Killer Mike - Michael (Album Review)

Photo: Jonathan Mannion Killer Mike has said about his new solo album that if “Run the Jewels is the X-Men, this is my Logan,” a reference to the more sombre Wolverine spin off that reset expectations for emotional complexity in a blockbuster superhero franchise.

Written by: Tom Morgan | Date: Wednesday, 21 June 2023

Christine and the Queens - Paranoļa, Angels, True Love (Album Review)

Photo: Jasa Muller Carrying on with the narration that began on his 2022 release ‘Redcar les adorables étoiles’, ‘Paranoïa, Angels, True Love’ allows Chris to reembody the titular Redcar character on an album that is is drenched in enough emotion and psychodrama to make its 97 minute, 20 track running order feel involving and worthwhile.

Written by: Katie Macbeth | Date: Tuesday, 20 June 2023

King Krule - Space Heavy (Album Review)

Photo: Frank Lebon For almost a decade now, King Krule has traded in an immediately recognisable sound. In Archie Marshall’s world, jazz-influenced chords are bullied and bashed into post-punk shapes while he groans and grumbles through introspective, existential takes on his absurd surroundings. His new album, ‘Space Heavy’, carries a lot of this on from its predecessors, but mutates into something altogether more holistic.

Written by: Jo Higgs | Date: Tuesday, 20 June 2023

Squid - O Monolith (Album Review)

Photo: Studio UJ Following such a well thought out and meticulously assembled album as ‘Bright Green Field’ was never going to be an easy undertaking for Squid and, at first, it really wasn’t. Frontman Ollie Judge found himself in the rut to end all ruts when it came to writing for the album that eventually became the excellent ‘O Monolith’.

Written by: Jack McGill | Date: Monday, 19 June 2023

Janelle Monįe - The Age Of Pleasure (Album Review)

Janelle Monáe is feeling themselves, and for good reason. Over the course of three albums—dating back to 2010's ‘The ArchAndroid’—they have become an accomplished multi-hyphenate with award-winning turns on the big screen going hand in hand with tours, books and social justice work. It's no wonder then that ‘The Age Of Pleasure’ is brimming with a self-confidence that has only been hinted at before now.

Written by: Jack Terry | Date: Monday, 19 June 2023

Youth Lagoon - Heaven Is A Junkyard (Album Review)

Photo: Tyler T. Williams With the benefit of hindsight, Youth Lagoon’s 2015 record ‘Savage Hill Ballroom’ felt like an ending of sorts. It was luscious and bold, and in many ways less idiosyncratic than everything Trevor Powers had released to that point.

Written by: Craig Howieson | Date: Friday, 16 June 2023

Dream Wife - Social Lubrication (Album Review)

Photo: Sophie Webster What do you do when there are endless reasons to be angry? If we let our rage dominate our every waking minute, it would drain us, permanently weigh us down and block out any grain of hope. 

Written by: Emma Wilkes | Date: Thursday, 15 June 2023

Jenny Lewis - Joy'all (Album Review)

Photo: Bobbi Rich It’s all there in the title of Jenny Lewis’s new album. Armed with an uplifting set of tracks, some stemming from a songwriting workshop hosted by none other than Beck, the Nashville transplant sounds positively elated on ‘Joy’all’. 

Written by: Craig Howieson | Date: Wednesday, 14 June 2023

Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds - Council Skies (Album Review)

Photo: Matt Crockett While the tedious will-they-won’t-they Oasis reunion rumours continue to swirl—along with talk of eye-watering sums available should the Gallagher brothers bury the hatchet long enough to tour—Noel has rolled on with his High Flying Birds and their fourth album ‘Council Skies’.

Written by: Graeme Marsh | Date: Tuesday, 13 June 2023

Bully - Lucky For You (Album Review)

Photo: Sophia Matinazad At this point in her career, Alicia Bognanno knows exactly what her work is about. The Nashville-based musician, songwriter and producer’s fourth album as Bully is a masterpiece, displaying hard-won understanding of what it takes to craft a record that is vulnerable, vitriolic and absolutely vital.

Written by: Laura Johnson | Date: Monday, 12 June 2023

Rufus Wainwright - Folkocracy (Album Review)

Photo: Miranda Penn Turin Never one for ambiguity or subterfuge, and well known for being delightfully tongue in cheek, Rufus Wainwright has been typically open, about why he chose to craft this beautifully executed, guest-heavy set of folk-based covers. In short, he wants to win a Grammy and felt there was more chance of achieving that aim within this genre than the world of pop, where being difficult to define has often worked against him.

Written by: Simon Ramsay | Date: Friday, 09 June 2023

Protomartyr - Formal Growth In The Desert (Album Review)

Photo: Trevor Naud Protomartyr have given in and accepted that the past few years have been nothing short of dreadful, and on their new record, the Detroit-reared post-punk band predict that little will change in the foreseeable future. But ‘Formal Growth In The Desert’ also proves to be the perfect vessel through which to express that sentiment, using their unforgiving sound to explore what frontman Joe Casey describes simply as “getting on with life”.

Written by: Jack McGill | Date: Thursday, 08 June 2023

Foo Fighters - But Here We Are (Album Review)

Photo: Danny Clinch When Taylor Hawkins unexpectedly died last year, there were many Foo Fighters fans who believed it would be the end of the band. The drummer was such a force, and an integral part of the group on stage and off, that their three decade, 10 album legacy looked like it might be set in stone. But when all-round-nice-guy Dave Grohl ended a series of tribute concerts with a "see you soon", there was a glimmer of hope.

Written by: Jack Terry | Date: Wednesday, 07 June 2023

Avenged Sevenfold - Life Is But A Dream... (Album Review)

Photo: Brian Catelle Across a career spanning more than two decades, Avenged Sevenfold have taken on assorted guises. They were once a band that made furious, technical metalcore, before pushing into Metallica worship and, eventually, prog with 2016’s ‘The Stage’.

Written by: Will Marshall | Date: Tuesday, 06 June 2023

Sparks - The Girl Is Crying In Her Latte (Album Review)

Not many bands manage to rack up 50 years in the game. Then again, there aren't many bands quite like Sparks. Brothers Ron and Russell Mael have been plying us with quirky, idiosyncratic art pop since the late ‘60s, and are as notable for their narrative lyrics as they are their visual peculiarities. But they’re also oddly reliable—Ron still dons a pencil moustache under his trademark scowl—and on ‘The Girl Is Crying In Her Latte’, they sound just as Sparks as ever.

Written by: Jack Terry | Date: Monday, 05 June 2023

Arlo Parks - My Soft Machine (Album Review)

Love is a bottomless well in pop music. Whether it's being celebrated, lamented, mourned or craved, it has inspired volumes upon volumes of songs and albums. Since the release of her 2021 Mercury Prize winning debut ‘Collapsed In Sunbeams’, Arlo Parks has swapped London for LA and fallen for rapper Ashnikko. If 'My Soft Machine' is anything to go by, things seem to be going great for the couple.

Written by: Jack Terry | Date: Friday, 02 June 2023

Water From Your Eyes - Everyone's Crushed (Album Review)

Photo: Ariel Fisher Water From Your Eyes don’t make things simple. Or do they? The New York duo’s oddball indietronica can seem abstract and challenging but their compositions are often sparse and their lyrics deceptively simple.

Written by: Tom Morgan | Date: Wednesday, 31 May 2023

Kevin Morby - More Photographs (A Continuum) (Album Review)

In an age of almost unlimited options when it comes to new music, with scores of new songs added to streaming services daily, one may question the merit of companion albums such as the latest missive from the mind of Kevin Morby.

Written by: Craig Howieson | Date: Tuesday, 30 May 2023

Sufjan Stevens - Reflections (Album Review)

Photo: Dawn Miller At this stage in his career you would forgive even Sufjan Stevens for struggling to keep up with his own output. A masterful songwriter, composer, performer and collaborator, his collected body of work is now close to requiring a dedicated cataloguing system.

Written by: Craig Howieson | Date: Friday, 26 May 2023

Sleep Token - Take Me Back To Eden (Album Review)

Photo: Andy Ford Sleep Token are an enigma. Totally anonymous, with zero interviews out there, they have risen through metal’s ranks faster than you can say “worship”, becoming one of the hottest things in the alternative space right now. 

Written by: Will Marshall | Date: Thursday, 25 May 2023