Benson Boone - American Heart (Album Review)

Photo: David Roemer With ‘American Heart’, Benson Boone will likely cement his spot as a chart golden boy, but rather than becoming known for his own distinctive sound, he’ll instead haunt the airwaves with an approach that reads like a jukebox stacked with other people’s hits.

Written by: Jack Press | Date: Wednesday, 25 June 2025

AJ Tracey - Don't Die Before You're Dead (Album Review)

Photo: Shamarke Abdi It’s been four years since Lambeth Grove’s finest released ‘Flu Game’, an album that allowed AJ Tracey to flex his versatility while cementing him as one of the UK’s finest rap talents. Now, on ‘Don’t Die Before You’re Dead’, he dials back the experimentation without sacrificing much in the way of quality. 

Written by: Jack Butler-Terry | Date: Tuesday, 24 June 2025

Nxdia - I Promise No One's Watching (Album Review)

Nxdia’s ‘I Promise No One’s Watching’ is a debut mixtape full of emotion, catchy lyrics, forceful drops and genre switches — it’s experimental, certainly, but also offers the perfect payoff to each of its diversions, ending up as a real treat for fans of alt-pop contemporaries such as Towa Bird.

Written by: Laura Mills | Date: Monday, 23 June 2025

The Cure - Mixes of a Lost World (Album Review)

The Cure’s latest offering, ‘Mixes of a Lost World’, is an ambitious 24-track accompaniment to their acclaimed 2024 album ‘Songs from a Lost World’. With profits going to UK educational NGO War Child, the record assembles a diverse roster of remixes from collaborators including Ibiza trailblazer Paul Oakenfold and Norwegian techno mainstay Mental Overdrive to electronica luminaries such as Four Tet and self-professed superfan Trentemøller.

Written by: Jacob Brookman | Date: Thursday, 19 June 2025

King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard - Phantom Island (Album Review)

Photo: Maclay Heriot When you’ve made 27 records, uncharted territory is hard to find. But Australian psych-rockers King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard are nothing if not ambitious. ‘Phantom Island’ is another big-brained odyssey from a band who have already covered everything from Dragon-slaying metal to inter-dimensional psychedelic epics. Continuing their fascination with orchestral rock, it is one of their most accomplished endeavours as well as a soul-enriching odyssey.

Written by: James Palaczky | Date: Wednesday, 18 June 2025

Cynthia Erivo - I Forgive You (Album Review)

Photo: Norman Jean Roy Ever since her stunning turn as Elphaba Thropp in the film adaptation of Wicked, Cynthia Erivo’s stock has defied gravity. That performance was full of so much drama and theatricality, with powerhouse vocals that made every emotion hit like a truck, making anticipation for her new album ‘I Forgive You’ far greater than for her accomplished 2021 debut ‘Ch. 1 Vs. 1’.

Written by: Jack Butler-Terry | Date: Tuesday, 17 June 2025

Neil Young - Talkin To The Trees (Album Review)

Photo: Daryl Hannah Neil Young really needs no introduction. From his early days in Buffalo Springfield to work with Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young and a solo career spanning almost 50 LPs, he is a living legend who, nevertheless, must answer a question put to any artist at this stage in their career: do they still have a point to prove, or an audience to reach? For Young, the answer is a resounding yes to both. ‘Talkin To The Trees’ is an invigorating first album with The Chrome Hearts, while it arrives ahead of a headline set at Glastonbury.

Written by: Chris Connor | Date: Monday, 16 June 2025

Finn Wolfhard - Happy Birthday (Album Review)

Photo: Gep Repasky Finn Wolfhard might be best known as that guy from that TV show, but he is no stranger to the world of music, having previously released records as part of the now defunct band Calpurnia, before going on to form The Aubreys with bandmate Malcolm Craig, with the duo releasing their dreamy indie-pop debut ‘Karaoke Alone’ back in 2021. But ‘Happy Birthday’ marks the Stranger Things star’s bow as a solo musician, showcasing his songwriting and a passion for creating music that is both fun and thoughtful.

Written by: Nieve Elis | Date: Friday, 13 June 2025

Little Simz - Lotus (Album Review)

Photo: Thibaut Grevet With a Mercury Prize under her belt, arena shows in the diary and a Meltdown festival to curate at the Southbank Centre, Little Simz is in-demand and under pressure as her new album ‘Lotus’ lands. The London rapper turns away from inflated hype and braggadocio, though, delivering work that is humble, tranquil and, above all, sincere.  

Written by: James Palaczky | Date: Thursday, 12 June 2025

Pulp - More (Album Review)

Photo: Tom Jackson “I was born to perform,” proclaims Jarvis Cocker during Spike Island, the electrifying opener of Pulp’s first album in 24 years. The Sheffield accent and gasps of excitement and arousal remain, and judging by 2023’s run of reunion shows, so do the convulsive dance moves. ‘More’ offers everything you could want from the Britpop legends and, well, more.

Written by: Sarah Taylor | Date: Thursday, 12 June 2025

Marina - Princess of Power (Album Review)

Some 15 years on from her emergence with ‘The Family Jewels’, Marina Diamandis is still thriving on ‘Princess of Power’, a record that explores what power really means for a woman in the music industry, with chamber-pop, new wave and electro folded into songs that are influenced by ABBA as much as they are by Kylie Minogue.

Written by: Issy Herring | Date: Wednesday, 11 June 2025

Addison Rae - Addison (Album Review)

“Can’t a girl just have fun?” Addison Rae asks during Money is Everything, an almost-ambient interlude close to the top of her debut album that pointedly places style over substance. The answer, if these 12 songs are anything to go by, is yes. But for her listeners, the truth is more complicated.

Written by: Sarah Taylor | Date: Wednesday, 11 June 2025

Elbow - Audio Vertigo Echo Elbow EP 5 (Album Review)

Released last year, ‘Audio Vertigo’ was an eclectic record that found Elbow at the top of their game, with the contributions of new drummer Alex Reeves worthy of being singled out for particular praise. Following hot on its heels we have the companion piece ‘Audio Vertigo Echo Elbow EP 5’, a collection of tracks recorded during those sessions that will tide fans over until the release of their next full LP while showing off a mix of influences, some expected and others more surprising. 

Written by: Chris Connor | Date: Tuesday, 10 June 2025

Lil Wayne - Tha Carter VI (Album Review)

Photo: Cécile Boko Lil Wayne has long circled the conversation around the greatest modern rappers and a massive reason for that is his lauded ‘Tha Carter’ series. Starting in 2004, these albums have carried a lot of weight, which made ‘VI’ one of 2025’s most anticipated releases, with many fans having hoped that the last entry — 2018’s sub-par ‘Tha Carter V’ — was just a blip. Sadly, it seems it was just the start of a trend.

Written by: Jack Butler-Terry | Date: Monday, 09 June 2025

Turnstile - Never Enough (Album Review)

Photo: Alexis Gross On stage at Coachella earlier this year, Charli XCX declared that it was time for a “different kind of summer” in 2025, following the season-defining success of the pop icon’s latest album ‘Brat’. A video backdrop then listed a number of artists and filmmakers, including Pulp, Bon Iver, and Lorde, along with one outlier in a Baltimore hardcore band. Well, with ‘Never Enough’,  Turnstile summer is officially here. 

Written by: Maddy Howell | Date: Monday, 09 June 2025

Sports Team - Boys These Days (Album Review)

Photo: Bartek Szmigulski  On their third album, Sports Team have undergone a remarkable metamorphosis. Where previous efforts showcased promising indie-rock juvenilia, ‘Boys These Days’ reveals a band transformed into something approaching the Pulp of their generation, complete with the Britpop naivety of early Supergrass and Elton John’s glam-pop magnetism.

Written by: Jack Press | Date: Friday, 06 June 2025

Matt Berninger - Get Sunk (Album Review)

Photo: Chantal Anderson Having fronted The National for more than two decades, Matt Berninger is today regarded as one of the most cherished singers in American alt-rock. In 2020, his solo debut ‘Serpentine Prison’ was a welcome lockdown surprise, albeit not the finished article. Five years and two albums with his band later, Berninger has bettered himself with the fantastic ‘Get Sunk’, which is textured and vulnerable, heart-aching and, eventually, therapeutic.

Written by: Matthew McLister | Date: Friday, 06 June 2025

Garbage - Let All That We Imagine Be The Light (Album Review)

Photo: Joseph Cultice More than three decades since their formation, Garbage remain uncompromising. ‘Let All That We Imagine Be The Light’ extends a late-career purple patch they entered with 2021’s ‘No Gods No Masters’, even if its lopsided tracklist features songs that feel torn between inspiration and desperation.

Written by: Jack Press | Date: Thursday, 05 June 2025

Miley Cyrus - Something Beautiful (Album Review)

Photo: Glen Luchford Miley Cyrus promised a lot for her ninth studio album. Promoted not only as a visual concept record but as one filled with “healing sound properties” — not to mention a companion film inspired by Alan Parker’s adaptation of Pink Floyd’s ‘The Wall’ — the bar for the star’s next era was certainly raised high.

Written by: Maddy Howell | Date: Wednesday, 04 June 2025

These New Puritans - Crooked Wing (Album Review)

Photo: Hedi Slimane In 2023, Bristol-based trip-hop pioneers and conscience holdouts Massive Attack posted a pointed observation on social media in response to the rise of AI-generated music: “Is the discussion ‘should AI recreate music?’ or is the discussion ‘Why is contemporary music so homogenised & formulaic that it’s really easy to copy?’.

Written by: Jacob Brookman | Date: Wednesday, 04 June 2025