Ariana Grande - Petal (Album Review)

Photo: Katia Temkin ‘Petal’ is the sound of a global superstar interrogating fame, the public, and herself simultaneously. Across 12 tracks, Ariana Grande dissects scrutiny, projections, and the carefully-curated images that have followed her for years, dismantling them with some of the sharpest songwriting of her career. 

Written by: Jack Press | Date: Thursday, 06 August 2026

Tyla - A*Pop (Album Review)

Photo: Catherine LoMedico Somehow, it’s already been three years since Tyla’s Water took over the world, catapulting the South African amapiano artist to international attention and acclaim. She followed it up with an intoxicating eponymous debut album and now she runs full steam into ‘A*Pop’, a second effort that sags under the weight of expectation.

Written by: Jack Butler-Terry | Date: Wednesday, 05 August 2026

Baby Queen - I Hope You Don't Remember Me (Album Review)

Photo: ThreeBroMedia/Elif Gonen ‘I Hope You Don’t Remember Me’ marks a real shift for Baby Queen, showcasing musical versatility while leaning less frequently into Arabella Latham’s signature style of social commentary, instead diving straight into heartbreak. It feels like her most mature, honest work yet, showcasing a new era where she’s comfortable being vulnerable. 

Written by: Laura Mills | Date: Tuesday, 04 August 2026

The Strokes - Reality Awaits (Album Review)

Few bands have been as burdened by their early success as The Strokes. After helping to revitalise rock music at the turn of the millennium, much of their later output was judged against the impossible benchmark set by their first two records. 

Written by: Matthew McLister | Date: Monday, 03 August 2026

Charli XCX - Music, Fashion, Film (Album Review)

The best recording artists eventually stop trying to perfect their instincts and start trusting them instead. That’s where Charli xcx finds herself on ‘Music, Fashion, Film’ — operating at the peak of her powers, pushing her own creative boundaries while making everything sound casual, as though these ideas simply spilled out of the studio before anyone had the chance to overthink them.

Written by: Jacob Brookman | Date: Friday, 31 July 2026

Loathe - A Stranger To You (Album Review)

Photo: Steve Gullick The most exciting heavy bands eventually stop worrying about genre altogether. That may be the point Loathe have reached on ‘A Stranger to You’, a record that treats metalcore less as a destination than a launchpad, ricocheting between shoegaze, industrial noise, dream-pop and, at times, something approaching prog-hardcore in the vein of The Mars Volta. That it largely hangs together is remarkable.

Written by: Jacob Brookman | Date: Thursday, 30 July 2026

Nia Archives - Emotional Junglist (Album Review)

Photo: Iris Luz Nia Archives is one of the most exciting UK artists around. The past few years have been massive for the Bradford producer, with her debut album ‘Silence Is Loud’ changing the face of modern jungle and drum & bass, underlining the promise that had already snagged her the first MOBO Award for electronic/dance act and a slot supporting Beyoncé in 2023. Now, on ‘Emotional Junglist’, she pushes the envelope once more.

Written by: Jack Butler-Terry | Date: Thursday, 30 July 2026

Shania Twain - Little Miss Twain (Album Review)

Photo: Timothy White Thanks to a career spanning more than 25 years, propelled by unforgettable tracks such as Man! I Feel Like A Woman and That Don’t Impress Me Much, Shania Twain has earned the title of queen of country-pop. Fresh from adding some contemporary gloss to that legacy by supporting Harry Styles, on ‘Little Miss Twain’ she returns to her country roots. It’s perhaps her most personal release to date, but it’s also short on the ‘wow’ factor we might expect at this point.

Written by: Issy Herring | Date: Wednesday, 29 July 2026

Lido Pimienta - Caribenya (Album Review)

“I’ve always admired the I-don’t-give-a-fuck-about-none-of-you-ness of Enya,” Lido Pimienta recently remarked in an interview with the Guardian. It sounds like an unlikely artistic manifesto until you hear ‘Caribenya’, an album that largely ignores contemporary pop trends in favour of following its own peculiar, deeply personal instincts. Pimienta imagines Enya transported to the Caribbean, surrounded by cumbia, dembow and Afro-Indigenous traditions. The result is captivating.

Written by: Jacob Brookman | Date: Tuesday, 28 July 2026

Steve Lacy - Oh Yeah? (Album Review)

Photo: Gus Van Sant Steve Lacy’s ‘Oh Yeah?’ feels like an example of a blueprint not being followed. Its standout song, Doom, has the best flow on the album, strong rhyme schemes, and catchy hooks, while its reflective lyrics deliver an interesting look at Lacy as a person. The alt-R&B star is at his best when he uses his own experiences as the basis for his music, something the rest of his third album would have benefited from.

Written by: Laura Mills | Date: Monday, 27 July 2026

Gracie Abrams - Daughter From Hell (Album Review)

Photo: Julie Greve Gracie Abrams’ blend of confessional songwriting and muted indie-folk has helped her to become one of pop’s most influential voices, even if her own records still struggle to escape the long shadows cast by Phoebe Bridgers and Taylor Swift’s working relationship with The National’s Aaron Dessner, also a key collaborator on ‘Daughter From Hell’.

Written by: Jacob Brookman | Date: Monday, 27 July 2026

The Rolling Stones - Foreign Tongues (Album Review)

Photo: Kevin Mazur The Rolling Stones’ late-career renaissance continues with ‘Foreign Tongues’, which draws heavily on the sound of classic albums ‘Some Girls’ and ‘Emotional Rescue’. Driven for the most part by rhythm, groove and feel, it is undoubtedly their best and most consistent album in decades.

Written by: Jeremy Blackmore | Date: Friday, 24 July 2026

Syd - Beard (Album Review)

Photo: Nabil Odd Future: you had to be there. For about 18 months in the early 2010s, the L.A. rap collective were the biggest and most incendiary property in music. They burned out pretty quickly, but the likes of Tyler, The Creator, Earl Sweatshirt and Frank Ocean went on to have further success as solo stars.

Written by: Tom Morgan | Date: Thursday, 23 July 2026

The Menzingers - Everything I Ever Saw (Album Review)

Photo: POND Creative If you’re a person of a certain age, maybe one who can’t drink like they used to, or who’s noticed a favourite band T-shirt they have lived in for years feeling a little tight, The Menzingers are a beautiful thing. The Philly indie-punks have a unique voice when it comes to romanticising life’s messy car crashes and on ‘Everything I Ever Saw’ the flames of the collisions still linger, but they take comfort in sitting by their warm glow. 

Written by: James Palaczky | Date: Wednesday, 22 July 2026

Tricky - Different When It's Silent (Album Review)

Photo: Steve Gullick Tricky has always had his finger on the pulse of how the Western world feels. The albums released during his ‘90s heyday really captured something of their anxious postmodern age, something neatly encapsulated by the title of his 1996 full-length ‘Pre-Millennium Tension’.

Written by: Tom Morgan | Date: Tuesday, 21 July 2026

Yard Act - You're Gonna Need A Little Music (Album Review)

Photo: James Winstanley Depending on who you ask, Yard Act might be described as poets, thespians or just a rock band who know a lot of fancy words. Best known for melding lairy anthems with philosophical musings, the Leeds band dare to question the futility of existence from within the comfortable confines of quirky indie tunes. It’s proven to be a winning formula, garnering legions of fans and a Mercury Prize nomination, but their third album finds them confronted by some tough choices. Do they stick to their guns or rip up the rule book? The answer is: both.

Written by: James Palaczky | Date: Monday, 20 July 2026

Suki Waterhouse - Loveland (Album Review)

Photo: Miles Aldridge Suki Waterhouse is your classic triple threat — an actor, model and musician, whose eclectic approach has led to her striking a sweet spot between modern pop and clear influences from classic R&B, jazz and plenty of other genres besides. 

Written by: Chris Connor | Date: Friday, 17 July 2026

Kelela - New Avatar (Album Review)

Photo: Neva Wireko The term alt-pop gets bandied around a lot these days, but Kelela’s music feels like it might work as a dictionary definition of the term. From her early work guesting on Danny Brown and Clams Casino tracks to releasing albums via the legendary electronica label Warp, her ambitions stretch beyond simply being a ‘pop star’ even if she also, demonstrably, makes a variation of pop music. 

Written by: Tom Morgan | Date: Thursday, 16 July 2026

Finn Wolfhard - Fire From The Hip (Album Review)

There’s a little part of all second albums that suggests they exist to prove the debut wasn’t a fluke, something that’s perhaps more pointed here given Finn Wolfhard’s fame as an actor first, musician second. But ‘Fire From The Hip’ does something far more interesting than simply underlining any early promise, revealing that a post-Stranger Things Wolfhard’s greatest strength lies not with being a solo star, but a bandleader.

Written by: Jack Press | Date: Wednesday, 15 July 2026

Jack White - Frozen Charlotte (Album Review)

Photo: David Swanson Jack White helped to define an indie-rock era with the White Stripes’ distinctive blend of alt-rock and scuzzy blues, but his solo career has been more eclectic, seeking new sounds instead of simply regurgitating what came before. 

Written by: Chris Connor | Date: Tuesday, 14 July 2026