The Get Up Kids - Problems (Album Review)

Photo: Shawn Brackbill Certain records are millstones. They inspire such love in people that, eventually, it becomes weaponised as the law of diminishing returns takes over, or a band decide that they don’t want to retrace their steps.

Written by: Huw Baines | Date: Tuesday, 14 May 2019

Big Thief - U.F.O.F. (Album Review)

The big city can make you crazy, and everyone needs a bit of escapism now and then. For the four members of Brooklyn-based Big Thief, the greenery of rural Washington state came calling in time to play a huge role in the creation of ‘U.F.O.F’ (the final F standing for Friend), their third album. Here they look past grey skyscrapers, endless franchises and big lights in the city towards an idyllic image of the countryside.

Written by: Helen Payne | Date: Tuesday, 14 May 2019

Matthew and the Atlas - Morning Dancer (Album Review)

Three albums in and Matthew and the Atlas seem to be in a position to capitalise on all aspects of their previous work. Matt Hegarty’s adventure started with some folky EPs, followed by the synth-based 2014 debut album ‘Other Rivers’. ‘Temple’ then retreated to a more stripped down approach, but with ‘Morning Dancer’ we’re treated to a more eclectic collection.

Written by: Graeme Marsh | Date: Friday, 10 May 2019

Vampire Weekend - Father of the Bride (Album Review)

‘Father of the Bride’, the fourth album by Vampire Weekend, reinstates the New Yorkers as kings of cult indie. A quintessential millennial act, alternately brimming with metaphorical nonsense and intensely philosophical lyrical content, they have again worked to build diligent music for easy listening.

Written by: Milly McMahon | Date: Thursday, 09 May 2019

Loyle Carner - Not Waving, But Drowning (Album Review)

Loyle Carner isn’t like the rest. His sound, smooth and jazz-inflected, feels like it’s in direct opposition to the brash, lo-fi extremes of Soundcloud rap, while his demeanour also sets him at odds with the gonzo, face-tattooed rappers occupying the charts.

Written by: Helen Payne | Date: Wednesday, 08 May 2019

Lizzo - Cuz I Love You (Album Review)

Lizzo isn’t a new name. The Detroit native has been grafting for years, leading groups including the Chalice prior to the release of her debut solo album, 2013’s ‘Lizzobangers’. And this slow burn has allowed her to own centre stage as a powerhouse vocalist on ‘Cuz I Love You’, where she proves that she’s the star she always claimed she was.

Written by: Laura Johnson | Date: Tuesday, 07 May 2019

Marina - LOVE + FEAR (Album Review)

Four years on from the release of ‘Froot’, and newly shorn of her Marina and the Diamonds sobriquet, Marina Diamandis has returned with 'LOVE + FEAR', an ambitious LP that consists of two juxtaposing parts. It’s quite literally Love versus Fear as this 15 track confessional unfurls like a lopsided boxing match.

Written by: Milly McMahon | Date: Friday, 03 May 2019

Bear's Den - So That You Might Hear Me (Album Review)

First there was acoustic folk. Then things went electronic—a familiar path that Mumford & Sons, Matthew & the Atlas and Ben Howard have all taken in recent years. On album three Bear’s Den refuse to entirely commit to either direction, preferring instead to bask in their ability to switch between the two.

Written by: Graeme Marsh | Date: Thursday, 02 May 2019

King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard - Fishing For Fishies (Album Review)

After a ludicrously productive 2017 saw them release five albums, King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard have returned after a much needed two year break with ‘Fishing For Fishies’. It’s remarkable that a band as prolific as these Australian psychedelic masters attempts new things at an equally alarming rate, and here they have somehow managed to find another string to their bow.

Written by: Grant Jones | Date: Wednesday, 01 May 2019

Catfish and the Bottlemen - The Balance (Album Review)

Prior to the release of Catfish and the Bottlemen’s second album, 2016’s ‘The Ride’, frontman Van McCann didn’t holding off on singing its praises. Needless to say, it wasn’t quite as brilliant as he was making out, although the public seemed to like it and elevated the LP to the top of the UK chart. It also made the top 30 in the US, which is no mean feat.

Written by: Graeme Marsh | Date: Tuesday, 30 April 2019

LSD - LSD (Album Review)

Ending up as a conflicted power struggle between vocalists Sia and Labrinth, and producer Diplo, LSD is one of the most unwieldy supergroup outings yet. Comprising wannabe anthemic pop songs that channel off-kilter sounds and melodies, their eponymous debut LP feels like a lazy attempt to cash in on each artist's following.

Written by: Milly McMahon | Date: Monday, 29 April 2019

Fat White Family - Serfs Up! (Album Review)

Fat White Family’s third studio album is a vibrant, esoteric melange of sounds and influences, bringing together post-punk, reggae, garage rock and more. It’s a fun, considered and detailed record from a band who have sometimes appeared to court gratuitous controversy for the sake of it.

Written by: Jacob Brookman | Date: Friday, 26 April 2019

Cage The Elephant - Social Cues (Album Review)

Photo: Neil Krug Since their introduction to the world in 2008, with the huge single Ain't No Rest For The Wicked and their subsequent self-titled debut, Cage The Elephant have spent their career fluttering between genres, attempting to keep their audience guessing.

Written by: Grant Jones | Date: Thursday, 25 April 2019

Bryce Dessner - El Chan (Album Review)

Bryce Dessner is a man who knows a lot about music. Widely revered for his role as multi-instrumentalist and composer with the National, on ‘El Chan’ he continues a side odyssey in classical music and transcends the ‘indie rock guitarist’ label. Here, with the help of pianists Katia and Marielle Labèque, and Orchestre de Paris, he has outdone himself by turning in a grand statement with a sense of ease.

Written by: Helen Payne | Date: Wednesday, 24 April 2019

Anderson .Paak - Ventura (Album Review)

Anderson .Paak’s new record is excellent: a rich, energetic return to groovy modern soul that reins in the edgier hip hop tones seen on 2018’s 'Oxnard'. And while his music sometimes feels derivative, it gives space to a singer and musical character of fabulous poise and endeavour.

Written by: Jacob Brookman | Date: Tuesday, 23 April 2019

Weyes Blood - Titanic Rising (Album Review)

Weyes Blood’s ‘Titanic Rising’ is an exceptionally modern, prescient singer-songwriter record that also couldn’t do a better job of channelling mid-’70s California if it tried. Landing somewhere between Karen Carpenter sitting in with Randy Newman and a polemical statement on present day alienation, Natalie Mering has crafted something quite special here.

Written by: Huw Baines | Date: Thursday, 18 April 2019

The Chemical Brothers - No Geography (Album Review)

In the 1990s—along with Fatboy Slim and the Prodigy—the Chemical Brothers popularised a particular brand of big beat electronica that ran adjacent to, and sometimes intertwined with, the pompously termed Intelligent Dance Music movement. Their ninth studio album, ‘No Geography’ boldly revisits this sound, updating it thematically while combining many of the compositional elements brilliantly. The result is probably their best album since 2002’s ‘Come With Us’.

Written by: Jacob Brookman | Date: Tuesday, 16 April 2019

Idlewild - Interview Music (Album Review)

‘Interview Music’, Idlewild’s eighth studio album, finds them following up on the relative success of their 2015 comeback ‘Everything Ever Written’. After a break of six years, that LP surprised a few by sending their sweeping indie-rock back into the UK top 20. Here, though, things seem a little different.

Written by: Graeme Marsh | Date: Friday, 12 April 2019

PUP - Morbid Stuff (Album Review)

Photo: Vanessa Heins Since the release of their explosive debut in 2013, PUP have hurtled along a knife-edge between joy and despair with such velocity that it’s been impossible to look away.

Written by: Ben Gladman | Date: Thursday, 11 April 2019

Khalid - Free Spirit (Album Review)

Khalid pens sophisticated, understated R&B melodies supported by a moodiness that listeners can readily relate to. On his first album, ‘American Teen’, we saluted a charming vocalist’s brittle vulnerability laid bare on record, and some honest words on anxiety and insecurity characterise its follow up, 'Free Spirit'. At 21 years old, he’s still figuring it all out.

Written by: Milly McMahon | Date: Thursday, 11 April 2019