Wednesday, 20 September 2017

Sløtface - Try Not To Freak Out (Album Review)

Photo: Martin Høye  ‘Try Not To Freak Out’ would be a great soundtrack to a teen movie, if it wasn’t already accompanying the lives of a group of young Norwegians in a punk band called Sløtface.

Written by: Jennifer Geddes | Date: Wednesday, 20 September 2017

Rostam - Half-Light (Album Review)

Since Rostam Batmanglij officially went solo in January of last year, the New Yorker has been busy. A production CV that already boasted work with Frank Ocean and Solange Knowles has added RAC, Haim and indie dreamboy du jour Declan McKenna, and while his debut solo album ‘Half-Light’ features music that has been released over the past six years, it is clearly the result of intense studio workshopping.

Written by: Jacob Brookman | Date: Tuesday, 19 September 2017

Arcane Roots - Melancholia Hymns (Album Review)

There’s something special about Arcane Roots. Upon the release of their mini-album, ‘Left Fire’, six years ago, the press pushed, shoved and slapped each other to cover them. They wanted to proclaim ‘I got to them first! I uncovered this hidden gem!’ before dumping them just as quickly. The usual.

Written by: Alec Chillingworth | Date: Tuesday, 19 September 2017

Queens of the Stone Age - Villains (Album Review)

Now approaching the 20th anniversary of their self-titled debut, Queens of the Stone Age have largely jettisoned the brooding stoner rock core that dominated their early albums. On their seventh studio LP, ‘Villains’, the echoes of classic rock remain but they have been coated in a dance-funk infusion introduced by Mark Ronson.

Written by: Graeme Marsh | Date: Monday, 18 September 2017

Prophets of Rage - Prophets of Rage (Album Review)

Here’s the Prophets of Rage recipe: Rage Against the Machine without vocalist Zach de la Rocha, Chuck D and DJ Lord of Public Enemy, B-Real from Cypress Hill. Looks a right mess on paper, right?

Written by: Alec Chillingworth | Date: Monday, 18 September 2017

Jonny Lang - Signs (Album Review)

Whether you’re Walter White post cancer diagnosis, Michael Douglas’s D-Fens stuck in traffic or the most mild-mannered person on the planet, everyone has a breaking point. In the case of Jonny Lang, who’s been moulding his beloved blues into fresh new shapes for two decades, this follow up to 2013’s genre-busting ‘Fight For My Soul’ finds him blowing a proverbial gasket. It’s a thrillingly primal album bleeding with anger, defiance and exasperation.

Written by: Simon Ramsay | Date: Friday, 15 September 2017

Alvvays - Antisocialites (Album Review)

When you sound like Alvvays do, it can be hard to find room to move. On their self-titled debut, the Toronto band navigated a rich world of gauzy reverb and longing indie-pop melodies so successfully that it immediately became difficult to imagine them doing anything else.

Written by: Huw Baines | Date: Friday, 15 September 2017

Death From Above - Outrage! Is Now (Album Review)

No, it’s not a typo. The 1979 is on the scrapheap and Jesse F. Keeler and Sebastien Grainger are sticking with the name Death From Above. Whether James Murphy and DFA Records have anything else to say on the matter is a question for another day, because first we have ‘Outrage! Is Now’ to deal with.

Written by: Ben Gallivan | Date: Thursday, 14 September 2017

The National - Sleep Well Beast (Album Review)

Album seven from the celebrated miserablists in the National finds the band sticking to the same winning formula of gloomy, reflective melancholy. But its outside influences do vary from the usual personal, introspective themes dispensed through their lyrics, co-written here by Matt Berninger and his wife, the editor Carin Besser.

Written by: Graeme Marsh | Date: Wednesday, 13 September 2017

Paradise Lost - Medusa (Album Review)

Perhaps the name ‘Now That’s What I Call Doom’ is being saved for a greatest hits package but, really, Paradise Lost embody that title on ‘Medusa’. Their 15th full-length is a masterclass in the art of depressing, downtrodden doom metal.

Written by: Alec Chillingworth | Date: Tuesday, 12 September 2017

Cats in Space - Scarecrow (Album Review)

Photo: Cats In Space Facebook On a mission to resurrect the classic rock stylings of ELO, Queen, Boston and numerous golden oldie acts, Cats in Space craft the kind of tunes ‘70s and ‘80s kids will adore, ‘90s kids will despise and noughties kids will ignore. Now, if you think that sounds like a group who are shamelessly indulging their childhood fantasies, you’re not wide of the mark. But if you also believe the results will offer little more than a third rate pastiche, prepare for a wonderful surprise.

Written by: Simon Ramsay | Date: Tuesday, 12 September 2017

Sparks - Hippopotamus (Album Review)

Sparks are an acquired taste. Joyously idiosyncratic and defiantly throwback, their 23rd album, ‘Hippopotamus’, showcases the arty quirkiness that long-time fans love while driving home their fundamental creative philosophy: classically informed songwriting infused with a camp, fun intellectualism.

Written by: Jacob Brookman | Date: Monday, 11 September 2017

The Cadillac Three - Legacy (Album Review)

If ever an album was perfectly titled it’s this third effort from the Cadillac Three. Although primarily referring to the band’s musical lineage and the mark they want to leave behind as people, it’s a surprisingly personal record that enriches their catalogue with the kind of depth and variety that builds true artistic legacies.

Written by: Simon Ramsay | Date: Friday, 08 September 2017

Nick Mulvey - Wake Up Now (Album Review)

After leaving Portico Quartet, Nick Mulvey quickly set out the parameters for a successful solo run. His debut, ‘First Mind’, was nominated for the Mercury Prize in 2014, six years after his old band made the shortlist with ‘Knee-Deep in the North Sea’.

Written by: Helen Payne | Date: Friday, 08 September 2017

Walter Trout - We're All In This Together (Album Review)

Andy Dufresne said it best: “Get busy living or get busy dying.” Walter Trout was helplessly engaged in the latter until a liver transplant saved his life in 2014, but since then he’s pursued the former with a ceaseless vigour. The blues-rock titan has grabbed his second chance with both hands and ‘We’re All In This Together’ finds him, with a little help from a star-studded cast of friends, continuing to do so.

Written by: Simon Ramsay | Date: Thursday, 07 September 2017

OMD - The Punishment Of Luxury (Album Review)

Photo: Mark McNulty Having enjoyed a notable resurgence with 2010’s comeback album ‘History of Modern’, electronic pioneers Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark quickly followed it up with another worthy addition to their canon: 2013’s ‘English Electric’. This quick one-two defied expectations after some 14 years of radio silence.

Written by: Graeme Marsh | Date: Thursday, 07 September 2017

Baby in Vain - More Nothing (Album Review)

As a title, ‘More Nothing’ is entirely misleading. The phrase denotes a lack of progress and suggests that Baby in Vain’s debut LP will follow closely in the footsteps of its predecessor, last year’s ‘For The Kids’ EP. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Written by: Laura Johnson | Date: Thursday, 07 September 2017

A$AP Ferg - Still Striving (Album Review)

‘Still Striving’ is A$AP Ferg’s most defiantly ambitious work to date, finding the rapper making a play for A$AP Rocky’s crown.

Written by: Milly McMahon | Date: Wednesday, 06 September 2017