Louis Tomlinson - How Did I Get Here? (Album Review)

Louis Tomlinson’s third album surpasses expectations when it comes to assumptions around an ex-boyband member’s solo work. From the off, ‘How Did I Get Here?’ offers high energy, explosive indie-pop as, channeling every ounce of angst he has experienced in recent years to create something memorable. At a time when his former bandmate Harry Styles is everywhere, Tomlinson has claimed his own lane and it’s really working for him.

Written by: Laura Mills | Date: Thursday, 29 January 2026

Poppy - Empty Hands (Album Review)

Photo: Paris Mumpower Though Poppy has flirted with heavy music in the past, mixing her experimental alt-pop with gnarled sounds on records such as I Disagree, it was only with 2024’s ‘Negative Spaces’ that she caught the attention of the metal mainstream. Its followup Empty Hands is more experimental, on the surface at least, but the overall impression it leaves is of an artist erring on the side of caution where once they would have shot for something unique.

Written by: Will Marshall | Date: Thursday, 29 January 2026

PVA - No More Like This (Album Review)

Photo: Jak Payne Recently, a crop of bands have splintered off from the dominant UK post-punk sound of the past decade and pursued a darker, more electronic approach. Chalk, Scaler, Mandy, Indiana and overseas groups such as Model/Actriz are crafting punishing, danceable music that feels thrillingly new and alive.

Written by: Tom Morgan | Date: Wednesday, 28 January 2026

Megadeth - Megadeth (Album Review)

Photo: Ross Halfin After 43 years and 17 albums, Megadeth bow out with a self-titled farewell that does exactly what it says on the tin. No bells, no whistles, no creative revolution, just high-speed riffs, anthemic choruses, and Dave Mustaine’s signature snarl. Expecting innovation from a band announcing their retirement feels misguided — especially when none of the Big Four have pushed boundaries in years — so a nostalgic victory lap steeped in mid-90s melodic thrash will do nicely.

Written by: Jack Press | Date: Tuesday, 27 January 2026

Anna of the North - Girl In A Bottle (Album Review)

Photo: William Spooner ‘Girl In A Bottle’, the fourth studio album from Norwegian singer-songwriter Anna Lotterud under her Anna Of The North alias, charts a break-up amid the euphoria of ‘80s synth-pop. Despite the dance grooves, the record is underpinned by Lotterud’s signature sadness and late-night nostalgia for a love lost.

Written by: Jeremy Blackmore | Date: Tuesday, 27 January 2026

Ari Lennox - Vacancy (Album Review)

Ari Lennox occupies a distinctive lane when considering her R&B peers, favouring classic soul warmth, jazz inflection and grown-up storytelling over shameless trend-chasing. ‘Vacancy’, her third album, largely doubles down on those instincts, delivering a polished, personable listen that plays squarely to her strengths even if it doesn’t quite push her forward.

Written by: Jacob Brookman | Date: Monday, 26 January 2026

A$AP Rocky - Don't Be Dumb (Album Review)

Photo: @pleckham At long last, A$AP Rocky has returned. His fourth outing ‘Don’t Be Dumb’ is an album that many hip hop fans will have had listed as one of their most hotly anticipated albums of 2024, but a string of leaks and sample clearance issues kept pushing the project back. Now, Rocky shows that the wait was worth it.

Written by: Jack Butler-Terry | Date: Thursday, 22 January 2026

Madison Beer - Locket (Album Review)

Photo: Morgan Maher Madison Beer’s third album is the moment a carefully cultivated presence attempts to fully exhale and speak plainly. After years of high‑gloss singles and uneven pivots, this record finds the Long Islander sounding more coherent, if still occasionally conflicted, while attempting self‑definition in a pop environment where a clear identity is crucial.

Written by: Jacob Brookman | Date: Wednesday, 21 January 2026

Sleaford Mods - The Demise of Planet X (Album Review)

For anybody who has followed Sleaford Mods over the past two decades, it won’t come as a surprise to learn that Jason Williamson is pissed off. But in our doomscroll-centric world, which seems to churn out misery and despair ad infinitum, that feeling has only grown more pointed.

Written by: Jack Butler-Terry | Date: Tuesday, 20 January 2026

Kid Kapichi - Fearless Nature (Album Review)

Photo: Chris Georghiou Somewhere in the lifetime of a political band, inner turmoil can become a more urgent matter to unpack than the chaos of the outside world. For Kid Kapichi, that moment is now. ‘Fearless Nature’ chronicles a rock-bottom moment for vocalist Jack Wilson after an eight-year relationship ended, his mental health nosedived and his band began to splinter, culminating in the departures of guitarist Ben Beetham and drummer George Macdonald last summer. Unsurprisingly, the political crackle of old has been papered over by deep melancholy. 

Written by: Emma Wilkes | Date: Monday, 19 January 2026

The Kid Laroi - Before I Forget (Album Review)

The Kid Laroi’s ‘Before I Forget’ is a daring tilt at superstardom — an album centred around heartbreak and jagged melody that displays something unique in placing the Australian vocalist’s talent and versatility centre stage. It gets 2026 off to a flying start.

Written by: Laura Mills | Date: Friday, 16 January 2026

Dry Cleaning - Secret Love (Album Review)

Photo: Max Miechowski Over the course of two albums, Dry Cleaning have forged a distinctive sound and built a die-hard fanbase. Their third, ‘Secret Love’, has the usual blend of gnarly guitars and spoken word wit, but greater emphasis on post-punk hooks and producer Cate Le Bon’s input leads to a more mainstream-ready effort, albeit one that retains a spirit of experimentation at its core. It doesn’t reinvent their approach as much as it adapts it into something newly thrilling.

Written by: Chris Connor | Date: Thursday, 15 January 2026

Jenny On Holiday - Quicksand Heart (Album Review)

Photo: Steve Gullick The New Year period can provide a strange mix of emotions. We all have a resolution-making, gym-starting posi side, as well as an anxious, ‘what fresh hell is this?’ mood, particularly when viewing the news cycle of early 2026.

Written by: Tom Morgan | Date: Wednesday, 14 January 2026

Zach Bryan - With Heaven on Top (Album Review)

Since releasing his first album in 2019, Zach Bryan’s earnest, unique spin on Americana has earned him acclaim and a rapidly growing fanbase. As prolific as he is popular, he returns with his sixth album, ‘With Heaven on Top’, which delivers more of what fans have come to love across 25 tracks, clocking in at over an hour. 

Written by: Chris Connor | Date: Wednesday, 14 January 2026

Conway The Machine - You Can't Kill God With Bullets (Album Review)

Conway the Machine is not one for taking a rest. It’s where the ‘Machine’ part of his moniker comes from, after all, and as he continues his run of releasing an album or mixtape every year since 2014, it becomes clearer year on year what a supreme talent he is.

Written by: Jack Butler-Terry | Date: Tuesday, 13 January 2026

The Cribs - Selling A Vibe (Album Review)

Photo: Steve Gullick Brothers Gary, Ryan and Ross Jarman are no strangers to mixing a pop sensibility with garage rock, grunge and indie. It’s what earned The Cribs such a dedicated fanbase in the early noughties, and though they’ve been retrospectively pigeonholed into indie-sleaze, they have always encompassed so much more. ‘Selling A Vibe’ is no exception.

Written by: Laura Johnson | Date: Tuesday, 13 January 2026

Alter Bridge - Alter Bridge (Album Review)

Photo: Chuck Brueckmann Hard rock luminaries Alter Bridge have been making waves for more than two decades at this point, with their 2004 debut ‘One Day Remains’ catapulting them out of Creed’s shadow towards an arena-filling identity of their own. 

Written by: Issy Herring | Date: Monday, 12 January 2026

Nas and DJ Premier - Light-Years (Album Review)

Photo: Danny Clinch Spit in the air and it’ll land on someone with Nas in their list of all-time rappers. If not, it’ll land on someone with DJ Premier in their top five producers. Needless to say, their new collaborative album ‘Light-Years’ has been a hotly anticipated prospect, especially as fans have known of its existence for two decades.

Written by: Jack Butler-Terry | Date: Monday, 12 January 2026

Sorry - Cosplay (Album Review)

Sorry’s third album is the sound of a band fearlessly throwing off the shackles and refusing to be pigeonholed as Asha Lorenz and Louis O’Bryen explore a diverse and overlapping range of styles, recorded with various collaborators in multiple studios. The production on ‘Cosplay’ veers from lo-fi to full-on multilayered anthems.

Written by: Jeremy Blackmore | Date: Monday, 05 January 2026

Fred Again.. - USB002 (Album Review)

Photo: Theo Batterham Fred Again..’s ‘USB002’ is a massive undertaking. Signalling his status as one of the world’s pre-eminent DJs, it pulls together cuts from his set into an upbeat, high-energy collection of club-tested beats. It’s versatile, with an assortment of massive artists featured across its whopping 34 songs, but the fluid project’s current incarnation doesn’t offer anything unique or particularly fresh.

Written by: Laura Mills | Date: Monday, 22 December 2025