Ihsahn - Àmr (Album Review)

Ihsahn is a genius. It’s a big, divisive word, but he’s proven it time and time again. From his contribution to, and eventual commandeering of, Norwegian black metal’s most important band, Emperor, right through his six solo albums since 2006, he’s found ways to innovate with every string, every key of each instrument he has picked up.

Written by: Alec Chillingworth | Date: Monday, 14 May 2018

Frank Turner - Be More Kind (Album Review)

Frank Turner’s sound has changed little over the course of his 13 year career as a solo artist. The edges have been smoothed somewhat, while the instrumentation has grown more varied (and, when it needs to be, lavish), but his feelgood folk-punk USP has remained the same.

Written by: Liam Turner | Date: Monday, 14 May 2018

Middle Kids - Lost Friends (Album Review)

‘Lost Friends’, the debut album from Sydney indie-rockers Middle Kids, is a future soundtrack to an indie movie about lost millennials. The band are able to perfectly capture a feeling of intense insecurity through a retro Instagram filter.

Written by: Jennifer Geddes | Date: Friday, 11 May 2018

TesseracT - Sonder (Album Review)

TesseracT’s first three albums earned them, in vocalist Dan Tompkins’ own words, “three different fanbases”. If you can stomach scrolling through online opinions, you’ll find this to be true. Fans adore their forays into djent, brooding soudscapes, unfathomable prog wizardry, and their mix of clean and screamed vocals, to varying degrees.

Written by: Guy Hirst | Date: Friday, 11 May 2018

Jon Hopkins - Singularity (Album Review)

Photo: Steve Gullick Historically, Jon Hopkins has been the kind of musician you come across at a festival and choose to pass by based on his tedious audience of hallucinating electro snobs - the kind of people who ‘shhh’ at a techno gig.

Written by: Jacob Brookman | Date: Thursday, 10 May 2018

Blossoms - Cool Like You (Album Review)

Did you hear the one about the band who recorded two versions of their second album, and then released the wrong one?

Written by: Simon Ramsay | Date: Thursday, 10 May 2018

Janelle Monáe - Dirty Computer (Album Review)

According to Janelle Monáe, dirty computers are those of us with bugs and viruses that society wants to clean away, but that we as individuals don’t see as flaws.

Written by: Jennifer Geddes | Date: Wednesday, 09 May 2018

A Perfect Circle - Eat The Elephant (Album Review)

Many critics don't put much stock into dissecting album art, but it's tricky to talk about 'Eat the Elephant', California supergroup A Perfect Circle's first album in 14 years, without at least a passing reference to its sleeve. Fronted by an Uncle Fester-esque character cradling an octopus, the ostentatious cover will trigger a gut response from anyone who grew up listening to angsty alternative rock in the early 2000s.

Written by: Jonathan Rimmer | Date: Wednesday, 09 May 2018

Rae Sremmurd - SR3MM (Album Review)

In a trap environment where quantity is often more important than quality (Gucci Mane, anyone?), a triple album could well mean two hours of abject tedium. Not so in the case of Atalanta superstars Rae Sremmurd, whose monster ‘SR3MM’ record is a catalogue of impressively consistent tracks that demonstrate noteworthy musical development from their previous offering, 2016’s ‘Sremmlife 2’.

Written by: Jacob Brookman | Date: Tuesday, 08 May 2018

Speedy Ortiz - Twerp Verse (Album Review)

Photo: Shervin Lainez ‘Foil Deer’, Speedy Ortiz’s 2015 album, cemented their place as a band who are always worth listening to. Sadie Dupuis constantly has her head on swivel, picking anecdotes that on closer inspection veer away from the autobiographical and into the universal.

Written by: Laura Johnson | Date: Thursday, 03 May 2018

Melvins - Pinkus Abortion Technician (Album Review)

The dichotomy facing the average Melvins fan is this: hating their new music because it doesn't resemble that of their heyday, while respecting Buzz Osborne and Dale Crover because they keep doing whatever the fuck they want. Their 27th studio album, ‘Pinkus Abortion Technician’, weighs heavily on this divide. It doesn't sound like classic Melvins because it’s a Butthole Surfers parody album with a Beatles cover in the middle. That’s something nobody asked for, and therefore precisely what the band intended.

Written by: Guy Hirst | Date: Thursday, 03 May 2018

Brothers Osborne - Port Saint Joe (Album Review)

In its purest (some would say most noble) form, artistic expression presents us with an undiluted, singular vision. Alas, whether it’s record company meddling, meeting fan expectations, satisfying commercial trends or striving to make a living, it’s hard for musicians to adopt this idealistic approach while dealing with real world pressures. Hailing from Deale in Maryland, the Brothers Osborne have certainly given it a good, albeit flawed, go on this follow up to 2016’s ‘Pawn Shop’.  

Written by: Simon Ramsay | Date: Wednesday, 02 May 2018

Alexis Taylor - Beautiful Thing (Album Review)

Photo: Ronald Dick  Anyone who has followed the ebbs and flows of Alexis Taylor’s solo output over the past decade will be well versed in the changing styles of his music.

Written by: Ben Gallivan | Date: Tuesday, 01 May 2018

Grouper - Grid of Points (Album Review)

Photo: Tanja Engelbert Liz Harris is an interesting musician.

Written by: Jacob Brookman | Date: Monday, 30 April 2018

Okkervil River - In the Rainbow Rain (Album Review)

Okkervil River’s Will Sheff has long been known for his bleak outlook on life. The places his songs frequented seemed dark and dangerous, while rock music was going to be the death of him. That came to a climax with 2016’s ‘Away’.

Written by: Jennifer Geddes | Date: Monday, 30 April 2018

Sting and Shaggy - 44/876 (Album Review)

Photo: Salvador Ochoa Sting and Shaggy. Sting. And Shaggy. Sting. And Shaggy. Sting and Shaggy. Let that sink in for a minute.

Written by: Ben Gallivan | Date: Friday, 27 April 2018

The Shires - Accidentally On Purpose (Album Review)

It’ll rather be amusing if anyone accuses the Shires of selling out to the world of American pop-country on their third album. The British duo were clearly edging further in that direction on 2016’s ‘My Universe’ anyway, so it only took a small step for Ben Earle and Crissie Rhodes to fully embrace that style and deliver ‘Accidentally on Purpose’, a fine album that’s tailor-made to crack the US market.

Written by: Simon Ramsay | Date: Thursday, 26 April 2018

Princess Nokia - A Girl Cried Red (Album Review)

Photo: Alberto Vargas There's something immensely likeable about east coast rap whizz Princess Nokia, at least at first glance. She's a strong role model for young women in hip hop, known for advocating a feminist ethos and calling out racism, homophobia and body shaming at every opportunity. Her label debut, '1992 Deluxe', though inconsistent, was colourful and abstract, with each track exhibiting a different aspect of her fascinating personality.

Written by: Jonathan Rimmer | Date: Thursday, 26 April 2018

Tinashe - Joyride (Album Review)

Photo: Dennis Leupold The word has been out for a while that Tinashe is a profoundly talented dancer, singer, songwriter and producer, but she comes of age - for better and worse - on her new album, ‘Joyride’. Across 13 tracks, and alongside features from Little Dragon, Ty Dollar $ign, Future and French Montana, she retells tales of her lustful life and loves.

Written by: Milly McMahon | Date: Wednesday, 25 April 2018

Manic Street Preachers - Resistance is Futile (Album Review)

After dragging themselves out of the doldrums with 2007’s ‘Send Away The Tigers’, Manic Street Preachers released a string of superb records that were often brave, creatively single-minded and indicative of a band still bursting with ideas. But what goes up must come down. Their new LP, ‘Resistance is Futile,’ may offer a return to their anthemic mid-’90s sound, but it’s a hit and miss affair that sees a winning run finally come to an end.

Written by: Simon Ramsay | Date: Wednesday, 25 April 2018