Smashing Pumpkins - CYR (Album Review)

Photo: Jonathan Wein With each new Smashing Pumpkins release comes guarded excitement from long time admirers. Will they feebly rehash past triumphs and desecrate the legacy they’re loved for, or depart from it completely and risk the same outcome? Never ones to opt for the obvious route, with ‘CYR’ the band have delivered a third option. Here they head into unfamiliar territory while offering up subtle stylistic nods to their formative years.

Written by: Laura Johnson | Date: Monday, 30 November 2020

Megan Thee Stallion - Good News (Album Review)

Megan Thee Stallion exudes overwhelming confidence, both on her records and IRL. Grabbing the world’s attention once again earlier this year, this time alongside Cardi B with the empowering anthem WAP, Megan warmed us up for the uncensored, high octane charge of her debut album ‘Good News’.

Written by: Milly McMahon | Date: Thursday, 26 November 2020

Nick Cave - Idiot Prayer (Album Review)

Back in the summer, as lockdown continued to bite, Nick Cave walked back into our lives with a streaming event that felt of the moment and also exemplary of his otherworldly ability to create an escapist space with his music. Through a series of intricate piano ballads captured at Alexandra Palace in London, Cave presented a medley of timeless classics that showcased a lifetime of graft and emotion.

Written by: Rebecca Llewellyn | Date: Wednesday, 25 November 2020

Chris Stapleton - Starting Over (Album Review)

Photo: Andy Barron Chris Stapleton’s fourth record is a sterling example of why, when it comes to exhibiting the craft of a bona fide singer-songwriter, the album format always has and always will be king. ‘Starting Over’ is the kind of cohesive effort that makes you pity people who are content to download single songs with little appreciation for either the wider musical context or artistic intent.

Written by: Simon Ramsay | Date: Tuesday, 24 November 2020

Babeheaven - Home For Now (Album Review)

Photo: Luca Anzalone ‘Home for Now’, West London band Babeheaven’s first album, is a washy cloud of dream-trip-hop with elegant textures and tones, fronted by the delicate stylings of vocalist Nancy Andersen. While lightweight, it provides a caring salve in a world that may only just be turning the corner on a wretched year.

Written by: Jacob Brookman | Date: Monday, 23 November 2020

Killer Be Killed - Reluctant Hero (Album Review)

Photo: Greg La Ferman The idea of Frankenstein’s monster-style hybrid bands has often suggested more of an exercise in fleeting novelty than lasting creativity. Thankfully, the returning Killer Be Killed, an all-star project comprising Greg Puciato, formerly of Dillinger Escape Plan, Soulfly’s Max Cavalera and Troy Sanders of Mastodon, pick up where their 2014 debut left off with ‘Reluctant Hero’, retaining everything you’d expect from the pedigree of the musicians involved.

Written by: Jon Stickler | Date: Friday, 20 November 2020

The Cribs - Night Network (Album Review)

If it weren’t for a few words from Dave Grohl, a Cribs album in 2020 might not have been possible. After supporting Foo Fighters at a show in Manchester a while back, Grohl offered the band his Los Angeles studio for them to find distraction in, and they subsequently recorded their first album since 2017’s ‘24-7 Rock Star Shit’.

Written by: Matty Pywell | Date: Wednesday, 18 November 2020

AC/DC - Power Up (Album Review)

Photo: Josh Cheuse In an increasingly unpredictable world, where ‘The New Normal’ is anything but, there’s a hell of a lot to be said for a little metronomic dependability. So welcome back legendary rock ‘n’ rollers AC/DC. Featuring a line-up that’s as close to classic as possible, and treating experimentation and trend-chasing with disdain, ‘PWR/UP’ is a reassuringly lean, punchy affair that, for anyone looking to find comfort in the familiar, perhaps ranks as the most heartening listen of 2020.

Written by: Simon Ramsay | Date: Tuesday, 17 November 2020

Busta Rhymes - Extinction Level Event 2: The Wrath of God (Album Review)

Fired up and full of purpose, rap legend Busta Rhymes calls his fans to arms on 'Extinction Level Event 2: The Wrath of God'. Landing 12 years on from part one (subtitled ‘The Final World Front’), eight from his last record and six from its initial announcement with a handful of since-scrapped singles in 2014, it delivers off a long run up in a big way.

Written by: Milly McMahon | Date: Monday, 16 November 2020

Paloma Faith - Infinite Things (Album Review)

If 2017’s ‘The Architect’ found Paloma Faith increasingly stepping away from her retro stylistic leanings in favour of a more modern aesthetic, ‘Infinite Things’ is a leap into contemporary pop territory. Packed with glossy, radio-ready hits in the making, and driven by a mature and heartfelt lyrical approach, her fifth effort is almost like a more adult version of Taylor Swift’s ‘1989’. But, unlike Nashville’s former sweetheart, Faith can’t quite put her own distinctive stamp on such well crafted material.

Written by: Simon Ramsay | Date: Friday, 13 November 2020

Kylie - Disco (Album Review)

In the 1990s, the hit Australian soap Neighbours created numerous pop star household names. Who can forget Jason Donovan, Natalie Imbruliga…or Bruce Samazan?

Written by: Jacob Brookman | Date: Thursday, 12 November 2020

Ariana Grande - Positions (Album Review)

Photo: Dave Meyers Even by modern pop standards, Ariana Grande is truly prolific. Her sixth studio album, 'Positions', is her third in as many years. Cutting off any accusations of quantity over quality at the pass, it’s also her most stylistically accomplished to date.

Written by: Milly McMahon | Date: Wednesday, 11 November 2020

Little Mix - Confetti (Album Review)

Triumphantly emerging from a rocky split with their former label Syco and X Factor overlord Simon Cowell, which went down a matter of days before the release of 2018’s scattershot ‘LM5’, Little Mix’s sixth LP is a hard-won victory lap. Across 13 sleek tracks they show ‘Confetti’ to be something worth celebrating: a solid, playful dance-pop album that excavates what it means for the quartet to finally be in control.

Written by: Sophie Williams | Date: Tuesday, 10 November 2020

Bring Me The Horizon - POST HUMAN: SURVIVAL HORROR (Album Review)

Bring Me The Horizon’s latest offering is the first in a series of ‘POST HUMAN’ EPs, offering a versatile ammo dump of pop-metal that brims with horror rage and technical excellence. 'SURVIVAL HORROR' is the follow up to last year’s ‘amo’ and shows the band to be in rude creative health.

Written by: Jacob Brookman | Date: Monday, 09 November 2020

Sam Smith - Love Goes (Album Review)

Sam Smith has long relied on a talent for writing gut-wrenching pop ballads. Evolving and maturing as a person through their music, Smith has explored the recesses of the self with profound fragility since the release of their first album six years ago.

Written by: Milly McMahon | Date: Friday, 06 November 2020

Dizzee Rascal - E3 AF (Album Review)

On ‘E3 AF’, Dizzee Rascal is not on the outside looking in, but on the inside looking out. With a title that references his borough and his family’s heritage in Ghana and Nigeria, the record stands as a London-recorded trip around the genre he helped to establish. 

Written by: Alex Myles | Date: Thursday, 05 November 2020

Eels - Earth to Dora (Album Review)

Photo: Gus Black On first listen you could be forgiven for believing that Eels’ 13th studio album,  ‘Earth to Dora’, solely portrays a decaying relationship. But that’s just a quirk of sequencing, designed to pull personal experience, second hand stories and fiction under the spell of Mark Oliver Everett.

Written by: Rebecca Llewellyn | Date: Wednesday, 04 November 2020

Ashton Irwin - Superbloom (Album Review)

Photo: KayKay Ashton Irwin’s solo music is to alt-rock what early 5 Seconds of Summer was to pop-punk—an obvious, second-rate, totally loveable pastiche of a genre, with a load of songs that walk the line between homage and parody. But don’t we all love a trier?

Written by: Sophie Williams | Date: Tuesday, 03 November 2020

Elvis Costello - Hey Clockface (Album Review)

Photo: Lens O'Toole Elvis Costello’s 31st studio album shows a British icon in fine fettle. It is a punchy, if uneven, trip through his stylistic catalogue, and at 66 he retains a great deal of mischievous chutzpah and artistic confidence. That said, the record will likely be a total head scratcher for Costello newcomers.

Written by: Jacob Brookman | Date: Monday, 02 November 2020

Loma - Don't Shy Away (Album Review)

Photo: Bryan C. Parker The road to Loma’s second album hasn’t been smooth. An extensive, laborious tour cycle finally took its toll in the summer of 2018 when the indie trio contemplated calling it quits, with vocalist Emily Cross looking towards a solo career, and her bandmates—multi-instrumentalist Dan Duszynski and Shearwater’s Jonathan Meiburg—harbouring doubts about an uncertain future.

Written by: Sophie Williams | Date: Thursday, 29 October 2020