Circa Waves - What's It Like Over There? (Album Review)

Liverpool quartet Circa Waves’ third album, ‘What’s It Like Over There?’, finds them venturing into new territory, but is it a case of following their calling or, to use that classic phrase, selling out?

Written by: Graeme Marsh | Date: Wednesday, 10 April 2019

Martha - Love Keeps Kicking (Album Review)

Martha’s approach to pop music falls somewhere between kitchen sink realism and wild escapism. Over the course of two LPs and a slew of excellent singles the indie-punk quartet, who hail from Pity Me, close to Durham in the northeast of England, have cemented a reputation as a melodically savvy, socially conscious band capable of telling us the truth and then helping us to forget about it.

Written by: Huw Baines | Date: Wednesday, 10 April 2019

Billie Eilish - When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? (Album Review)

Billie Eilish can be as obnoxious as she is brilliant, and therein lies her charm. While most teenagers are spending their time brooding and contemplating the future this Los Angeles singer-songwriter is busy blurring genre boundaries with her debut album, and amassing an army of fans in the process. Put away that box, because she ain't gonna fit.

Written by: Laura Johnson | Date: Tuesday, 09 April 2019

The Drums - Brutalism (Album Review)

Photo: Nicholas Moore To recap, the Drums are now the solo project of frontman Jonny Pierce following the exit of Jacob Graham before the release of their previous album—2017’s excellent ‘Abysmal Thoughts’. As such ‘Brutalism’ is essentially the work of a solo artist, and has the increased emotional proximity one might expect from that setup.

Written by: Jacob Brookman | Date: Monday, 08 April 2019

White Denim - Side Effects (Album Review)

Photo: Pooneh Ghana Hot on the heels of 2018’s ‘Performance’, White Denim’s latest record is a terse collection of previously unfinished rock tunes, rich in texture, tone and innovation. Though their sound remains fundamentally derivative, there is a lot to like in a short LP that straddles indie, prog, psych and alternative rock.

Written by: Jacob Brookman | Date: Wednesday, 03 April 2019

These New Puritans - Inside The Rose (Album Review)

Six years on from their last LP, experimental indie outfit These New Puritans have returned with ‘Inside The Rose’. Pushing deeper into their thick, sinister atmospheres, twin brothers Jack and George Barnett pair obscure reference points with romance on this often inspired, transcendental journey across sound and space.

Written by: Milly McMahon | Date: Tuesday, 02 April 2019

Jenny Lewis - On The Line (Album Review)

Photo: Autumn De Wilde With ‘On The Line’, her fourth solo record, Jenny Lewis settles into what is shaping up as her imperial phase. Five years on from the genteel soft-rock adventures of ‘The Voyager’, the former Rilo Kiley vocalist has switched out its pastel hues for a wonderful collection of golden ballads and sparky road songs.

Written by: Huw Baines | Date: Monday, 01 April 2019

Nilüfer Yanya - Miss Universe (Album Review)

Photo: Molly Daniel One of the great strengths apparent in Nilüfer Yanya’s early work was its imperviousness to outside noise. As the hype machine began to bubble her songs simply went about their business, melding gleaming indie-rock with the rhythmic, snotty cool of her melodies.

Written by: Huw Baines | Date: Thursday, 28 March 2019

Lambchop - 'This (is what I wanted to tell you)' (Album Review)

Photo: Jo Bongard Kurt Wagner’s gang of alt-country stalwarts, Lambchop, are back for a 14th studio album—they skipped number 13 due to superstition. As with 2016’s ‘Flotus’, the Nashville band use electronic arrangements to accompany Wagner’s distinctive deadpan drawl, and broadly, it works well.

Written by: Jacob Brookman | Date: Tuesday, 26 March 2019

Strand of Oaks - Eraserland (Album Review)

Strand of Oaks’ sixth album, ‘Eraserland’, could in another world easily be termed My Morning Jacket’s eighth. Each member of the veteran Kentucky indie-rock band, bar frontman Jim James, has suited up to back Tim Showalter here, and it’s a timely proposition if ever there was one.

Written by: Graeme Marsh | Date: Monday, 25 March 2019

American Football - American Football (Album Review)

After releasing their self-titled debut album in 1999, and promptly splitting up, American Football became a cultural touchstone. They were synonymous with the intelligent side of emo, having created a template that would be imitated throughout the new millennium: complex, intertwining guitar parts, unconventional rhythms, and melodramatic lyrics that chronicled heartbreak and uncertainty with a sort of smug collegiate literariness.

Written by: Ben Gladman | Date: Friday, 22 March 2019

Weezer - Weezer (The Black Album) (Album Review)

Photo: Shawn Murphy Discussions of Weezer’s recent work have tended towards the philosophical, and perhaps also the overly kind. Are we being trolled? Is this a sort of exercise in performance art? Or, in reality, are we simply seeing a once beloved rock band flounder as they head towards the twilight of their career? ‘The Black Album’, their 13th LP, almost aggressively plays into this dynamic with a slate of songs that alternately feel tossed off and self-involved.

Written by: Huw Baines | Date: Wednesday, 20 March 2019

Gesaffelstein - Hyperion (Album Review)

When Kanye West recruited Gesaffelstein to produce on his iconic ‘Yeezus’ LP a little over five years ago, we watched as a powerful new energy was awoken in the French producer. Soon after, he translated that into the menacing power of his debut, ‘Aleph’.

Written by: Milly McMahon | Date: Monday, 18 March 2019

Stella Donnelly - Beware of the Dogs (Album Review)

Photo: Pooneh Ghana Stella Donnelly’s bite is far worse than her bark. On her debut album, ‘Beware of the Dogs’ some scathing remarks—mostly focusing on inequality, sexual misconduct and toxic masculinity—are tied up neatly in sickly sweet melodies.

Written by: Helen Payne | Date: Friday, 15 March 2019

Foals - Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost - Part 1 (Album Review)

Some 11 years on from the release of their debut, there’s still a crackling sense of excitement around a new Foals album. This year, that buzz will be doubled. ‘Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost - Part 1’ is the first of two collections the band are set to release in 2019 (numbers five and six in their discography) after an abundance of ideas were developed during a year in the studio.

Written by: Graeme Marsh | Date: Thursday, 14 March 2019

Sigrid - Sucker Punch (Album Review)

Now that the initial frenzy around Sigrid's terrific, groundbreaking singles—Strangers and Don’t Kill My Vibe—has died down, we have her debut full-length album, ‘Sucker Punch’, to consider.

Written by: Jacob Brookman | Date: Wednesday, 13 March 2019

Solange - When I Get Home (Album Review)

Photo: Max Hirschberger Reminiscing on her formative years, discovering self, music and style, Solange Knowles has crafted ‘When I Get Home’, a love letter to her hometown, Houston. Mood-boarding intimate influences and inspirations, in both sound and cinema, this 19 track compendium arrived spanning both mediums alongside a stunning short film.

Written by: Milly McMahon | Date: Tuesday, 12 March 2019

Dido - Still on My Mind (Album Review)

For Brits of a certain age, Dido’s music represents a particular sense of time and space. The late ‘90s was a period of intense, outward-looking optimism and, though the brilliance of Britpop was fading, even easy-listening pop acts like Dido seemed to have a high degree of creative integrity.

Written by: Jacob Brookman | Date: Monday, 11 March 2019

Pond - Tasmania (Album Review)

Photo: Pooneh Ghana With their eighth release, Australian psych-rock collective Pond attempt to finally rid themselves of the stylistic associations with former member, and Tame Impala leader, Kevin Parker that have coloured their previous efforts.

Written by: Grant Jones | Date: Friday, 08 March 2019

Little Simz - GREY Area (Album Review)

On ‘GREY Area’, Little Simz delivers a powerful representation of her talents across a brilliant, fluid set of hip hop tracks. Where misogynistic rhymes and crass brags often replace intelligent wordplay and eloquence in the work of her male counterparts, she steps up, articulate and powerful.

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