Mary J. Blige - Strength of a Woman (Album Review)

Mary J. Blige is an icon, a vocal powerhouse who possesses a near unrivalled ability to write supremely rousing R&B anthems. Channelling self-empowerment and ambition through her music’s autobiographical lyrics, she has been shifting units and commanding big crowds for over two decades.

Written by: Milly McMahon | Date: Friday, 12 May 2017

Pond - The Weather (Album Review)

Billed as a “Technicolor odyssey”, the latest release from Australian psychedelic rockers Pond makes for a challenging listen.

Written by: Graeme Marsh | Date: Friday, 12 May 2017

Perfume Genius - No Shape (Album Review)

Having no shape is surely antithetical to great pop writing. It flies in the face of the perceived wisdom that the beauty in pop songs is found in their limitations: short running times, road-tested structures and an adherence to melody. But ‘No Shape’, Mike Hadreas’ fourth album as Perfume Genius, proves that those rules are for others. For those who need building blocks.

Written by: Huw Baines | Date: Thursday, 11 May 2017

Ho99o9 - United States of Horror (Album Review)

Forget Radiohead. Stop scratching your chin and deconstructing every sentence Lou Reed ever said. Don’t even bother trying to figure out what Kanye’s going to do next. Because Ho99o9 are here and they’re ridiculous.

Written by: Alec Chillingworth | Date: Thursday, 11 May 2017

Slowdive - Slowdive (Album Review)

When Oxford five-piece Slowdive fizzled out of existence over 20 years ago it was deemed to be for good. Seemingly having run its course, the band was dumped by their label Creation soon after the release of their third album, ‘Pygmalion’, a collection that flew in the face of label boss Alan McGee’s lobbying for a pop record.

Written by: Graeme Marsh | Date: Wednesday, 10 May 2017

Clean Cut Kid - Felt (Album Review)

‘Felt’, Clean Cut Kid’s debut album, has been on the cards since the summer of 2015, when they released their first single, Vitamin C. The track began a steady drip of singles that eventually amounted to a (very) slow-burn sense of anticipation.

Written by: Laura Johnson | Date: Wednesday, 10 May 2017

Chris Stapleton - From A Room: Volume 1 (Album Review)

If you’re one of the two million souls who fell in love with 2015’s ‘Traveller’, the debut solo album from hirsute singer-songwriter Chris Stapleton, then prepare your heart for a blizzard of butterflies with the arrival of ‘From A Room: Volume 1’. Wisely adhering to the ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’ principle, this record covers similar ground to its predecessor, albeit with subtle textural tweaks to incite further palpitations.

Written by: Simon Ramsay | Date: Tuesday, 09 May 2017

Blondie - Pollinator (Album Review)

Professional songwriting can be brutally unrewarding. The hit-making Midas touch that enthralled fans can suddenly misfire and disappear. And bad songs breed contempt, ignominy, or - worst of all - obsequious reassurances.

Written by: Jacob Brookman | Date: Tuesday, 09 May 2017

Moon Duo - Occult Architecture Vol. 2 (Album Review)

Photo: Eleonora Collini As promised, Moon Duo’s ‘Occult Architecture Vol. 2’ arrives hot on the heels of February’s excellent first volume, an album that represented the best collection their eight year existence has so far brought to life.

Written by: Graeme Marsh | Date: Monday, 08 May 2017

Gorillaz - Humanz (Album Review)

‘Humanz’ might be the most sketchy, and perhaps most under-the-radar, Gorillaz album yet, but it has arrived on the scene at exactly the right time. What better way to mark the evolution of fake news and a political world in disarray than the return of the planet’s first virtual band?

Written by: Ben Gallivan | Date: Monday, 08 May 2017

At The Drive In - In•ter a•li•a (Album Review)

“That’s the way the guillotine claps,” Cedric Bixler-Zavala sings on Governed By Contagions. Released in December of last year, the song was the first taste of new At The Drive In material for 16 years. Preceding it you had one of the greatest albums of all time, a break-up, a reunion, another break-up and another reunion. So what exactly was the guillotine clapping on? The necks of critics? Or the band themselves?

Written by: Alec Chillingworth | Date: Friday, 05 May 2017

John Mellencamp - Sad Clowns & Hillbillies (Album Review)

For obvious reasons, the US is currently enduring one of the most turbulent periods in its history. So the prospect of plainspoken singer-songwriter John Mellencamp returning with a passionate, scathing diatribe about the current state of his nation was an exciting one. Ever the contrarian, though, ‘Sad Clowns & Hillbillies’ is instead a surprisingly uplifting comeback that’s less protest piece and more existential comfort blanket.  

Written by: Simon Ramsay | Date: Friday, 05 May 2017

Feist - Pleasure (Album Review)

‘Pleasure’ is about choosing the opportune moment.

Written by: Huw Baines | Date: Thursday, 04 May 2017

Incubus - 8 (Album Review)

Incubus still have a DJ in their ranks. That automatically leads to a deduction of one mark out of a possible five. Not a good start.

Written by: Ben Gallivan | Date: Thursday, 04 May 2017

Brad Paisley - Love and War (Album Review)

Brad Paisley is one of life’s good guys. He’s an old school gentleman, a goofy comedian, a humble superstar with a social conscience. Which means that criticising him, or his work, would surely be an act of unconscionable cruelty. So it’s a relief that we don’t have to sink to such depths when reviewing ‘Love and War’, an album that finds the Nashville icon back to his best.

Written by: Simon Ramsay | Date: Wednesday, 03 May 2017

Juliana Hatfield - Pussycat (Album Review)

Hey guys…does anybody else yearn for the carefree, check-shirted, baggy-jeaned days of the mid-’90s? Days where we’d sit on grassy banks next to the river, sharing cheap cider and poppers and chattering incessantly about new albums by the Fannies and Buffalo Tom. Days where we’d proudly purchase a copy of Select magazine just for the double-sided poster of Suede and Smashing Pumpkins. Days where we’d dream about finally smuggling a friend into Reading Festival under a carefully positioned tarp in the boot of a Renault 5.

Written by: Ben Gallivan | Date: Tuesday, 02 May 2017

Mark Lanegan Band - Gargoyle (Album Review)

Photo: Eric Gabriel ‘Mark! It’s the '90s on the phone, they want their album back!’ A little joke for you there. That said, there is some real fun to be had with Mark Lanegan’s 10th solo album, ‘Gargoyle’. Tracks like Goodbye to Beauty and Nocturne have a patience and maturity that is highly nuanced and involving, while Death’s Head Tattoo and Sister are strange, vintage hybrids. The latter is a funereal dirge driven by a hectic reversed piano motif. Its vocal recalls David Bowie’s Cat People: all subliminal contempt and campfire spirituality.

Written by: Jacob Brookman | Date: Tuesday, 02 May 2017

Charly Bliss - Guppy (Album Review)

The best pop songs have both a visceral and intellectual impact. Job number one is always to make us feel something - like the fizzing overload of a perfect hook - but they then set to work on us in the spaces between the sugar rushes. On ‘Guppy’, their first album, Charly Bliss tick both boxes as though doing so were routine. It’s not, which is why this stacks up as a deeply impressive record that’s never less than a shitload of fun.

Written by: Huw Baines | Date: Friday, 28 April 2017

The Black Angels - Death Song (Album Review)

‘Death Song’ is the Black Angels’ fifth album, their first release on Partisan Records and also possibly the finest work they’ve set to wax since their 2004 formation.

Written by: Graeme Marsh | Date: Wednesday, 26 April 2017

Maximo Park - Risk To Exist (Album Review)

Prior to the release of their 2014 album ‘Too Much Information’, Maxïmo Park’s lead vocalist Paul Smith said: “Our lyrics and our music will never be too-cool-for-school - we are an emotional band even if it might be too much information for some.” Never has a truer word been spoken.

Written by: Ben Gallivan | Date: Wednesday, 26 April 2017