Christine and the Queens - Chris (Album Review)

Much like a popular meme that references the Japanese anime Dragon Ball Z, Héloïse Letissier has evolved into the binary-defying, strong-willed ‘Chris’. And this isn’t even her final form.

Written by: Helen Payne | Date: Wednesday, 03 October 2018

Marissa Nadler - For My Crimes (Album Review)

Photo: Cara Robbins There is a moment in Andrei Tarkovsky’s 1983 minimalist epic Nostalghia where the film’s protagonist, Gorchakov, sits overlooking a bridge in rural Italy, wondering about his homeland. There then follows a slow camera pan outwards from a puddle, which finally reveals a bridge above.

Written by: Jacob Brookman | Date: Tuesday, 02 October 2018

Restorations - LP5000 (Album Review)

Photo: Emily Dubin There comes a point in the lives of many bands when it seems like the easiest thing to do is stop. They won’t flame out in a way that’ll eventually get a chapter named after them in an oral history, or sign on for an indefinite farewell tour laced with pyro and recrimination. They’ll just stop, as though the whole endeavour simply ate itself.

Written by: Huw Baines | Date: Tuesday, 02 October 2018

Alt-J - Reduxer (Album Review)

Remix albums don’t always work. The best examples refresh and reveal elements of the original songs, giving them new life and often broadening their appeal. When they fail, it is often because the tracks lack the integrity and consistency of the source material.

Written by: Jacob Brookman | Date: Monday, 01 October 2018

Suede - The Blue Hour (Album Review)

With the release of 2016’s ‘Night Thoughts’, the second album following their reformation six years earlier, Suede managed to transcend the limitations of an album and create something bigger.

Written by: Graeme Marsh | Date: Monday, 01 October 2018

Beak> - >>> (Album Review)

For Beak>’s third album, musical director Geoff Barrow has leapt even further into old school synths, delivering a work of intense, rootsy krautrock that displays the distinctive ‘90s hip-hop production that he honed with Portishead.

Written by: Jacob Brookman | Date: Friday, 28 September 2018

MNEK - Language (Album Review)

'Language,' the debut album from MNEK, reinvents the staple, clean ‘90s pop aesthetic for modern audience. Writing at a prolific pace with clarity and authority, he presents himself in a celebratory fashion as a proud gay black man.

Written by: Milly McMahon | Date: Friday, 28 September 2018

Joe Bonamassa - Redemption (Album Review)

Photo: Christie Goodwin Not content with resuscitating the once ailing blues-rock scene for a new generation, Joe Bonamassa has been refining and expanding his musical skillset with every release, seemingly intent on achieving some kind of career defining apotheosis. His most complete artistic statement to date, ‘Redemption’ testifies that Bonamassa’s metamorphosis from guitar hero into all round creative powerhouse is now complete.

Written by: Simon Ramsay | Date: Thursday, 27 September 2018

We Were Promised Jetpacks - The More I Sleep The Less I Dream (Album Review)

Album four from Edinburgh's We Were Promised Jetpacks is, in their own words, about going back to basics. Since 2014’s ‘Unravelling’ they’ve changed management and label, both potential pitfalls, while recording was undertaken in the US with producer Jonathan Low. Running alongside these changes on ‘The More I Sleep The Less I Dream’ is the switch back to their original four man configuration and something approximating the style of their early releases.

Written by: Graeme Marsh | Date: Thursday, 27 September 2018

Bad Moves - Tell No One (Album Review)

Bad Moves are a bit late for summer but they’ve brought with them ‘Tell No One’, a debut album seemingly tailor-made for that dog-eared, sunlit past when your favourite song was always just around the corner on the radio.

Written by: Huw Baines | Date: Wednesday, 26 September 2018

Brockhampton - Iridescence (Album Review)

With their inclusive ethos, motivational lyricism and taste for avant-garde pop production, Brockhampton have proved over the past year and half that they're the hip hop collective OFWGKTA should have been. That comparison might seem trite from an artistic perspective, but it fits because of the impact both groups have had on a predominantly young audience. But where OFWGKTA had a misanthropic streak, Brockhampton's messaging is more wholesome and empowering.

Written by: Jonathan Rimmer | Date: Wednesday, 26 September 2018

Low - Double Negative (Album Review)

Photo: Shelly Mosman It’s not often that an album comes along and bowls you over into a state of sheer stupefaction. The Minnesota trio Low have always dabbled in minimalist experimentation, but their 12th full-length offering, ‘Double Negative’, cranks things up a notch. With Bon Iver producer B.J. Burton once again on hand, they manage to accomplish a giant leap forward without ever losing sight of who they are.

Written by: Graeme Marsh | Date: Tuesday, 25 September 2018

Fatherson - Sum of All Your Parts (Album Review)

Over the course of seven years and two LPs, Fatherson have quietly grafted and climbed their way to the top of Scotland’s burgeoning indie scene. And, on album number three, the Kilmarnock three-piece make their claim to an even bigger stage.

Written by: Liam Turner | Date: Tuesday, 25 September 2018

Paul Weller - True Meanings (Album Review)

Paul Weller is consistently operating at a level that most other musical grandees struggle to reach. His 14th solo record arrives hot on the heels of 2017’s ‘A Kind Revolution’, an innovative rock album that reminded us that the modfather still possesses political punch and a high degree of intellectual dynamism. ‘True Meanings’ is far softer and comprises pastoral ballads led mostly by acoustic guitar.

Written by: Jacob Brookman | Date: Monday, 24 September 2018

Pale Waves - My Mind Makes Noises (Album Review)

There are few more transparent lies than the suggestion that image doesn’t matter. Those who peddle it are usually paid-in-full members of the real music brigade, happy to sneer at pop stars while waxing lyrical about the famously gimmick-free music of the brothers Gallagher or Morrissey.

Written by: Huw Baines | Date: Monday, 24 September 2018

Sleaford Mods - Sleaford Mods (Album Review)

After slogging it out in provincial pubs for years, it’s little wonder that Jason Williamson, with Andrew Fearn, has gone into creative overdrive since achieving national success.

Written by: Jacob Brookman | Date: Thursday, 20 September 2018

Federal Charm - Passenger (Album Review)

With the exception of getting a song played on prime-time radio, there are few things more challenging for a rock band than losing their lead singer. For every AC/DC with Brian Johnson there are, sadly, hundreds of groups who’ve completely nosedived once the face and voice of their operation has upped sticks. But anyone worried about the future of British blues-rockers Federal Charm can breathe a mighty sigh of relief, because they haven’t just survived their frontman’s departure, they’ve actually benefited from it on ‘Passenger’.

Written by: Simon Ramsay | Date: Thursday, 20 September 2018

Attan - End Of (Album Review)

Attan released their debut EP, ‘From Nothing’, three years ago. There wasn’t a whole lot of fanfare, just positive rumblings and a few ‘ones to watch’ recommendations. Anyone who saw the band during that period got it, though. The Norwegians’ sludge-tinged, blackened hardcore was radicalised in the live arena as vocalist Remi Semshaug Langseth went walkabout during the cathartic seven minute epic Edward. He screamed in faces, slapped his heart onto his sleeve and then carved it open for all to see.

Written by: Alec Chillingworth | Date: Wednesday, 19 September 2018

Paul Simon - In The Blue Light (Album Review)

While Paul Simon may not be as prolific as Bob Dylan (38 solo albums) or Van Morrison (39), he might beat both artists in terms of consistent quality. Records like ‘Rhythm of the Saints’, released in 1990, and 2016’ s ‘Surprise’ often matched the brilliance of his work with Art Garfunkel, but may have been overlooked due to ageism within pop music.

Written by: Jacob Brookman | Date: Tuesday, 18 September 2018

Mothers - Render Another Ugly Method (Album Review)

Photo: Tonje Thilesen After relocating to Philadelphia, experimental folk quartet Mothers enlisted War on Drugs and St. Vincent producer John Congleton to work on their second album, ‘Render Another Ugly Method’.

Written by: Jacob Brookman | Date: Tuesday, 18 September 2018