Real Estate - Daniel (Album Review)

Photo: Sinna Nasseri Over the past 15 years, Real Estate have mastered the sort of gentle jangle-pop that might soundtrack days spent at the beach following sunny road trips along coastal highways. They might one day veer from the blacktop but their sixth album continues to follow that road, drawing strength from its comforting sense of familiarity.

Written by: Matthew McLister | Date: Friday, 01 March 2024

Mick Mars - The Other Side Of Mars (Album Review)

Given the furore over his retirement from Mötley Crüe after four decades of riffs and glam-metal excess, Mick Mars had a lot of fuel with which to approach his first solo record. On ‘The Other Side Of Mars’ the guitarist seeks to display, you guessed it, another side to his work, pairing his undimmed skills as a guitarist with the dominant vocal abilities of Jacob Bunton and Brion Gamboa. When they click, they are something of a force of nature together, but too often they don’t. 

Written by: Issy Herring | Date: Wednesday, 28 February 2024

Nadine Shah - Filthy Underneath (Album Review)

Photo: Tim Topple Anyone attending recent Depeche Mode shows would have been treated, however briefly, to a bewitching support slot from Nadine Shah. In her grasp she held a clutch of new songs from ‘Filthy Underneath’, an album that encompasses so much about what makes the Tyneside artist so deeply admired and loved.

Written by: Graeme Marsh | Date: Wednesday, 28 February 2024

iDKHOW - Gloom Division (Album Review)

Photo: MANIC PROJECT ‘Gloom Division’ is the second studio album from former Panic!At the Disco bassist Dallon Weekes under the not-at-all-clunky name I Dont Know How But They Found Me, or iDKHOW for short. For the most part, it’s a sunny synth-drenched popsicle, balancing chunky rhythms and bass with catchy-ish melodies and theatrical vocals.

Written by: Jacob Brookman | Date: Wednesday, 28 February 2024

The Snuts - Millennials (Album Review)

Photo: Gaz Williamson ‘Millennials’ is the Snuts’ third studio album, but notably the first the Scottish indie-rockers have released on their own label, Happy Artists. Finding that their vision no longer aligned with that of their major label, Parlophone, the name of their new home is decidedly pointed.

Written by: Graeme Marsh | Date: Tuesday, 27 February 2024

MGMT - Loss of Life (Album Review)

Photo: Jonah Freeman Since invading indie-rock with their hugely successful debut ‘Oracular Spectacular’ in 2007, MGMT have hummed along in the background, leaning heavily into electronic music and releasing records that led to a heady fusion of several styles. Returning with their fifth album ‘Loss of Life’, their first in six years, Andrew VanWyngarden and Benjamin Goldwasser prove that they still aren’t comfortable playing it safe.

Written by: Chris Connor | Date: Tuesday, 27 February 2024

Serpentwithfeet - Grip (Album Review)

Even when viewed alongside such luminaries as Frank Ocean, Steve Lacy, and Blood Orange’s Dev Hynes, Serpentwithfeet’s unique vocal inflections and heart-rending melodies have helped him to stand out in a blossoming R&B scene informed by the experiences of queer black men. He has one of the most haunting voices in the entire genre but ‘Grip’ shows that he also has his share of unrealised potential. 

Written by: Jay Fullarton | Date: Monday, 26 February 2024

Paloma Faith - The Glorification of Sadness (Album Review)

A lot can change in four years. Paloma Faith’s sixth album ‘The Glorification of Sadness’ offers quite the contrast to ‘Infinite Things’, flipping that record’s focus on all-consuming love to something closer to triumph despite heartbreak. What we have here is “a divorce album without the divorce” as the chart-topping singer-songwriter leans heavily on her work following a turbulent split with her long-term partner.

Written by: Issy Herring | Date: Monday, 26 February 2024

Laura Jane Grace - Hole In My Head (Album Review)

Photo: Bella Peterson Since the pandemic, Laura Jane Grace’s solo career has become less of a side quest than a main adventure. In the first two years of this decade, the Against Me! frontwoman pulled two stellar releases from her sleeve — 2020’s ‘Stay Alive’ and 2021’s ‘At War With The Silverfish’ EP — with no prior warning. 

Written by: Emma Wilkes | Date: Friday, 23 February 2024

William Doyle - Springs Eternal (Album Review)

‘Springs Eternal’ is the latest missive from William Doyle, the Bournemouth electronic (and occasionally ambient) producer also known for a time as East India Youth. It finds this tender soul in diverse spirits, delivering a record of impressive versatility, if not always solid gold songwriting.

Written by: Jacob Brookman | Date: Thursday, 22 February 2024

IDLES - Tangk (Album Review)

Each new IDLES album has come to feel like a turning point, with the Bristol band always reaching for something approaching a defining statement. ‘Tangk’ is no different, stepping into a revolving door of love songs that are alternately angry, soft, or gleeful. 

Written by: Jack McGill | Date: Thursday, 22 February 2024

Grandaddy - Blu Wav (Album Review)

Photo: Dustin Aksland Fans of sad, cosmic alt-country rejoice! This small but fervent group will be ecstatic at the release of ‘Blu Wav’, the latest from California cult heroes Grandaddy, who looked for a while like they were finished.

Written by: Tom Morgan | Date: Wednesday, 21 February 2024

Cast - Love is the Call (Album Review)

Photo: Paul Husband The ‘90s are big business right now, and the nostalgia industry hasn’t skipped over Britpop. A number of the old guard have joined the fray, with Blur and Pulp wowing huge crowds last year, and Shed Seven recently landing their first number one album. Cast are getting in on the act with ‘Love is the Call’, their first album since 2017’s ‘Kicking Up the Dust’.

Written by: Graeme Marsh | Date: Tuesday, 20 February 2024

Usher - Coming Home (Album Review)

Photo: Bellamy Brewster You want music to get down to, you go to Usher. That was true 30 years ago, and it’s true today. Released to coincide with his career-spanning Super Bowl halftime show, his ninth album ‘Coming Home’ shows no signs of letting that slip.

Written by: Jack Terry | Date: Tuesday, 20 February 2024

Brittany Howard - What Now (Album Review)

Photo: Bobbi Rich Released only a year after her band Alabama Shakes were placed on the shelf, Brittany Howard’s solo bow ‘Jaime’ was a rich, enticing mix of sentimental genre fusions, heavy-hitting songwriting and an unwavering sense of confidence. Remarkably, ‘What Now’ is an improvement on all fronts.

Written by: Jay Fullarton | Date: Monday, 19 February 2024

The Last Dinner Party - Prelude to Ecstasy (Album Review)

Photo: Cal McIntyre ‘Prelude to Ecstasy’ is a hugely exciting and precocious debut from some very talented musicians. Here the Last Dinner Party combine grand orchestral arrangements, chamber pop, and indie stylings with fantastic lyrical storytelling, justifying the band’s early hype and likely setting up their inclusion on plenty of year-end lists come winter. 

Written by: Jacob Brookman | Date: Friday, 16 February 2024

Zara Larsson - Venus (Album Review)

It’s a bit weird that Zara Larsson isn’t one of the biggest pop stars on the planet. Continuously packaged and produced for breakout success, and with a decade of Europop bangers already under her belt, it feels like she should be everywhere. But, for a variety of reasons, it hasn’t happened. Her new album ‘Venus’ is a fairly transparent attempt to course-correct her career.

Written by: Jack Press | Date: Thursday, 15 February 2024

Declan McKenna - What Happened To The Beach? (Album Review)

For his third album, Declan McKenna has zigged across to the West Coast of America to record an album of wonky, skronky pop songs. It’s another left turn for a singer-songwriter whose 2017 breakthrough record ‘What Do You Think About the Car?’ introduced a precocious indie teen troubadour — a sort of Gen Z Gary Numan. 

Written by: Jacob Brookman | Date: Wednesday, 14 February 2024

Chelsea Wolfe - She Reaches Out To She Reaches Out To She (Album Review)

Photo: Ebru Yildiz Chelsea Wolfe has always been unpredictable. The last we heard from her, she was teaming with Converge to create an unholy racket on their ‘Bloodmoon: I’ collaborative album, having already experimented with genres including folk, goth, rock, and industrial in her solo career. It’s remarkable, then, that her latest album ‘She Reaches Out To She Reaches Out To She’ manages to venture into uncharted territory once more.

Written by: Katie Macbeth | Date: Friday, 09 February 2024

Gruff Rhys - Sadness Sets Me Free (Album Review)

Photo: Mark James More than 35 years into his career, Gruff Rhys is still finding ways to surprise people. Having masterminded a weird-pop moment with Super Furry Animals before embarking on a solo career studded with puppets and soundtrack work, ‘Sadness Sets Me Free’ is his latest left-turn.

Written by: Jack Butler-Terry | Date: Wednesday, 07 February 2024