Osees - Intercepted Message (Album Review)

Photo: Titouan Massé Disruption seems to have become the most common, if not the only real way, to enact radical change. Upsetting the status quo, upending beliefs and subverting expectations enacts a competitive edge; something California's Osees can attest to since their own campaign of disruption started in the late 1990s.

Written by: Craig Howieson | Date: Tuesday, 22 August 2023

Fiddlehead - Death Is Nothing To Us (Album Review)

On their aptly titled third record ‘Death Is Nothing To Us’, Fiddlehead’s Pat Flynn puts forward the idea that we should not let loss define the rest of our lives. The band’s material has always dealt with his personal experiences of grief, and it feels like now is the right time for the final revelatory instalment. 

Written by: Jack McGill | Date: Monday, 21 August 2023

The Hives - The Death of Randy Fitzsimmons (Album Review)

Photo: Ebru Yildiz It might clock in at only 31 minutes but it’s not all that easy to listen to the Hives’ latest bombardment of relentless punked-up rock ‘n’ roll glory from start to finish. As soon as the first riotous cut ends it’s almost impossible not to hit repeat. Same with the next track. And the next. And so on. But, their own cheeky braggadocio aside, that’s exactly what makes this hugely addictive return every bit the “soon to be award winning new album” the band have repeatedly claimed.

Written by: Simon Ramsay | Date: Thursday, 17 August 2023

Noname - Sundial (Album Review)

Though Noname has built her short but acclaimed career on a compassionate and likeable brand of hip-hop, the Chicago native is no stranger to controversy. She’s feuded with J. Cole, has briefly retired and is currently taking heat for the content of Jay Electronica’s verse on her latest album ‘Sundial’.

Written by: Tom Morgan | Date: Wednesday, 16 August 2023

Public Image Ltd - End Of World (Album Review)

Photo: Andres Poveda Photography Public Image Ltd. spin a defiant tale on their 11th studio album ‘End of World’ — their first missive since ‘What the World Needs Now…’ in 2015 — with John Lydon in typically pugilistic voice. Around him, the music remains feverish and fitfully interesting, but there is a dispiriting amount of attention-grabbing from the group’s fabled singer, who is in danger of being left behind.

Written by: Jack McGill | Date: Monday, 14 August 2023

Mammoth WVH - Mammoth II (Album Review)

Photo: Travis Shinn While chatting with US shock jock Howard Stern back in 2006, Eddie Van Halen wasn’t shy about bigging up his then teenage son. “Wait ‘til you hear this kid play bass, guitar and drums,” the late shred-legend said. “He can do anything I do on guitar. If I excel at the speed of sound, this kid excels at the speed of light.” More than 15 years later that declaration about Wolfgang Van Halen seems less like  parental cheerleading than it does a reserved understatement.

Written by: Simon Ramsay | Date: Thursday, 10 August 2023

Girl Ray - Prestige (Album Review)

Photo: Eerie Rose Girl Ray appear to be in a constant state of transition, moving from their charming indie debut ‘Earl Grey’ through the pop-R&B tones of their second release ‘Girl’ and on to ‘Prestige’, a third album that drags us to the dancefloor, embracing all things disco with catchy synth work and floaty vocals.

Written by: Katie Macbeth | Date: Tuesday, 08 August 2023

Nils Lofgren - Mountains (Album Review)

Photo: Carl Schultz Aged 72, and with and more than 50 years on the road alongside Neil Young in Crazy Horse and as a key member of Bruce Springsteen’s E-Street Band, Nils Lofgren has a reputation as one of the most prolific workhorses in classic rock. 

Written by: Jack Terry | Date: Thursday, 03 August 2023

Ten Tonnes - Dancing, Alone (Album Review)

Photo: Phoebe Fox Ethan Barnett isn’t the first musician to find creative fuel in splitting from a major label, and his excellent second album as Ten Tonnes suggests he won’t be the last. After parting ways with Warner Music, had the chance to reevaluate and reclaim a sense of agency. ‘Dancing, Alone’ maintains the charming indie of his self-titled debut while presenting a more mature and seasoned sound.

Written by: Jack McGill | Date: Thursday, 03 August 2023

Post Malone - Austin (Album Review)

Photo: Adam DeGross Self-loathing has rarely sounded as good as it does on ‘Austin’, Post Malone’s hip-hop-denying, guitar-embracing, synth-pop follow-up to last year’s comedown ‘Twelve Carat Toothache’. Produced by Post himself, and sharply assisted by some of pop’s biggest hitmakers — think Andrew Watts, Louis Bell, Max Martin — it’s the perfect soundtrack for lazy sunday brunches by the pool. And not much else.

Written by: Jack Press | Date: Wednesday, 02 August 2023

Anne-Marie - Unhealthy (Album Review)

Photo: George Muncey Conceiving a follow up to her 2021 record ‘Therapy’, which hit number two in the UK charts and set up a jump to headlining arenas, was always going to be a challenge for Anne-Marie. Following a promising start, ‘Unhealthy’ proves precisely how difficult the task was.

Written by: Issy Herring | Date: Wednesday, 02 August 2023

Jessy Lanza - Love Hallucination (Album Review)

With their glossy textures, candy floss colour and melancholic beats, the 11 tracks of Jessy Lanza’s ‘Love Hallucination’ approximate their title in glorious fashion. The Canadian producer and vocalist resides in a middle ground—signed to the forward-thinking label Hyperdub since her 2013 debut 'Pull My Hair Back', her approach can often feel too adventurous for the mainstream but too approachable to remain underground.

Written by: Tom Morgan | Date: Tuesday, 01 August 2023

Aphex Twin - Blackbox Life Recorder 21f / in a room7 F760 (Album Review)

Richard D. James rarely pops his head out from beneath the parapet without good reason, so when he does people take notice. ‘Blackbox Life Recorder 21f / in a room7 F760’ is the first new Aphex Twin project since the ‘Collapse’ EP in 2018 and it represents quite a shift in creative priorities.

Written by: Jo Higgs | Date: Monday, 31 July 2023

Bethany Cosentino - Natural Disaster (Album Review)

When you are young, time is on your side. Plans are impermanent and changed at will. It’s a cruel trick that advancing age teaches us newfound respect for it, only to also make it harder to know what to do with it. Bethany Cosentino wrangles with this idea on her first solo record ‘Natural Disaster’, stitching that feeling to a soaring piece of power-pop on Outta Time. “I am only human / And I don’t wanna run outta time,” she sings.

Written by: Craig Howieson | Date: Friday, 28 July 2023

Palehound - Eye on the Bat (Album Review)

Photo: Tonje Thilesen El Kempner has never been one to shy away from life's humorous, ugly truths. As Palehound, they have made a habit of wrapping wry tales of sexual escapades and emotional turmoil in knotty, unusual guitar patterns. With ‘Eye on the Bat’ they continue to do so in breezy, if slightly underwhelming, fashion.

Written by: Jack Terry | Date: Tuesday, 25 July 2023

J Hus - Beautiful And Brutal Yard (Album Review)

Photo: Elliot Hensford In the wake of 2020’s ‘Big Conspiracy’, a critical hit and his first UK number one album, J Hus has established himself as one of London’s foremost voices when it comes to bringing the gritty underground to the masses in colourful and inventive ways.  

Written by: Jack Terry | Date: Monday, 24 July 2023

Blur - The Ballad of Darren (Album Review)

Photo: Reuben Bastienne-Lewis “Looked in the mirror, so many people standing there,” Damon Albarn sang to introduce The Narcissist, the first single from Blur’s ninth album. In fewer than 10 words he conveyed an awful lot about the band, reminding us of the many guises they have worn over more than 30 years in each other’s company.

Written by: Craig Howieson | Date: Friday, 21 July 2023

Rita Ora - You & I (Album Review)

Photo: Edward Cooke On ‘You & I’, Rita Ora opens the door to the reality faced by many artists caught in the machine-like jaws of the music industry, using the skirmishes that have accompanied her massive chart success as creative fuel. The end result is a patchy collection that manages to neatly synthesise her battle to be heard with a sense of positivity taken from her relationships with her loved ones while often missing the mark musically.

Written by: Issy Herring | Date: Thursday, 20 July 2023

PVRIS - Evergreen (Album Review)

Photo: Matty Vogel In her work with PVRIS Lyndsey Gunnulfsen has never been bound by genre, but with the multi-instrumentalist’s new album ‘Evergreen’ any remaining lines between their alt-rock roots and pure, euphoric pop are erased completely. 

Written by: Will Marshall | Date: Wednesday, 19 July 2023

Claud - Supermodels (Album Review)

Taking in Claud’s second album is like watching a musician grow up in real time. Where their 2021 debut ‘Super Monster’ was over-reliant on prescriptive and kitschy bedroom-pop tropes, ‘Supermodels’ brandishes diverse arrangements and ecstatic production.

Written by: Jo Higgs | Date: Tuesday, 18 July 2023