Glass Animals - Dreamland (Album Review)

“Wavey Davey’s on fire,” Dave Bayley proclaims on Tokyo Drifting, the Denzel Curry-assisted lead single from Glass Animals’ third album, and he has a point. The eccentric frontman tackled a formidable range of styles on 2014’s ‘Zaba’ and 2016’s Mercury-nominated ‘How to be a Human Being’, but on ‘Dreamland’ the diversity found in his vocal personas is turned up to 11.

Written by: Spencer Lawes | Date: Wednesday, 12 August 2020

Creeper - Sex, Death & The Infinite Void (Album Review)

Having successfully blended sweeping theatricality and schlocky narrative beats with breakneck punk on their debut, ‘Eternity, In Your Arms’, the smart money was on Creeper leaning more heavily on Jim Steinman than Kid Dynamite the second time around. ‘Sex, Death & the Infinite Void’ bears that theory out.

Written by: Huw Baines | Date: Thursday, 06 August 2020

Alanis Morissette - Such Pretty Forks in the Road (Album Review)

Alanis Morissette’s diaristic outpourings have always walked a fine line between gripping and grating, entertaining and self-indulgent. But when she gets the balance of introspection, angst, ire, heart and hooks just right she’s a compelling artistic force. ‘Such Pretty Forks in the Road’ is her purest singer-songwriter record to date, and a true return to form.

Written by: Simon Ramsay | Date: Wednesday, 05 August 2020

The Psychedelic Furs - Made of Rain (Album Review)

Photo: Matthew Reeves Almost 30 years since the release of  ‘World Outside’, the Psychedelic Furs are finally back with a new album. Having reformed in 2000, after going missing for most of the ‘90s, it’s taken a while for the band to produce any new music after systematically touring their catalogue for the past 20 years. But, reassuringly, there came a point where they grew tired of the old tunes. That’s where ‘Made of Rain’ enters the equation.

Written by: Graeme Marsh | Date: Tuesday, 04 August 2020

Taylor Swift - Folklore (Album Review)

It’s not a slight to label Taylor Swift as calculating. Very few solo artists have reached the pinnacle of superstardom without being shrewd, savvy, and sometimes ruthless, operators. But where some of her moves, such as defecting from country to pop, proved inspired, others felt like contrived choices to service her brand. That’s certainly not the case with the quietly triumphant ‘Folklore’. Made with little care for perception or reception, it’s an artistically motivated gem and the finest album of her career. 

Written by: Simon Ramsay | Date: Wednesday, 29 July 2020

The Chicks - Gaslighter (Album Review)

Photo: Robin Harper The Chicks’ decision to ditch the ‘Dixie’ from their name due to the word’s historic association with the Confederate south is a change that, by distancing the band from the past and moving forward with a more enlightened, modern outlook, unwittingly reflects both the musical and lyrical content of their first new record in 14 years.

Written by: Simon Ramsay | Date: Tuesday, 28 July 2020

Ellie Goulding - Brightest Blue (Album Review)

Is it a positive or a negative that introspective pop records must still be packaged as gleaming, chart-facing pop records? Ellie Goulding’s ‘Brightest Blue’ is a genuine soul-searcher on paper, but in practice it’s an unwieldy, streaming-ready epic that misses a lot of its targets thanks to all the bits that bleed outside the lines.

Written by: Huw Baines | Date: Monday, 27 July 2020

Rufus Wainwright - Unfollow the Rules (Album Review)

By welding classical grandeur, flamboyant camp and a cavalcade of genre flourishes to his dramatic baroque-pop compositions, Rufus Wainwright has never adhered to convention. So, the sweepingly introspective ‘Unfollow The Rules’ doesn’t so much herald an iconoclastic reinvention as boil trademark ingredients into an idiosyncratic stew that, although recognisable, also showcases a new found maturity and focus.

Written by: Simon Ramsay | Date: Monday, 20 July 2020

The Streets - None of Us Are Getting Out Of This Life Alive (Album Review)

There’s one thing you cannot knock Mike Skinner for, and that’s the consistent inventiveness of the Streets. Although it’s been nine years since a release under the moniker, the mixtape ‘None of Us Are Getting Out Of This Life Alive’ is a steadfastly Streets project, despite dipping into multiple genres. 

Written by: Alex Myles | Date: Thursday, 16 July 2020

Paul Weller - On Sunset (Album Review)

When the first track on a 13 song album runs to more than seven minutes, what follows will either tap into an exploratory sense of purpose or meander into nothingness. Fortunately, the longest opening gambit in Paul Weller’s 26 album career (taking the Jam and the Style Council into consideration) sets the table for something a little unusual and the rest of ‘On Sunset’ delivers.

Written by: Rhys Thomas | Date: Tuesday, 14 July 2020

Phoxjaw - Royal Swan (Album Review)

If you go to the “List of rock genres” page on Wikipedia, you’ll find a whopping 249 entries. That’s how subdivided heavy music has become. What started in the ‘50s as loudness designed to piss off your parents is now a mangled family tree, full of categories so esoteric that, sometimes, only one or two bands can fit into them.

Written by: Matt Mills | Date: Tuesday, 07 July 2020

Haim - Women in Music Pt. III (Album Review)

It’s become customary with each new music video to take a stroll around Los Angeles with the Haim sisters. On some occasions they dance, strut and vamp, at other times they walk with quiet purpose. Contained within each vignette is a sense of getting outside yourself and clearing your head, capturing the essence of the wide-ranging tangents contained within ‘Women in Music Pt. III’.

Written by: Huw Baines | Date: Friday, 03 July 2020

Nadine Shah - Kitchen Sink (Album Review)

Never one to shy away from contentious subjects, Nadine Shah’s excellent 2017 album ‘Holiday Destination’ tackled the migrant crisis on its way to a Mercury nomination. Her fourth album, ‘Kitchen Sink’, addresses traditionalist beliefs like the expectation to raise a family, and ageism, from her perspective as a woman in her mid-30s.

Written by: Graeme Marsh | Date: Thursday, 02 July 2020

Bob Dylan - Rough and Rowdy Ways (Album Review)

The opening moments of Bob Dylan’s 39th album, the 70 minute ‘Rough and Rowdy Ways’, are mellow, unassuming and basic. As ever, though, his voice and its musical accompaniment are quite separate beasts. Once he delivers the opening lines of I Contain Multitudes, chasing a few drawn out, plain notes, it all begins to make sense.

Written by: Spencer Lawes | Date: Thursday, 25 June 2020

Phoebe Bridgers - Punisher (Album Review)

The last time a leap year occurred, Phoebe Bridgers was in her early 20s. She was unsigned, and she had never left the United States. In a recent interview she recalled writing a list of goals she wanted to achieve by the time the next one rolled around. It included releasing three albums, touring the world, and visiting Ireland.

Written by: Helen Payne | Date: Wednesday, 24 June 2020

Lamb of God - Lamb of God (Album Review)

Photo: Travis Shinn Some people love meat and potatoes. Boiled, baked, mashed, sautéed if they’re feeling adventurous–but nothing too exotic. Beef gravy, thank you. Lamb of God’s self-titled eighth album is meat and potatoes. And that’s fine–the Richmond five-piece made their name worshipping at the hulking groove metal altar of Pantera. To call anything they’ve done experimental would be a stretch.

Written by: Alec Chillingworth | Date: Monday, 22 June 2020

Run The Jewels - RTJ4 (Album Review)

If there’s a basic statement to be made about Run The Jewels, it’s that they’re really, really, good. Their fourth album is no exception. ‘RTJ4’ was released online for free, like ‘RTJ1’, there was an option to donate to charity (in this case, the National Lawyers Guild Mass Defence Program) like ‘RTJ2’, and it came out ahead of schedule, like ‘RTJ3’.

Written by: Rhys Thomas | Date: Monday, 15 June 2020

Muzz - Muzz (Album Review)

Photo: Driely S. The use of the term ‘supergroup’ is too common these days. The members of Cream, widely considered to be the band that spawned the label, had pedigree behind them. But that standard has slipped in the intervening 50 years, and it’s now thrown at any side project that pulls together a few familiar faces.

Written by: Graeme Marsh | Date: Wednesday, 10 June 2020

Sports Team - Deep Down Happy (Album Review)

Emerging from a haze of industry buzz, with a youthful core of die hard fans behind them and rapturous live notices in hand, Sports Team have plenty of outside interference to contend with on their debut album. But ‘Deep Down Happy’ approaches the job gamely, pairing festival-ready shoutalongs with Kinks-style middle England proselytising.

Written by: Huw Baines | Date: Tuesday, 09 June 2020

Lady Gaga - Chromatica (Album Review)

“This is my dancefloor I fought for,” Lady Gaga sings with unbridled conviction on Free Woman, the fifth track on ‘Chromatica’. She’s certainly not wrong. Candidly navigating depression and her attempts to shoulder its burden in the spotlight, the chameleonic pop icon’s sixth album builds upon the triumphant reclamation of her internal battles to heart-swelling effect.

Written by: Sophie Williams | Date: Monday, 08 June 2020