The Smile - A Light For Attracting Attention (Album Review)
Photo: Alex Lake Things in Radiohead land take time. The five members are releasing albums less and less frequently, pursuing solo albums and side-projects before they (hopefully) one day return to their acclaimed band.
Written by: Tom Morgan | Date: Wednesday, 18 May 2022
Florence + the Machine - Dance Fever (Album Review)
Photo: Autumn de Wilde When you witness Florence Welch pirouetting around the stage like a woman possessed, it’s immediately apparent such expressive dramatics are being driven by a deeper, more profound force. The singer’s performances have always been fuelled by a roiling internal narrative, something she explores in savage detail throughout this unflinching and revealing song cycle.
Written by: Simon Ramsay | Date: Tuesday, 17 May 2022
Kendrick Lamar - Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers (Album Review)
Photo: Renell Medrano Few artists are immune to the odd blunder or downturn in form, but there are a select few who are seemingly unable to produce anything besides sheer brilliance. Kendrick Lamar’s latest, the often staggeringly impressive ‘Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers’, offers further evidence of his membership in this elite club.
Written by: Tom Morgan | Date: Tuesday, 17 May 2022
Halestorm - Back From The Dead (Album Review)
Imagine, if you will, that someone managed to bottle every last drop of anger, frustration, uncertainty and fear from the last few years. Halestorm have then downed that volatile brew and immediately stormed into the recording studio, making a take-no-prisoners fifth album that, but for a few drunken wobbles, unleashes a barrage of anthemic pop-metal that screams catharsis from every note.
Written by: Simon Ramsay | Date: Monday, 16 May 2022
Kevin Morby - This Is A Photograph (Album Review)
Kevin Morby’s latest album comes from a place of uncertainty. Having watched his father collapse at dinner earlier in the day, the singer-songwriter found himself flicking through photos in the basement of his family home. His father recovered, but this jarring moment sparked the examination of life and death found throughout ‘This Is A Photograph’.
Written by: Matty Pywell | Date: Friday, 13 May 2022
Pink Mountaintops - Peacock Pools (Album Review)
Photo: Laura Pleasants Pink Mountaintops’ fifth LP is a product of the pandemic, with the conveyor belt of creativity caused by lockdown showing no sign of letting up just yet. The band has long been an outlet for Stephen McBean, who has a foot in two camps thanks to his ongoing work in Black Mountain. The difference between the two projects is generally reflected in Pink Mountaintops’ electronic experimentation running clear of Black Mountain’s rock roots. On ‘Peacock Pools’ those differences are cranked up.
Written by: Graeme Marsh | Date: Thursday, 12 May 2022
Warpaint - Radiate Like This (Album Review)
Photo: Mia Kirby It is hard to maintain friendships over decades. Outlooks and priorities change, while the world moves around you, picking things up and putting them down in inconvenient places. It’s little wonder, perhaps, that Warpaint took six years to record their fourth studio album, moulding and crafting a release that develops their 2010s art-indie sound into something that feels fresh and contemporary.
Written by: Jacob Brookman | Date: Wednesday, 11 May 2022
Willie Nelson - A Beautiful Time (Album Review)
If any of us are fortunate enough to reach the grand old age of 89, we probably won’t be producing a late stage beauty of a record that, exuding heartfelt reflection and nostalgic recollection, imparts sage lessons as it embraces the inevitable journey into the next life.
Written by: Simon Ramsay | Date: Wednesday, 11 May 2022
Sharon Van Etten - We've Been Going About This All Wrong (Album Review)
Photo: Michael Schmelling Life-changing events can bring both joy and trauma in equal measures. Sharon Van Etten’s music has long investigated emotional extremes and her wonderful sixth album ‘We’ve Been Going About This All Wrong’ is driven by changes in circumstance and simmering hurt.
Written by: Graeme Marsh | Date: Tuesday, 10 May 2022
Soft Cell - *Happiness Not Included (Album Review)
Music often needs to be understood on its own terms. You probably wouldn’t appreciate grime in a Buddhist temple, for example, nor would happy hardcore make a lot of sense at a funeral—there are semiotic codes to be considered and respected. That brings us to British synth duo Soft Cell, who are back with their first album in 20 years and their first tour since their ‘farewell’ gig at London’s O2 in 2018. Where do they fit?
Written by: Jacob Brookman | Date: Tuesday, 10 May 2022
Arcade Fire - We (Album Review)
Photo: María José Govea Having been critical darlings throughout their career, Arcade Fire found themselves coming unstuck with the reception to their last LP ‘Everything Now’ in 2017. Win Butler has spoken of the response fitting a script: one that paints a picture of their greatness faltering before a comeback. In this story, ‘We’ is that return to form.
Written by: Graeme Marsh | Date: Monday, 09 May 2022
Toro y Moi - Mahal (Album Review)
The seventh studio album from Toro y Moi, the chillwave producer and performer also known as Chaz Bear, has been five years in the making. ‘Mahal’ is a smooth cruise through the psychelia of the 1970s and ‘80s with stop-offs at skronky surf, yacht rock and bassy funk. In many ways, it’s a success.
Written by: Jacob Brookman | Date: Friday, 06 May 2022
Bloc Party - Alpha Games (Album Review)
Photo: Wunmi Onibudo Bloc Party’s sixth LP ‘Alpha Games’ is one where Kele Okereke has attempted to write about “people in extreme situations making extreme choices”. He also claims to have ventured into new realms with his lyricism, and there is some truth to that even if this is a record inspired by a brave musical outlook that doesn’t always deliver the goods.
Written by: Graeme Marsh | Date: Friday, 06 May 2022
Kirk Hammett - Portals EP (Album Review)
Photo: Ross Halfin It’s no secret that Kirk Hammett’s contributions to Metallica have been micromanaged for years amid the band’s mix of domineering personalities and regimented work, but with every element of this debut solo EP under the guitarist’s assured command, he’s revealed an ability to spin dynamic stories through impressive compositional choices that bring his epic, cinematic visions to life.
Written by: Simon Ramsay | Date: Thursday, 05 May 2022
Rammstein - Zeit (Album Review)
Photo: Bryan Adams With the German metal titans having taken a decade to follow 2009’s ‘Liebe ist für alle da’ with 2019’s untitled album, nobody expected a new Rammstein album so soon, and there was naturally a worry that the band might be phoning it in with such a short turnaround. But they have never been ones to do what is expected, and with ‘Zeit’ they’re again out to prove that.
Written by: Will Marshall | Date: Wednesday, 04 May 2022
Let's Eat Grandma - Two Ribbons (Album Review)
Photo: El Hardwick Let’s Eat Grandma’s third studio album finds the duo in terrific creative shape, delivering 10 tracks of exuberant pop music led by gorgeously unaffected lyricism and singing.
Written by: Jacob Brookman | Date: Tuesday, 03 May 2022
Spiritualized - Everything Was Beautiful (Album Review)
So much of what Spiritualized are good at comes from deliberate, painstaking refinement. In 2014, J Spaceman (Jason Pierce) recorded a bunch of demos, which formed the basis of 2018’s ‘And Nothing Hurt’, a fine return to form that was the result of immense amounts of re-recording, remixing and layering.
Written by: Graeme Marsh | Date: Friday, 29 April 2022
Kurt Vile - (watch my moves) (Album Review)
On Kurt Vile’s ninth album—and first on a major label—he comes close to achieving perfection. For almost 15 years now, he has been releasing solo albums that have a foot in two distinct camps: on one side are mesmerising songs that build around simple hooks, and on the other lazy sunny afternoon gold. '(watch my moves)', arguably for the first time, nails both at the same time.
Written by: Graeme Marsh | Date: Thursday, 28 April 2022
S. Carey - Break Me Open (Album Review)
This is the end. The desert is on fire. Rainforests are turning to mud. Pacific islands are being swallowed by the sea. It’s late stage capitalism. Elon Musk is buying Twitter and the death-worshipping corporate oligopoly is defining every characteristic of our lives with its narcissism and greed. Oh, and S. Carey is releasing a new album.
Written by: Jacob Brookman | Date: Wednesday, 27 April 2022
Pusha T - It's Almost Dry (Album Review)
Pusha T is a master of minimalism. Where countless rappers load their albums with bits, skits and half-formed ideas, he trims things down to the bare essentials. His finest works are dependent on this pared-down philosophy—from 2013’s Kendrick Lamar-featuring Nosetalgia to his masterful 2018 album ‘Daytona’.
Written by: Tom Morgan | Date: Tuesday, 26 April 2022
Fontaines D.C. - Skinty Fia (Album Review)
Fontaines D.C. enjoyed a precipitous rise. Coming around at a time when the post-punk explosion in the UK was hitting its peak, their 2019 debut album ‘Dogrel’ saw them bring the grey skies of Dublin straight into our ears.
Written by: Matty Pywell | Date: Monday, 25 April 2022
Father John Misty - Chloë and the Next 20th Century (Album Review)
On ‘Chloë and the Next 20th Century’, Josh Tillman, better known by his stage name Father John Misty, breathes a new life into everything we thought we knew about nostalgia. Incorporating elements of swing and jazz into songs that brood with tender emotion, he delivers each twist with an orchestral flourish.
Written by: Rebecca Llewellyn | Date: Friday, 22 April 2022
The Linda Lindas - Growing Up (Album Review)
Photo: Zen Sekizawa Some viral stars burn out just as quickly as they arrive. The Linda Lindas’ debut album is their chance to prove that this won’t be their fate, after a video of them playing their proud, punky anthem for tolerance Racist, Sexist Boy in L.A’s Public Library lit TikTok on fire last year.
Written by: Emma Wilkes | Date: Thursday, 21 April 2022
Vince Staples - Ramona Park Broke My Heart (Album Review)
Photo: Zamar Velez Vince Staples is nothing if not unpredictable. From his inventive 2015 debut to last year’s ultra lean self-titled album, the Long Beach rapper never fails to surprise and, occasionally, confound.
Written by: Tom Morgan | Date: Wednesday, 20 April 2022
Wet Leg - Wet Leg (Album Review)
Rhian Teasdale and Hester Chambers have had a good lockdown. Hailing from the Isle of Wight, the two musicians managed to rattle off both an incredibly infectious pseudo-novelty song and a hugely impressive debut album that charts late 20s ennui and digital overdrive. The result has been a record deal with Domino, millions of streams and late night TV spots on US talk shows.
Written by: Jacob Brookman | Date: Tuesday, 19 April 2022
Meshuggah - Immutable (Album Review)
The definition of immutable is “unchanging over time or unable to be changed”. As strange as it may seem for a band with their legacy and status as innovators, Meshuggah more than fit the bill with their ninth album. This is, at its core, a band doing what they do, in both the best and worst ways.
Written by: Will Marshall | Date: Thursday, 14 April 2022
Orville Peck - Bronco (Album Review)
Orville Peck wrote ‘Bronco’ by holing up in his home studio for eight hours a day after his spring 2020 tour was cancelled due to COVID-19. True to its namesake, the record finds the masked cowboy navigating a depressive period with the freedom and spirit of someone who is determined to outlast it.
Written by: Laura Johnson | Date: Wednesday, 13 April 2022
Jack White - Fear of the Dawn (Album Review)
Photo: David James Swanson Jack White’s first album in four years is a wild ride—a ghoulish, genre-fluid descent into the Michigander’s bat cave of carnival skronk. It’s also quite surprising. While the former White Stripes frontman has cultivated a public persona as a bit of a blues puritan curmudgeon, ‘Fear of the Dawn’ demonstrates something different and out there: a musician constantly on the hunt for new sounds and effects.
Written by: Jacob Brookman | Date: Tuesday, 12 April 2022
Carpenter Brut - Leather Terror (Album Review)
Carpenter Brut is a one-off. The Frenchman hurls everything from rock, EDM and pop to AOR, disco and all forms of metal into his symphonic, dark synthwave mix. Although it’s not hard to spot the influences at play, the way he smashes them together, to create an imaginary soundtrack for a John Carpenter-esque slasher flick, couldn’t have been done by anyone else.
Written by: Simon Ramsay | Date: Friday, 08 April 2022
PUP - THE UNRAVELING OF PUPTHEBAND (Album Review)
Photo: Vanessa Heins PUP are a band who laughs at themselves because, otherwise, they’d cry rainstorms. They’ve done a pretty good job of running with that idea all things considered—the shiny JUNO award (essentially a Canadian Grammy) on their mantelpiece certainly says so, as do millions of streams and thousands of packed shows.
Written by: Emma Wilkes | Date: Thursday, 07 April 2022
HEALTH - DISCO4 :: PART II (Album Review)
Photo: Daniel Roland Tierney HEALTH cut their teeth with squat gigs in Los Angeles before making their name as an ambitious, uncompromising industrial-noise band. But with 2020’s ‘DISCO4 :: PART I’ they pushed into uncharted waters, eschewing their earlier sound for a collaborative approach that threw together hip hop stars such as JPEGMAFIA with hardcore legends Full of Hell and synthwave maestro Perturbator.
Written by: Will Marshall | Date: Wednesday, 06 April 2022
Red Hot Chili Peppers - Unlimited Love (Album Review)
Red Hot Chili Peppers’ 12th studio album reunites them with the dream team of guitarist John Frusciante and producer Rick Rubin behind the mixing desk. The result is a 17-track record of terrific poise, focus and musicality, and while it doesn't break completely new ground for the band, it is their freshest and most confident record in years.
Written by: Jacob Brookman | Date: Tuesday, 05 April 2022
Camp Cope - Running With The Hurricane (Album Review)
Photo: Nick Mckk Some people believe only unhappy people make good music. Camp Cope’s third LP, ‘Running With The Hurricane’, reckons otherwise. Vocalist and guitarist Georgia Maq explained in recent interviews that the Australian band are now more at peace, but that’s not to say they’ve abandoned their candid songwriting for empty tracks about love and unity. They continue to tackle topics completely on their own terms, successfully avoiding tropey pitfalls in the process.
Written by: Laura Johnson | Date: Monday, 04 April 2022
Destroyer - Labyrinthitis (Album Review)
Photo: Nicolas Bragg Destroyer’s 13th studio album comes at you like a hot mess. It’s a chaotic blend of ideas, tropes and sounds welded together by the ever-melodious warblings of songwriter Dan Bejar.
Written by: Jacob Brookman | Date: Thursday, 31 March 2022
Phife Dawg - Forever (Album Review)
Six years after his death, the first posthumous release from the A Tribe Called Quest rapper born Malik Taylor has been put out by his friends and associates. The result is a respectful record of throwback boom-bap beats with Taylor’s bars providing mostly thoughtful poetry over the top.
Written by: Jacob Brookman | Date: Tuesday, 29 March 2022
Aldous Harding - Warm Chris (Album Review)
Aldous Harding’s music appears to be constantly unfolding, its eccentricities shifting and surprising in the most delicately unpredictable manner. Her brand of alt-folk/chamber pop initially appears gentle and poised, but just beneath the surface lie intricate workings and alarming contortions.
Written by: Tom Morgan | Date: Monday, 28 March 2022
Rosalía - Motomami (Album Review)
Photo: Daniel Sannwald On Rosalía’s third album, the Catalan star has delivered a spectacular 16 track explosion of wit, innovation and rugged beauty that uses collaborations from several grandees sparingly and wisely.
Written by: Jacob Brookman | Date: Friday, 25 March 2022
Midlake - For the Sake of Bethel Woods (Album Review)
Photo: Barbara FG Nine years after the release of their fourth (and many thought, final) album, Texan indie-proggers Midlake have returned with an album of deft, intricate songs that land between the dreamy satire of Grizzly Bear and the low slung mysticism of Grandaddy.
Written by: Jacob Brookman | Date: Thursday, 24 March 2022
Charli XCX - Crash (Album Review)
Charli XCX had already turned the game on its head with her bold, hyperpop-influenced ‘Pop 2’ and ‘Charli’, but ‘Crash’ is a bold leap forwards, embracing both new and old on a riveting, innovative work that upends the pop sphere all over again.
Written by: Will Marshall | Date: Thursday, 24 March 2022
The Shires - 10 Year Plan (Album Review)
It doesn’t count as sticking your neck out to say that if you loved The Shires’ first four albums there’s absolutely no reason you won’t fall Stetson over spurs for ‘10 Year Plan.’ On a bright and cheery effort, the hugely likeable duo once again execute their intentions with characteristic, down-to-earth charisma and even push the envelope a little further to boot. The only question is, will they need to give it a bigger nudge in future?
Written by: Simon Ramsay | Date: Wednesday, 23 March 2022
Rex Orange County - Who Cares? (Album Review)
Photo: Alexandra Waespi On Rex Orange County’s fourth album, the Surrey softboi troubadour has served up 11 tracks of pleasant DIY chamber pop, somewhere between the 1970s tween chanson of Leo Sayer and the mid-Atlantic chutzpah of Ed Sheeran. It’s likeable, occasionally impressive music that will certainly land with his youthful audience, but it lacks depth, a sense of risk taking, and vocal derring do.
Written by: Jacob Brookman | Date: Wednesday, 23 March 2022
Bryan Adams - So Happy It Hurts (Album Review)
Bryan Adams has nothing left to prove and little still to achieve, which might explain why the Canadian’s last few albums, some fine moments aside, have been as bland as a cardboard omelette. ‘So Happy It Hurts’ isn’t perfect, but its ebullient rock-based songs represent a sizeable improvement on recent offerings.
Written by: Simon Ramsay | Date: Tuesday, 22 March 2022
Hurray for the Riff Raff - Life on Earth (Album Review)
Photo: Akasha Rabut Hurray for the Riff Raff’s Alynda Segarra has never fallen short when challenging life. Across six studio albums they have not been shy in speaking about things that weigh heavy on their shoulders, while intertwining them with ‘80s electro, punk, rock, and Americana. Regardless of what undertones are carrying their voice, Segarra has managed to bring ferocity and elegance together.
Written by: Jessica Howkins | Date: Tuesday, 22 March 2022
Ghost - Impera (Album Review)
Some of life’s greatest things were the result of accidents. Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin by accident. Coca-Cola was invented by accident. And, for their fifth album, Ghost have accidentally written a rock opera.
Written by: Emma Wilkes | Date: Monday, 21 March 2022
Stereophonics - Oochya! (Album Review)
There is something vaguely ridiculous about Stereophonics. Even in their swaggering turn-of-the-century heyday they felt a little vintage—rolling back the years with sludgy guitar, casual rock arrangements and formulaic balladry.
Written by: Jacob Brookman | Date: Friday, 18 March 2022
The Weather Station - How Is It That I Should Look At The Stars (Album Review)
Photo: Danielle Rubi The Weather Station, the project of Toronto artist Tamara Lindeman, released a critically acclaimed record with 2021’s ‘Ignorance’, adding rock elements and unwavering momentum to a tapestry of intricate instrumentation and death-defying vocal grace.
Written by: Matty Pywell | Date: Wednesday, 16 March 2022
Black Country, New Road - Ants From Up There (Album Review)
Photo: Rosie Fletcher The whiplash changes and complex time signatures of jazz can be disorienting and confusing when sewn into rock structures. But London septet Black Country, New Road have always been different. Their 2021 debut ‘For The First Time’ was a dizzying feast, and on ‘Ants From Up There’, we see the band step back and refine their sound.
Written by: Jessica Howkins | Date: Tuesday, 15 March 2022
Tears For Fears - The Tipping Point (Album Review)
Photo: Frank Ockenfels Almost 18 years after the release of the erroneously titled ‘Everybody Loves A Happy Ending’, Curt Smith and Roland Orzabal have returned with a mightily impressive album that, by sounding like classic Tears For Fears without a hint of anachronism, has swerved the potential pitfalls that can befall artists who don’t stay true to themselves.
Written by: Simon Ramsay | Date: Friday, 11 March 2022
Vein.fm - This World Is Going To Ruin You (Album Review)
There’s not much to cheer about in the world right now. Our social and political fabric is being pulled apart at the seams. Vein.fm’s ‘This World Is Going To Ruin You’ serves as a potent reaction to the encircling crises—it is a foaming-at-the-mouth rampage, lashing out at all in its path.
Written by: Tom Morgan | Date: Thursday, 10 March 2022
Avril Lavigne - Love Sux (Album Review)
Photo: Ryan McFadden This was always going to happen. Pop-punk is basking in a nostalgia-fuelled resurgence, with fans past and present running back to worship at the altars of Mark Hoppus, Hayley Williams, and of course, Avril Lavigne.
Written by: Emma Wilkes | Date: Tuesday, 08 March 2022
