Lana Del Rey - Ultraviolence (Album Review)

Wading through the hundreds of thousands of words written about Lana Del Rey since ‘Born To Die’ makes one thing abundantly clear: it’s still hard to get a read on her. Hers is a persona buffed to a post-modern sheen, seemingly impervious to traditional understanding.

Written by: Huw Baines | Date: Friday, 20 June 2014

Tim Bowness - Abandoned Dancehall Dreams (Album Review)

Photo: Charlotte Kinson If there’s one major positive from Steven Wilson’s decision to focus on his solo career at the expense of recording a new No-Man album with long-term collaborator Tim Bowness, then it’s that ‘Abandoned Dancehall Dreams’ proves just how talented a songwriter Bowness is in his own right.

Written by: Ben Bland | Date: Thursday, 19 June 2014

Clean Bandit - New Eyes (Album Review)

Already one of the UK's biggest breakthrough dance acts of the year, thanks to the mega hit Rather Be, Clean Bandit's long awaited debut album, 'New Eyes', has arrived and settled in towards the top of the charts.

Written by: Natalie Lam | Date: Wednesday, 18 June 2014

White Lung - Deep Fantasy (Album Review)

Photo: Piper Ferguson “Women are not supposed to be lions,” Mish Way wrote in a Talkhouse editorial, dissecting the appeal of Kat Bjelland's Babes In Toyland. “We’re supposed to be lambs, and lambs do not scream ‘motherfucker’ while tearing open a Rickenbacker like a beast ripping the feathers off its prey.”

Written by: Huw Baines | Date: Wednesday, 18 June 2014

Mastodon - Once More 'Round The Sun (Album Review)

Mastodon have a lot to live up to. Since the release of their debut LP, 'Remission', back in 2002, the Georgia quartet have defied expectations, shunned conformity and done a good job of creating some of the most forward-thinking, skin-peelingly visceral music of the 21st century.

Written by: Alec Chillingworth | Date: Wednesday, 18 June 2014

Klaxons - Love Frequency (Album Review)

Labels are awful things. Klaxons, then, must have been particularly happy when ‘New Rave’ went the way of Old Yeller. The band have maintained a relatively low profile since the release of their underwhelming second effort, ‘Surfing The Void’, four years ago, but ‘Love Frequency’ is set to change all that.

Written by: Gavin Rees | Date: Tuesday, 17 June 2014

Linkin Park - The Hunting Party (Album Review)

Photo: Brandon Cox For a band attuned to the act of survival, ‘The Hunting Party’ is a bold album title. Linkin Park are one of nu-metal’s few genuine success stories, having evolved from the rap-rock riffage of their debut into a group capable of producing arena-shaking anthems and epic electronica.

Written by: Matt Williams | Date: Monday, 16 June 2014

Jack White - Lazaretto (Album Review)

Spinning Jack White’s ‘Lazaretto’ for the first time is something of a revelation. A couple of seconds into the bluesy stomp of Three Women, White descends from the uncomfortable perch, on the blurred line between private and public, that has been his of late, plugging in along the way. Suddenly it all comes flooding back: this is why we’re here.

Written by: Matt Williams | Date: Thursday, 12 June 2014

Chrissie Hynde - Stockholm (Album Review)

It seems strange that only now, 34 years on from the release of the Pretenders’ debut, we’re getting a taste of Chrissie Hynde as a solo artist.

Written by: Gavin Rees | Date: Wednesday, 11 June 2014

Arch Enemy - War Eternal (Album Review)

Photo: Patrick Ullaeus With both vocalist Angela Gossow and guitarist Christopher Amott leaving Arch Enemy in the last couple of years, one could have be forgiven for thinking that the melodic death metal masters were falling apart at the seams. Alissa White-Gluz – ex-vocalist of the Agonist – was then promptly announced as the band’s new mouthpiece, and this worried some fans even more. Well, did they have reason to worry?

Written by: Alec Chillingworth | Date: Tuesday, 10 June 2014

Damian Wilde - Nouveau Noir EP (Album Review)

Photo: Remi Guiot The ‘Nouveau Noir’ EP, Damian Wilde’s debut release, is like an early sketchbook from a renowned artist. Upon looking inside you find a mixture of elements, with some of the markings displaying great potential. The occasional page may even be close to genius, but most of the doodles make little sense.

Written by: Sam Hailes | Date: Tuesday, 10 June 2014

Rival Sons - Great Western Valkyrie (Album Review)

Sounding like the bastard offspring of Jim Morrison and Led Zeppelin brandishing pistols in a bad ass western, Rival Sons are one hell of a primordial, shit-kicking rock ‘n' roll beast.  

Written by: Simon Ramsay | Date: Monday, 09 June 2014

Kasabian - '48:13' (Album Review)

Soon-to-be Glastonbury headliners Kasabian have hyped their fifth album to an almost irritating extent, with Serge Pizzorno and Tom Meighan even redecorating an east London shopfront in bright pink with a stencilled, ‘cryptic’ ‘48:13’ emblazoned across it in black. As it turned out, the installation actually unveiled an uninspiring album cover and title. ‘48:13’, you see, is the record's running time.

Written by: Graeme Marsh | Date: Monday, 09 June 2014

Teleman - Breakfast (Album Review)

If you are of the opinion that you can never have too many alternatives to laddy, lager-soaked indie, then Teleman, like Alt-J and Grizzly Bear before them, might be just the ticket for you.

Written by: Matt Williams | Date: Friday, 06 June 2014

Howling Bells - Heartstrings (Album Review)

Don’t call it a comeback. Or, well, do. If you like. ‘Heartstrings’ is the first Howling Bells record since they entered the nebulous world of the hiatus following the release of ‘The Loudest Engine’ in 2011, and something of a return to the sound that made their debut a sleeper hit.

Written by: Gavin Rees | Date: Thursday, 05 June 2014

Fucked Up - Glass Boys (Album Review)

Photo: Brendan George Ko If Fucked Up have always held one thing dear, it’s the freedom to do what they want. In recent years, the Toronto natives have pushed at the boundaries of what’s expected from a hardcore band, dispensing with the need to keep things brief and expanding their already prog-indebted style into the dangerous world of the concept album.

Written by: Huw Baines | Date: Wednesday, 04 June 2014

The Orwells - Disgraceland (Album Review)

Garage rock means different things to different people. To some it’s the Strokes and the Black Keys, maybe the Black Lips and Thee Oh Sees. To others it’s the Marked Men and the Dirtnap roster. On their second album, ‘Disgraceland’, the Orwells occupy similar territory to the former, having largely severed ties with the scuzzy tones of their debut, ‘Remember When’.

Written by: Matt Williams | Date: Tuesday, 03 June 2014

Walter Trout - The Blues Came Callin' (Album Review)

Photo: Jeff Katz During the recording of this album, blues-rock icon Walter Trout was extremely ill, awaiting a liver transplant that subsequently arrived in the very nick of time. It's therefore no surprise that ‘The Blues Came Callin’’ is a poignant, deeply affecting work that could have only come from someone staring down the barrel of their own mortality.

Written by: Simon Ramsay | Date: Monday, 02 June 2014

Grouplove - Spreading Rumours (Album Review)

If you were taken in by Grouplove’s easy-going, sun-kissed debut, ‘Never Trust A Happy Song’, chances are you’ve already wrestled with its follow-up, ‘Spreading Rumours’, which received a UK release this week after making its bow across the pond last autumn.

Written by: Gavin Rees | Date: Friday, 30 May 2014

Neil Young - A Letter Home (Album Review)

‘A Letter Home’ finds Neil Young embracing his status as an artist who, at this stage in an almost untouchable career, can do pretty much as he pleases. So, just a couple of months on from the launch of Pono Player, a new adventure in high-fidelity, we have this collection of 11 covers close to his heart, presented in grainy lo-fi.

Written by: Matt Williams | Date: Thursday, 29 May 2014