Maxïmo Park - Nature Always Wins (Album Review)

Very few things put a band on the map in the UK quite like a Mercury Prize nomination, which Maxïmo Park secured with their zeitgeisty post-punk debut ‘A Certain Trigger’ in 2005. Since that hyped up burst of energy bounded into the room, though, the group have walked along similar lines, releasing five albums without quite being able to eclipse that initial pumped-up breath of fresh air. With ‘Nature Always Wins’, though, we have something pretty exciting on our hands.

Written by: Graeme Marsh | Date: Wednesday, 03 March 2021

Blanck Mass - In Ferneaux (Album Review)

Photo: Harrison Reid ‘Animated Violence Mild’ was the best electronic album of 2019. When that blood-and-apple-core-adorned opus was unveiled, newcomers and longtime Blanck Mass fans alike were wowed by its hybridity. Equal parts funky synth lines, metal screeches and erratic electro beats, it was a space where aggression and intellect collided head on.

Written by: Matt Mills | Date: Tuesday, 02 March 2021

Architects - For Those That Wish To Exist (Album Review)

Photo: Ed Mason “I wanna sing you a different song, one that’s easier to swallow,” Sam Carter opines during the chorus of Little Wonder, summing up the MO of Architects’ new record ‘For Those That Wish To Exist’.

Written by: Sam Sleight | Date: Friday, 26 February 2021

The Hold Steady - Open Door Policy (Album Review)

Photo: Adam Parshall Something that begins to creep into your life as you grow older is a sort of bargaining over a night on the town—will the amount of fun you have outweigh the pain of the following day’s hangover? The Hold Steady have soundtracked a good many massive nights in the past couple of decades, but on their new LP ‘Open Door Policy’ Craig Finn always has one eye on a spiralling set of consequences.

Written by: Huw Baines | Date: Thursday, 25 February 2021

Django Django - Glowing in the Dark (Album Review)

Fusing drum loops, layered synth bass, soaring melodies and a genre-free approach to composition, ‘Glowing in the Dark’ is Django Django’s most ambitious album to date. Created before Covid-19 took hold of the world, the band began working on this fourth studio album to express the angst provoked by charged environmental and political climates, from Brexit to Donald Trump’s presidential reign.

Written by: Milly McMahon | Date: Wednesday, 24 February 2021

Ghetts - Conflict of Interest (Album Review)

If you were to write a thesis on how grime stars have progressed since the genre’s pirate radio days, then Ghetts’ new album ‘Conflict of Interest’ would be used as a case study.

Written by: Alex Myles | Date: Tuesday, 23 February 2021

Mogwai - As The Love Continues (Album Review)

Photo: Antony Crook In the biography that comes with ‘As the Love Continues’ comedian Robin Ince writes, “Mogwai are a band of no significant meaning.” And, while that may seem like a jab, it’s hard to argue with him.

Written by: Matt Mills | Date: Monday, 22 February 2021

The Pretty Reckless - Death By Rock And Roll (Album Review)

Following the deaths of Soundgarden’s Chris Cornell and her long-time producer Kato Khandwala, Taylor Momsen was consumed by an existential crisis. Depression and substance abuse took hold of the singer, until the music she first fell in love with pulled her out. As such, ‘Death By Rock and Roll’ isn’t just a fearless soundtrack to Momsen’s survival, it’s also a wonderfully written ode to the healing power of artistic consumption and expression.

Written by: Simon Ramsay | Date: Friday, 19 February 2021

Claud - Super Monster (Album Review)

Photo: Angela Ricciardi ‘Super Monster’ is the debut album from American bedroom-pop musician Claud, but its arrival isn’t as low-key as that description suggests. This is also the first LP to be released by Saddest Factory, a new label operated by indie-rock star Phoebe Bridgers. Fortunately, this is an often spectacular bow that outweighs any helping of hype.

Written by: Rebecca Llewellyn | Date: Thursday, 18 February 2021

Pale Waves - Who Am I? (Album Review)

The desire to dress up mainstream pop music as something different—something more dangerous or provocative—has been around since the penny dropped that rebellion shifted units. Pale Waves’ 2018 debut ‘My Mind Makes Noises’ ran headlong into this dynamic and faltered: for all the eyeliner and goth stylings the LP fizzled once its anodyne hooks failed to scratch beneath the surface.

Written by: Huw Baines | Date: Wednesday, 17 February 2021

God is an Astronaut - Ghost Tapes #10 (Album Review)

Photo: Brian Meade Since their 2005 breakthrough, ‘All Is Violent, All Is Bright’, God is an Astronaut have been ambassadors for the immense possibilities of instrumental songwriting, imbuing their sound with prog, metal, krautrock, and elements cribbed from symphonic and choral music.

Written by: Matt Mills | Date: Wednesday, 17 February 2021

Slowthai - TYRON (Album Review)

Photo: Crowns & Owls How do you demonstrate edginess without scaring the audience? How do you avoid cancellation after public transgressions? What price will you pay for authenticity? On his second album ‘TYRON’ Slowthai attempts to answer some of these questions.

Written by: Jacob Brookman | Date: Tuesday, 16 February 2021

Foo Fighters - Medicine at Midnight (Album Review)

Photo: Danny Clinch Foo Fighters are currently in the middle of what might be termed a band’s tricky period—the kind of zone that successful groups, conscious of not wanting to repeat themselves, often enter to freshen up the established formula. Unfortunately, most artists who venture into that territory end up producing divisive results that scream mid-life crisis from every ill judged note. Are the Foos any different?

Written by: Simon Ramsay | Date: Monday, 15 February 2021

Black Country, New Road - For The First Time (Album Review)

Black Country, New Road have arrived at their debut LP on the crest of a wave of contradictions, balancing often difficult music with simmering hype and seeking to render songs that would appear to exist in their most essential form as live freakouts.

Written by: Huw Baines | Date: Friday, 12 February 2021

Hayley Williams - FLOWERS for VASES / descansos (Album Review)

The second solo outing from Hayley Williams feels like it almost wasn’t made for an audience. Throughout ‘FLOWERS for VASES / descansos’ there is the sense that we have been invited to eavesdrop on a private reckoning: here Williams is combing through her past out loud while setting it to a soft, yet rarely sparse, soundtrack.

Written by: Emma Wilkes | Date: Thursday, 11 February 2021

Weezer - OK Human (Album Review)

Rivers Cuomo knows that you can’t escape yourself. On Weezer’s ‘OK Human’ that fact is particularly intrusive. Here one of the most talented, brain-achingly frustrating songwriters of the past 30 years slips into the mouldering duds of the talented, brain-achingly frustrating songwriters who inspired him: experimenters and purists such as Brian Wilson and Nilsson.

Written by: Huw Baines | Date: Wednesday, 10 February 2021

The Telescopes - Songs Of Love And Revolution (Album Review)

Photo: Tapete Records Plying their trade for over 30 years, the Telescopes have covered a lot of ground since the release of their shoegaze-centred debut ‘Taste’. Having veered this way and that throughout their discography, we never quite know what to expect from a new record, but at the core there will likely be a substantial amount of noise and fuzz, often arranged in multiple layers.

Written by: Graeme Marsh | Date: Tuesday, 09 February 2021

The Besnard Lakes - ...are the Last of the Great Thunderstorm Warnings (Album Review)

Photo: Joseph Yarmush After a year dominated by a killer virus it’s probably justified to welcome an album based around death with a sense of scorn and discontent. But to do so in the face of the Besnard Lakes’ sixth studio effort ‘The Besnard Lakes are the Last of the Great Thunderstorm Warnings’ would be a colossal mistake.

Written by: Graeme Marsh | Date: Friday, 05 February 2021

Goat Girl - On All Fours (Album Review)

Photo: Holly Whittaker South London indie band Goat Girl produced a grounded post-punk debut back in 2018. Now, with Speedy Wunderground maestro Dan Carey on production duty, they have taken up psychedelia to portray both a broken world and a utopian vision.

Written by: Matty Pywell | Date: Wednesday, 03 February 2021

Arlo Parks - Collapsed in Sunbeams (Album Review)

‘Collapsed in Sunbeams’ is a stunning debut. Possessing a voice that is strikingly beautiful and quietly bold, here Londoner Arlo Parks shines. Riding a wave of hype and early-career critical praise, she has delivered a batch of songs that ensure such attention will continue to grow. 

Written by: Rebecca Llewellyn | Date: Tuesday, 02 February 2021