Alvvays - Blue Rev (Album Review)
On Pharmacist, the opening track from Alvvays’ third record ‘Blue Rev’, Molly Rankin sounds as if she is swimming back to the surface, having sprung off a 10 metre diving board. The ensuing Easy On Your Own? shares its submerged, disorienting aesthetic. Synth fuelled shogazing and serrated guitars add intrigue to the band's often pristine sound, making you work that little bit harder for the lyrical rewards Rankin offers up.
Written by: Craig Howieson | Date: Tuesday, 11 October 2022
Broken Bells - Into the Blue (Album Review)
Photo: Shervin Lainez and Nikki Fenix ‘Into the Blue’ is the third album from Broken Bells, the eye-catching duo of artist-producer Danger Mouse and Shins troubadour and bandleader James Mercer. It’s nine tracks of dreamy space rock with shuffling midtempo beats, landing somewhere between Syd Barrett-era Pink Floyd and Portishead. It demonstrates a high degree of expertise on the part of its creators—the production in particular is excellent—but doesn’t quite set the world alight with its songwriting.
Written by: Jacob Brookman | Date: Tuesday, 11 October 2022
The Snuts - Burn The Empire (Album Review)
Photo: Edward Cooke Now this is how you follow up a chart-topping debut album. By trimming some fat, pushing forward into new sonic realms and delivering an unfiltered socio-political attack, The Snuts have made good on their promise to take bigger risks on a bold, bar-raising successor to 2021s ‘W.L’.
Written by: Simon Ramsay | Date: Monday, 10 October 2022
Björk - Fossora (Album Review)
Björk’s 10th studio album is her most arresting and relatable in years, deploying 13 tracks of avant-garde music based around key themes of familial loss, emotional complexity and fungi. It finds the Icelandic singer in extremely confident and innovative form, dodging obvious genres or even song structures. Whatever this music is, it feels a long way from pop.
Written by: Jacob Brookman | Date: Monday, 10 October 2022
Kid Cudi - Entergalactic (Album Review)
When Kid Cudi announced his animated Netflix movie Entergalactic and an accompanying soundtrack album of the same name, there was cautious optimism for a man whose back catalogue has been largely maligned unless it’s called ‘Man On The Moon’. As it turns out, this pattern has continued.
Written by: Jack Terry | Date: Thursday, 06 October 2022
Shygirl - Nymph (Album Review)
Photo: Jacqueline Landvik ‘Nymph’ is the debut album from London rapper and singer Shygirl, and it sees the 29-year-old take us on a late night voyage through club genres, collabing with a host of bleeding edge producers along the way. With Mura Masa, Arca and Sega Bodega on board it’s a splendid record that jinks around with great confidence while Shygirl herself delivers vocals that are versatile and skilful, blending beautiful digitised melody lines with abject pop filth.
Written by: Jacob Brookman | Date: Wednesday, 05 October 2022
Editors - EBM (Album Review)
Photo: Rahi Rezvani Since the release of ‘Violence’ in 2018, the dynamic within Editors has changed. Benjamin John Power of Blanck Mass and Fuck Buttons, who had partially produced that album, has now joined the band on a full time basis. Unsurprisingly, the resulting ‘EBM’ sounds more attuned to his electro-industrial style than Editors’ post-punk brand.
Written by: Graeme Marsh | Date: Tuesday, 04 October 2022
Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Cool It Down (Album Review)
Yeah Yeah Yeahs occupy a particular space in pop music. In the early 2000s they were at the forefront of the New York indie scene and, along with The Strokes and Interpol, were key players in a unique cultural moment that combined intellectualism, thrashy guitars and a kind of punk hedonism.
Written by: Jacob Brookman | Date: Monday, 03 October 2022
Alex G - God Save The Animals (Album Review)
Photo: Chris Maggio Alex G has established a reputation as one of American indie music’s great experimenters. Crafting lo-fi realms that change scenery at a moment’s notice, he has developed a knack for writing songs that are rewarding listen upon listen.
Written by: Matty Pywell | Date: Friday, 30 September 2022
Slipknot - The End, So Far (Album Review)
Photo: Jonathan Weiner Three years ago, Slipknot got up off their knees and started running again. ‘We Are Not Your Kind’, their first album in half a decade, was met with open arms thanks to its intriguing experimental touches and a renewed sense of thrill about their clattering percussion and growling riffs.
Written by: Emma Wilkes | Date: Thursday, 29 September 2022
The Black Angels - Wilderness of Mirrors (Album Review)
The message delivered by the Black Angels’ sixth studio album ‘Wilderness of Mirrors’ is clear: survive these turbulent times in your own way but wake up to the dangers and deceit that lie at every turn. The band spent a year and a half creating their first LP in five years thanks to lockdown, crafting a dose of reality and a response to the chaos of recent times.
Written by: Graeme Marsh | Date: Thursday, 29 September 2022
Sports Team - Gulp! (Album Review)
Photo: Lauren Maccabee ‘Gulp!’ is the second album from Cambridge indie band Sports Team, and sees the sextet deliver 10 tracks of rousing rock with smashy, humorous lyrics and shoutalong choruses, if not much in the way of a unique personality.
Written by: Jacob Brookman | Date: Wednesday, 28 September 2022
Rina Sawayama - Hold The Girl (Album Review)
Photo: Thurstan Redding Rina Sawayama exploded into the public consciousness with her debut album ‘Sawayama’ in 2020—delivering the perfect introduction to an artist who wanted to mash together pop and R&B with fiery blasts of nu-metal. Since then, she has been rising up festival bills and collaborated with Charli XCX and Elton John.
Written by: Matty Pywell | Date: Tuesday, 27 September 2022
Mura Masa - Demon Time (Album Review)
‘Demon Time’ is the third album from the UK producer and songwriter born Alex Crossan, and sees the Guernseyman call on a starmix of hot talent to deliver a sugar rush of fizzy pop tracks.
Written by: Jacob Brookman | Date: Monday, 26 September 2022
The Mars Volta - The Mars Volta (Album Review)
The Mars Volta’s self-titled comeback album has been described as the band ‘going pop’, but it’s nowhere near as radical a shift as has been made out. Their previous full-length, 2012’s underrated ‘Nocturniquet’, was a notable shift towards this revamped style, as was the more recent solo work of guitarist Omar Rodríguez-López.
Written by: Tom Morgan | Date: Monday, 26 September 2022
Ozzy Osbourne - Patient Number 9 (Album Review)
Photo: Ross Halfin Despite the odds being stacked against it, somehow you just knew The Prince of Darkness’s 13th solo album would be a special affair that befitted its numerical placing in his discography. Deliberately funnelling much of his, and by extension Black Sabbath’s, iconic musical strokes and unmistakable character into an epic retro-modern aesthetic, Ozzy Osbourne’s ‘Patient Number 9’ is a vital, bold record that celebrates and enhances his legacy without feeling contrived.
Written by: Simon Ramsay | Date: Friday, 23 September 2022
Suede - Autofiction (Album Review)
Photo: Dean Chalkley Somewhat surprisingly, it’s already been 12 years since Suede reformed. As unlikely as a reunion once seemed, it was perhaps even less likely that their comeback after a seven year absence would yield four sumptuous albums that increasingly moved into cinematic storytelling.
Written by: Graeme Marsh | Date: Thursday, 22 September 2022
Whitney - Spark (Album Review)
Photo: Tonje Thilesen A cursory listen to ‘Spark’ might result in an unexpected experience for existing fans of Chicago’s Whitney, formed of Julien Ehlrich and Max Kakacek. Despite their knack for a strong pop hook, their harmonious melodies have to date always sat upon a bed of gentle folk and Americana, like a slightly psych-tinged Neil Young.
Written by: Craig Howieson | Date: Thursday, 22 September 2022
Death Cab For Cutie - Asphalt Meadows (Album Review)
Death Cab For Cutie have been growing old with style and grace for over a decade now. The departure of guitarist-producer Chris Walla in 2014 tore a hole in the hull of the group, but it didn’t sink them. And on 2017’s ‘Thank You For Today’ and the subsequent ‘Blue EP’ and ‘Georgia EP’ they reaffirmed themselves as the elder statesmen of the alternative scene, a beacon of hard won success and consistency.
Written by: Craig Howieson | Date: Wednesday, 21 September 2022
Lissie - Carving Canyons (Album Review)
Secluded on her 45 acre farm in Iowa while dealing with a sudden and devastating breakup as Covid rampaged around the globe, Lissie Maurus faced the unenviable task of working through a grief cycle informed by both her own and the wider world’s loss. Every shade of despair and loneliness informs the forthright, familiar and, ultimately, sanguine material on ‘Carving Canyons,’ the fifth record of the singer’s career.
Written by: Simon Ramsay | Date: Wednesday, 21 September 2022
The Beths - Expert In A Dying Field (Album Review)
“Can we erase our history?” This is the question posed by Elizabeth Stokes on the first line of The Beths’ new record ‘Expert In A Dying Field’. As much a plea as it is a request, it suggests that Stokes is looking to draw a line in the sand—romantically, platonically or professionally—to allow bygones to be bygones in the pursuit of a happier future.
Written by: Craig Howieson | Date: Tuesday, 20 September 2022
Marcus Mumford - (self-titled) (Album Review)
Photo: Robin Harper Marcus Mumford operates in a fairly unique space. As the frontman of (arguably) the biggest folk band in the world, he has professional success beyond most musicians’ dreams, and yet there is something quite brittle about Mumford & Sons.
Written by: Jacob Brookman | Date: Friday, 16 September 2022
Jockstrap - I Love You Jennifer B (Album Review)
Photo: Eddie Whelan It is possible to build an exciting, long-lasting career in music from one really good idea. Just ask AC/DC or the Ramones. It’s when they start to pile up that things can get dicey—if you assemble a thousand ideas for one record, there is a good chance that quite a lot of them won’t be up to snuff. That makes Jockstrap’s debut LP ‘I Love You Jennifer B’ a remarkable achievement.
Written by: Huw Baines | Date: Thursday, 15 September 2022
Parkway Drive - Darker Still (Album Review)
Photo: Dave LePage Given their recent track record it shouldn’t come as a surprise that Parkway Drive’s seventh album underlines the fact that the Byron Bay bruisers aren’t a metalcore band any more. Since branching out into modern metal and stadium-sized writing with 2015’s ‘Ire’ and its 2018 follow up ‘Reverence’, the band took some time out to figure out how to speed Parkway further down that road.
Written by: Will Marshall | Date: Wednesday, 14 September 2022
John Legend - Legend (Album Review)
Titled 'Legend' and adorned with a sleeve photo of John Legend bathed in a warm golden wash, hands clasped against his bare chest as if to say "welcome back to me", there's something outwardly self-congratulatory about his eighth studio release.
Written by: Jack Terry | Date: Tuesday, 13 September 2022
Preoccupations - Arrangements (Album Review)
Photo: Erik Tanner The music of Canada’s Preoccupations, despite its family tree of identifiable influences, has always held a futuristic quality. Matt Flegel, Mike Wallace, Scott Munro and Daniel Christiansen are well equipped when it comes to weaving barbed intrusions into a dystopian future, and theirs is a world of shimmering silvers and soul-sapping greys where their particular brand of post-punk seems perfectly at home.
Written by: Craig Howieson | Date: Monday, 12 September 2022
The Callous Daoboys - Celebrity Therapist (Album Review)
Mathcore is a difficult genre to get a handle on as both a musician and listener—it’s abrasive, unconventional, and its mishmash of sounds and time signatures can often end up in a jumbled, unlistenable mess. Atlantan septet The Callous Daoboys neatly circumvent these problems on their second album ‘Celebrity Therapist’, making a compelling case for the kind of genre dominance not seen since The Dillinger Escape Plan hung up their spurs.
Written by: Will Marshall | Date: Thursday, 08 September 2022
Embrace - How to Be a Person Like Other People (Album Review)
Although a more consistent and sure-footed effort than 2018’s ‘Love Is A Basic Need’, Embrace’s eighth album is still plagued by some of the same issues that rendered its predecessor plodding and predictable. Nevertheless, thanks to stronger songwriting, a re-energised band and vocalist Danny McNamara giving the performance of his lifetime, such failings are less of a bugbear on this mostly splendid effort.
Written by: Simon Ramsay | Date: Wednesday, 07 September 2022
Yungblud - Yungblud (Album Review)
Arriving at his third album, Yungblud is in an interesting spot. To his fans, who sent album two ‘Weird’ to the top of the UK charts, he is a relatable emblem of rebellion and freedom. Outside of that passionate group, though, he’s a sometimes confusing jumble of influences: scene kid eyeliner, ‘77 punk iconography, a lip-curling sneer over 1975-style pop.
Written by: Huw Baines | Date: Wednesday, 07 September 2022
Ezra Furman - All of Us Flames (Album Review)
Photo: Tonje Thilesen Ezra Furman has long been capable of encapsulating deep feeling and emotional weight for an audience. On her latest album ‘All of Us Flames’ she takes her search for community and makes it tangible for listeners.
Written by: Rebecca Llewellyn | Date: Monday, 05 September 2022
Julia Jacklin - Pre Pleasure (Album Review)
The cover of ‘Pre Pleasure’ depicts Julia Jacklin inspecting a blown up image of her face. The colourful photograph not-so-subtly mirrors the album’s tone, which is similarly bright and introspective.
Written by: Tom Morgan | Date: Friday, 02 September 2022
Stella Donnelly - Flood (Album Review)
Stella Donnelly took time out to travel in the lead up to her new album ‘Flood’. The Australian indie artist had developed a significant following with her blunt lyrical style, which saw her take on societal issues and find humour in rallying against those who would patronise her on her debut LP ‘Beware of the Dogs’.
Written by: Matty Pywell | Date: Thursday, 01 September 2022
Machine Head - Øf Kingdøm And Crøwn (Album Review)
Machine Head’s career trajectory since they released the modern metal classic ‘The Blackening’ in 2007 has been something of a head-scratcher. In 2011 and 2014 they released the solid ‘Unto The Locust’ and ‘Bloodstone and Diamonds’ respectively, but 2018’s ‘Catharsis’ is widely regarded as a career low-point for the band. Fortunately, ‘Øf Kingdøm And Crøwn’ is a return to form.
Written by: Will Marshall | Date: Wednesday, 31 August 2022
Muse - Will of the People (Album Review)
‘Will of the People’ is Muse’s ninth studio album and represents a furious, quizzical artistic agenda that recalls some of their most streamed and commercially successful work. To listen to it is to immerse yourself in a cross-section of their sound where hard rock riffs underscore classical synths, glam rock stomps and histrionic hyperbole. If you’re wedded to their original turn-of-the-century music, it’s probably not for you, but for any other iteration of Muse fan, this should be a crowd pleaser.
Written by: Jacob Brookman | Date: Tuesday, 30 August 2022
Aitch - Close to Home (Album Review)
Photo: Imran Ciesay Manchester rapper and current Lynx deodorant brand ambassador Aitch first burst on the scene during 2018-19, when his ‘On Your Marks’ EP gathered giant airplay and plaudits from UK hip hop glitterati. ‘Close to Home’ is the 22-year-old’s first full album.
Written by: Jacob Brookman | Date: Friday, 26 August 2022
The Mountain Goats - Bleed Out (Album Review)
Photo: Spence Kelly John Darnielle always has an angle. Now with three novels to his name, the Mountain Goats’ leader has proven himself every bit as capable as a writer of fiction as he is of songs—he has always had an eye for a good story.
Written by: Craig Howieson | Date: Friday, 26 August 2022
Hot Chip - Freakout/Release (Album Review)
Photo: Pooneh Ghana The last time we heard from Hot Chip they’d donned tie dye and embarked upon psychedelic experimentation with ‘A Bath Full of Ecstasy’. An album filled with cathartic joy and dreamlike melodies, it was testament to the dance group’s ability to easily find new ground.
Written by: Matty Pywell | Date: Thursday, 25 August 2022
The Chats - Get Fucked (Album Review)
Photo: Luke Henery The second album from Aussie punks The Chats brings to mind speeding down a dirt track in a wagon with rickety wheels that could fall off at any moment. It’s a frenetic experience that barrels along at breakneck speed, and there’s absolutely nothing smooth about it in sound or sentiment.
Written by: Emma Wilkes | Date: Thursday, 25 August 2022
Spielbergs - Vestli (Album Review)
Photo: Johan Malvik Spielbergs’ cataclysmic debut ‘This Is Not The End’ was crammed to the rafters with nostalgic teenage angst delivered by men comfortably in their 30s. It was a record that celebrated the youthful pursuit of something better, something bigger, whatever that might be.
Written by: Craig Howieson | Date: Wednesday, 24 August 2022
Demi Lovato - Holy Fvck (Album Review)
Photo: Brandon Bowen “I know the girl that you adored, she's dead,” Demi Lovato sings on Eat Me. “It's time to fucking mourn.” The fourth track on her new album ‘Holy Fvck’ is a clear statement of intent from the former X Factor USA judge, who made it clear in the run-up to its release that it’s a return to her “rock roots.”
Written by: Laura Johnson | Date: Wednesday, 24 August 2022
Osees - A Foul Form (Album Review)
Osees’ 26th (yes, 26th) studio album finds the American psych-scuzz rockers in pretty bad shape. Core member and guitar-druid-in-chief John Dwyer is angrier than ever, and a feeling of doom pervades the record’s 10 tracks. It is a typically beguiling, innovative and exhilarating ride, but not necessarily one that breaks new ground for the Los Angeles-based band.
Written by: Jacob Brookman | Date: Tuesday, 23 August 2022
Kiwi Jr. - Chopper (Album Review)
Photo: Laura-Lynn Petrick Kiwi Jr.’s third album ‘Chopper’ offers a change of pace from the Canadian indie-pop band. In contrast to their 2020 debut ‘Football Money’, there’s less reliance on Byrdsian jangly guitars and slacker-rock poses. The overriding feeling is, appropriately for this time of year, a summery vibe.
Written by: Graeme Marsh | Date: Monday, 22 August 2022
Cass McCombs - Heartmind (Album Review)
With his latest release ‘Heartmind’, Cass McCombs is now 10 albums into a career that started in the late ‘90s. Quietly weathering the storms faced by any career musician, he has amassed a passionate fan base and rewarded them time and time again with work that cements his status as one of America's finest and most consistent songwriters.
Written by: Craig Howieson | Date: Friday, 19 August 2022
Danger Mouse and Black Thought - Cheat Codes (Album Review)
Photo: Shervin Lainez In hip hop, there’s a tendency for critics to value dense musical experimentation and lofty themes above all else. The most well-received rap albums of this year, such as those released by Kendrick Lamar and Billy Woods, are challenging, eclectic works, defined by grand ambitions and demanding ideas.
Written by: Tom Morgan | Date: Wednesday, 17 August 2022
Goo Goo Dolls - Chaos In Bloom (Album Review)
Photo: Claire Marie Vogel John Rzeznik recently told Spin: “I don’t care about genres of music, I care about hooks.” From their formative punk days and mid-90s guitar driven rock to turn of the century mainstream anthemics and a recent brush with contemporary pop, when the Goo Goo Dolls imperious refrains strike the target, as they do with unswerving accuracy here, it’s hard to get bent out of shape about their stylistic evolution.
Written by: Simon Ramsay | Date: Tuesday, 16 August 2022
Pale Waves - Unwanted (Album Review)
Photo: Pip Manchester quartet Pale Waves’ third studio album ‘Unwanted’ is, on the surface, fuelled by the emo energy that vocalist Heather Baron-Gracie has become synonymous with. Heavily influenced by Avril Lavigne, The Cranberries and The 1975, the group have a handle on goth-pop theatrics, ‘90s grunge and pop-punk prowess, yet there is a deeper layer here. Beyond mirroring past hits, their emotive journey and connection to their fans is now truly exciting.
Written by: Rebecca Llewellyn | Date: Monday, 15 August 2022
Kasabian - The Alchemist's Euphoria (Album Review)
Photo: Neil Bedford What do you do when your lead singer leaves the band? Carry on with a new recruit? Dissolve altogether? Or carry on with a current band member stepping up to the mic in the mould of Genesis or, in a way, Joy Division and New Order.
Written by: Graeme Marsh | Date: Friday, 12 August 2022
Lauv - All 4 Nothing (Album Review)
‘All 4 Nothing’ is the second album from singer-songwriter (and viral megastar) Lauv, and it delivers 13 cool, middle-of-the-road pop tracks that show off the Californian’s accessible tween-pop chops. It is a record that delivers a consistent, soft and professional sound that is almost completely devoid of any risk-taking—Lou Reed’s ‘Metal Machine Music’ it ain’t.
Written by: Jacob Brookman | Date: Wednesday, 10 August 2022
Calvin Harris - Funk Wav. Bounces Vol.2 (Album Review)
In the 2000s, a genre of compilation albums emerged featuring laid back dance music with titles like ‘Ibiza Lounge’ and ‘Chillout Summer Mix’. To listen to these records was to be transported to a Mediterranean cocktail bar with eye-wateringly expensive drinks and the worst people you are ever likely to meet. Calvin Harris’s ‘Funk Wav. Bounces Vol.2’ is the VIP version of that.
Written by: Jacob Brookman | Date: Monday, 08 August 2022
Beyoncé - Renaissance (Album Review)
Photo: Mason Poole There’s pressure, and then there’s the pressure to be Beyoncé. Her recent output—from 2016’s ‘Lemonade’ through to her game-changing Beychella set, collaborative album with Jay-Z, and multi-hyphenate work on The Lion King and Black is King—has all carried this weight, lucidly discussing social justice and the Black experience while setting fresh benchmarks for ambition and cross-format, capital I Importance. ‘Renaissance’ feels different—it’s capital F Fun.
Written by: Huw Baines | Date: Friday, 05 August 2022
