Miranda Lambert - Wildcard (Album Review)

Miranda Lambert's fiery energy and exuberant spirit perfectly encapsulate the best of modern country music. Her seventh studio album ‘Wildcard’ is a confessional, expertly written body of work.

Written by: Milly McMahon | Date: Thursday, 07 November 2019

Michael Kiwanuka - Kiwanuka (Album Review)

Michael Kiwanuka has always struggled with an identity crisis, whether that stems from growing up in London as the son of Ugandan parents or creative impostor syndrome. His single Black Man in a White World, from 2016’s excellent ‘Love & Hate’ album, notably distilled some of his feelings of isolation. On his new LP ‘Kiwanuka’ the same theme is tapped into regularly. This time, though, the angle’s different.

Written by: Graeme Marsh | Date: Wednesday, 06 November 2019

Alphabeat - Don't Know What's Cool Anymore (Album Review)

People will always debate what is and isn’t cool, but such analysis practically renders any conclusions moot. If someone thinks they’re cool, they’re not. If they attempt to be cool, their intent betrays the concept. Genuine cool, if it exists, is surely an unconscious trait possessed by those who are true to themselves and unconcerned with what anyone else says, thinks or does. In which case, Alphabeat’s cracking comeback may be the coolest pop album you’ll hear all year.

Written by: Simon Ramsay | Date: Tuesday, 05 November 2019

Longwave - If We Ever Live Forever (Album Review)

Photo: Omar Kasrawi After 10 years of silence it wouldn’t be surprising if many people had forgotten the name Longwave. Perhaps residents of their native New York would think differently, but for the rest of us the indie-rockers feel like a distant memory.

Written by: Graeme Marsh | Date: Monday, 04 November 2019

Rex Orange County - Pony (Album Review)

Still only 21, pop prodigy Rex Orange County has released three albums in a little over three years. Having already created his share of challenging, atmospheric compositions, detailing every high and low he has experienced throughout his young life, Rex’s sound is deeply sincere.

Written by: Milly McMahon | Date: Friday, 01 November 2019

Neil Young - Colorado (Album Review)

For Neil Young’s 39th studio album, the folk-rock legend has teamed up with frequent collaborators Crazy Horse to deliver a record of churning rock dirge, accompanied by Young’s signature blend of political postulating and semi-spiritual songcraft.

Written by: Jacob Brookman | Date: Thursday, 31 October 2019

Cigarettes After Sex - Cry (Album Review)

Damned if you do, damned if you don’t. After the success of any record, there is an inevitable clamour from fans wanting more of the same. Others, however, are quick to complain that a band aren’t going anywhere if they stick to one formula.

Written by: Graeme Marsh | Date: Wednesday, 30 October 2019

White Reaper - You Deserve Love (Album Review)

Photo: Grace Lillash White Reaper’s third album is a collection of smashy indie-rock that should expand the Kentucky band’s audience. ‘You Deserve Love’ combines shouty pop songs about getting drunk and chirpsing girls with excitable, nimble musicality.

Written by: Jacob Brookman | Date: Wednesday, 30 October 2019

Liz Lawrence - Pity Party (Album Review)

Liz Lawrence’s ‘Pity Party’ is an album of opposites. On one hand we have the anxious, discombobulated mid-20s of its lyric sheet, and on the other a pristine set of songs defined by certain, clean melodic lines.

Written by: Huw Baines | Date: Tuesday, 29 October 2019

Stereophonics - Kind (Album Review)

It seems almost inevitable that a band’s vocalist will at some stage attempt to launch a solo career. Stereophonics’ Kelly Jones went that way in 2007 with the release of ‘Only the Names Have Been Changed’ but, surprisingly, there’s been no hint of a follow up since.

Written by: Graeme Marsh | Date: Tuesday, 29 October 2019

Vagabon - Vagabon (Album Review)

Photo: Tonje Thilesen Vagabon’s second album is quite wonderful—a soft, sprawling lo-fi treatise on self discovery that melds elegant arrangements with a highly distinctive voice.​

Written by: Jacob Brookman | Date: Monday, 28 October 2019

Alter Bridge - Walk The Sky (Album Review)

Hammered out in what may or may not come to be known as a wham-bam, thank you ma’am style of recording, Alter Bridge’s sixth album was crafted in a whirlwind five week period that had led to some of its greatest strengths and the odd nagging concern. Deliberately their most out-and-out batch of inspiring anthems, ‘Walk The Sky’ largely typifies why they’re still the reigning kings of emotionally intense, ferociously well executed arena rock.

Written by: Simon Ramsay | Date: Friday, 25 October 2019

Common Holly - When I Say To You Black Lightning (Album Review)

Photo: Alex Apostolidis Common Holly's music pours over the listener, beguiling and heady. Montreal singer-songwriter Brigitte Naggar's sophomore album ‘When I Say To You Black Lightning’ is a beautiful blend of deep emotions and varied instrumentals.

Written by: Milly McMahon | Date: Friday, 25 October 2019

Refused - War Music (Album Review)

During the 1990s Refused established themselves as one of the most progressive hardcore bands around, laying the groundwork for the likes of At the Drive-In, Glassjaw and eventually, Gallows.

Written by: Jacob Brookman | Date: Thursday, 24 October 2019

Angel Olsen - All Mirrors (Album Review)

In rekindling the gleaming production maximalism of the 1980s, modern artists have also continued to pose a long-standing question: is a pop song a pop song because of content or presentation? Angel Olsen’s ‘All Mirrors’ holds a fascinating perspective on the issue. By playing to her existing strengths while also toying with expectations, the cavernous rendering of these songs only drives home how good they are in a nuts and bolts sense.

Written by: Huw Baines | Date: Thursday, 24 October 2019

Battles - Juice B Crypts (Album Review)

Photo: Atiba Jefferson Formed in New York City in 2002, Battles have established themselves as perhaps the leading group in absurdist avant-garde math rock. Their new album takes this musical philosophy to its outer edges, smashing time signatures and tonalities together in a Technicolor melange of joyous hedonism.

Written by: Jacob Brookman | Date: Wednesday, 23 October 2019

Foals - Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost - Part 2 (Album Review)

Photo: Alex Knowles Foals frontman Yannis Philippakis recently summed up the music industry when he claimed that artists can spend two years putting a record together only to see its initial welcome quickly wane as the consumer craves the next fix. With this attitude to new music—and, let’s face it, information in general—continuing to increase, you have to wonder where it’s all going to end up.

Written by: Graeme Marsh | Date: Wednesday, 23 October 2019

Caroline Polachek - Pang (Album Review)

As co-founder of Colorado band Chairlift (with Aaron Pfenning), Caroline Polachek released three records of tidy and likeable synth-pop, before striking out on her own with solo albums under stage names Rona Lisa and CEP.

Written by: Jacob Brookman | Date: Tuesday, 22 October 2019

Jimmy Eat World - Surviving (Album Review)

Photo: Oliver Halfin They say you have to go there to come back, so let’s be thankful Jimmy Eat World ventured down a more melancholy and moribund path on 2016’s ‘Integrity Blues’, a predominantly acoustic, almost dreamlike pop affair that largely declared a moratorium on rip-roaring electric guitars.

Written by: Simon Ramsay | Date: Tuesday, 22 October 2019

City and Colour - A Pill For Loneliness (Album Review)

Photo: Renee Rodenkirchen City and Colour’s ‘A Pill for Loneliness’ is the sixth solo outing for Dallas Green, a singer-songwriter primarily known for his work with the Canadian post-hardcore band Alexisonfire. It is a record of mature grandeur, presenting 11 well written songs that are performed and arranged with real skill. It also sounds a lot like ‘X&Y’-era Coldplay. 

Written by: Jacob Brookman | Date: Monday, 21 October 2019