Dave Rowntree - Radio Songs (Album Review)

Photo: Paul Postle Usually when a 58-year-old man releases his first album, it becomes a bit of a punchline. Not so with ‘Radio Songs’, which is a decent collection of comfortable indie tracks, with elaborate rhythms and textures woven in. And taking a closer look at Dave Rowntree, one shouldn’t be too surprised.

Written by: Jacob Brookman | Date: Thursday, 26 January 2023

Ladytron - Time's Arrow (Album Review)

Photo: Wendy Redfern ‘Time’s Arrow’, Ladytron’s seventh studio album, largely deals with the progression of time—the one-way ticket that needs to be drained of opportunities that arise along the journey. The synth-pop duo have attempted to dress this up in a “dreamlike” and “uplifting” veil according to chief lyricist and lead vocalist Helen Marnie, but that’s only true some of the time.

Written by: Graeme Marsh | Date: Wednesday, 25 January 2023

Måneskin - Rush! (Album Review)

Måneskin’s trajectory up until now has been something to marvel at. Guitar bands of their ilk rarely smash the glass ceiling of the mainstream as quickly as they have, and they’ve maintained their place in the public eye an awful lot longer than most other Eurovision alumni. 

Written by: Emma Wilkes | Date: Tuesday, 24 January 2023

John Cale - Mercy (Album Review)

Photo: Madeline McManus John Cale’s ‘Mercy’ is excellent: a sprawling, story-laden collection of avant-garde songs that starts with relatively soundscapey work before edging more leftfield from there. It is also a timely record. Todd Haynes’ 2021 film on the Velvet Underground—the band Cale co-founded with Lou Reed in the mid 1960s—has refreshed and rejuvenated interest in the pioneers of art-rock.

Written by: Jacob Brookman | Date: Monday, 23 January 2023

The Murder Capital - Gigi's Recovery (Album Review)

The Murder Capital’s 2019 debut ‘When I Have Fears’ made you feel as if you were drowning. Written in the aftermath of a friend’s suicide, its dark aesthetic swelled and retreated throughout, offering a powerful statement on loss and its aftershocks. Their follow up ‘Gigi’s Recovery’ finds the Dublin post-punk band further examining their relationship with grief.

Written by: Matty Pywell | Date: Friday, 20 January 2023

CVC - Get Real (Album Review)

When approaching a debut album from a buzzy indie-rock band there are a few things that can be expected as par for the course, chiefly jangly guitar melodies and catchy choruses that, if you’re lucky, may live on as indie disco floor-fillers.

Written by: Laura Johnson | Date: Thursday, 19 January 2023

Gaz Coombes - Turn The Car Around (Album Review)

Photo: Tom Cockram September of last year saw the end (we think) of Supergrass. Taking to the stage at the tribute concert for Foo Fighters’ late drummer Taylor Hawkins, the Britpop legends apparently enjoyed their last stand, with frontman Gaz Coombes then returning to his quietly dazzling solo career.

Written by: Graeme Marsh | Date: Tuesday, 17 January 2023

Iggy Pop - Every Loser (Album Review)

Photo: Vincent Guignet Whether you have found yourself listening to Iggy Pop’s BBC Radio 6 show, or hacking through his back catalogue searching vainly for punk treasure akin to his biggest hits, it’s useful to think of the Michigander as a performance artist, rather than a rock musician.

Written by: Jacob Brookman | Date: Monday, 16 January 2023

Billy Nomates - Cacti (Album Review)

Photo: Eddie Whelan It makes perfect sense that Tor Maries’ second record as Billy Nomates is called ‘Cacti’. From the etymology of her stage name—a result of insults directed at her for attending a Sleaford Mods gig alone—to the spit-in-your-face bluntness of her eponymous 2020 debut album, there’s a furious, raucous energy attached to everything she does. 

Written by: Jack Terry | Date: Friday, 13 January 2023

Anti-Flag - Lies They Tell Our Children (Album Review)

The world has been caught in a chaotic downward spiral—from war and political corruption to inequality on countless levels, there’s a lot to take in before we even consider a global pandemic or a swiftly escalating environmental crisis.

Written by: Maddy Howell | Date: Monday, 09 January 2023

Fireworks - Higher Lonely Power (Album Review)

Photo:  Leah Castile Most things change over time, and over the course of almost a decade they can change a lot. After announcing an indefinite hiatus in 2015, Detroit’s Fireworks are back with their first album in nine years, taking a lengthy stride away from the thoughtful pop-punk stylings of their previous three full-lengths.

Written by: Maddy Howell | Date: Friday, 06 January 2023

Ab-Soul - Herbert (Album Review)

Photo: Chris Carey   Top Dawg Entertainment is having quite the year. Having already put out Kendrick Lamar's peerless ‘Mr Morale & the Big Steppers’ back in May, and SZA's sizzling ‘SOS’ a short while  ago, they're capping 2022 with ‘Herbert’, the fifth entry in Ab-Soul's discography, and his first in more than six years.

Written by: Jack Terry | Date: Monday, 19 December 2022

Little Simz - No Thank You (Album Review)

Following a breakout year, including a Mercury Prize win and the Best Album award at the MOBOs, both for the terrific ‘Sometimes I Might Be Introvert’, Little Simz is back with a surprise drop of new material in the form of ‘No Thank You’, a compact, confident and confrontational collection of 10 tracks.

Written by: Jack Terry | Date: Thursday, 15 December 2022

††† - Permanent.Radiant (Album Review)

A collaborative project headed by Chino Moreno of Deftones and Shaun Lopez of Far, Crosses (stylised as †††) have been mostly dormant since 2014. On Christmas Eve of 2020 and 2021, however, the band reemerged with two covers of ‘80s synth-pop tracks, as if to further iterate the direction the project was heading in.

Written by: Tom Morgan | Date: Wednesday, 14 December 2022

SZA - SOS (Album Review)

The second album by R&B sensation SZA has certainly been long-awaited. But, given her notoriously perfectionist nature and claims her debut was only released because her label got sick of waiting and stole her hard drive, it’s no surprise we’ve waited five years for the follow up to ‘CTRL’.

Written by: Will Marshall | Date: Monday, 12 December 2022

NOFX - Double Album (Album Review)

Seeking to bow out in style after announcing their retirement from touring in 2023, punk legends NOFX are attempting to conquer something that few musicians have successfully managed before them: the double album. 

Written by: Maddy Howell | Date: Friday, 02 December 2022

Stormzy - This Is What I Mean (Album Review)

It's been almost a decade since Stormzy emerged as grime's new golden boy, with his Shut Up freestyle paving the way for his debut album ‘Gang Signs And Prayer’ to hit number one in the UK, and a 2019 headline slot at Glastonbury. Today, these achievements have bought him ample freedom to do what he wants on his third album ‘This Is What I Mean’.

Written by: Jack Terry | Date: Tuesday, 29 November 2022

The White Buffalo - Year of the Dark Horse (Album Review)

‘Year of the Dark Horse’ more than lives up to The White Buffalo’s claim that he’s finally made his ‘headphones album’. Over the past two decades Jake Smith has strode across the nebulous Americana realm like a god among mortals. He’s a mysterious Emmy-nominated artist who conveys grim truths with either a mesmeric whisper or visceral, damaged roar.

Written by: Simon Ramsay | Date: Thursday, 24 November 2022

Brockhampton - The Family (Album Review)

Photo: Conor Cunningham It’s challenging for any artist to call it a day, but bowing out on your own terms is always preferable to an ignominious end. Enter alternative hip hop collective Brockhampton. Since forming in 2010 they’ve been a breath of fresh air, discussing sexuality, self-discovery and their own brotherhood in a world that has sometimes been dominated by hyper-masculine and misogynistic lyrics.

Written by: Will Marshall | Date: Wednesday, 23 November 2022

Nickelback - Get Rollin' (Album Review)

After a five year hiatus, everyone’s favourite musical punchline are back with an album that’s pulled off the unenviable feat of sounding dated the moment it was released. While the rest of the world was in lockdown, it appears Nickelback may have been hibernating in some kind of vacuum-tight stasis chamber. But whether that’s a bad thing or not will, like everything to do with this hugely polarising outfit, be very much subjective.

Written by: Simon Ramsay | Date: Tuesday, 22 November 2022