Vince Staples - Cry Baby (Album Review)

Photo: Adrian Nieto Given that Vince Staples has spent much of the past decade refining a detached strain of West Coast hip-hop, his decision to put out a rock record makes more sense than it first appears. ‘Cry Baby’ is his most urgent and politically charged album to date, the Long Beach rapper feeding off volume and a fresh tonal palette while keeping his storytelling chops at the heart of things.

Written by: Jacob Brookman | Date: Monday, 22 June 2026

Olivia Rodrigo - You Seem Pretty Sad for a Girl So in Love (Album Review)

Photo: Nick Walker Outlining the rise and fall of a relationship with remarkable detail, capturing the rush and excitement of falling in love before gradually sinking into heartbreak, ‘You Seem Pretty Sad for a Girl So in Love’ is Olivia Rodrigo's most accomplished album yet. Beautifully sequenced, with each track allowed to build naturally on the sentiments of the last, it is an emotional journey that feels raw, real and relatable.

Written by: Laura Mills | Date: Friday, 19 June 2026

YHWH Nailgun - Magazine (Album Review)

Photo: Eve Alpert Some bands arrive with a fully formed artistic vision. Others sound as though they’ve accidentally fallen down a flight of stairs carrying their instruments. YHWH (pronounced ‘Yahweh’) Nailgun are a bit of both. Their second album, ‘Magazine’, lasts barely 11 minutes, yet somehow it feels like a complete nervous breakdown.

Written by: Jacob Brookman | Date: Friday, 19 June 2026

Paul McCartney - The Boys Of Dungeon Lane (Album Review)

Photo: Mary McCartney It’s impossible to experience a new Paul McCartney album in a vacuum, such is the weight of his legacy both with The Beatles and after the Fabs’ disbandment. “I go back so far, I’m in front of me,” he once sang, and indeed ‘The Boys Of Dungeon Lane’ is quintessentially McCartney — an album shot through with melody, hope, whimsy and optimism in the face of adversity.

Written by: Jeremy Blackmore | Date: Thursday, 18 June 2026

Lizzo - Bitch (Album Review)

Photo: Jason Renaud Themes of self-love and empowerment have long been cornerstones of Lizzo’s music, allowing her to light up genre-blending tracks that seamlessly transitioned from soul to pop to rap. On ‘Bitch’ there’s something missing. While there are some really nice songs here, it doesn’t appear that her heart is in it like it used to be. 

Written by: Laura Mills | Date: Tuesday, 16 June 2026

Modest Mouse - An Eraser and a Maze (Album Review)

Photo: Robin Laananen Under the stewardship of Isaac Brock, Modest Mouse have been delighting the masses with their eclectic brand of alt-rock since 1993. ‘An Eraser and A Maze’ is an interesting entry in their  catalogue, offering the sound of a band reckoning with its place in the modern music landscape.  This is looser, more sprawling work than their recent output, with their decision to leave Epic and return to a more independent mode perhaps translating to their music. 

Written by: Chris Connor | Date: Monday, 15 June 2026

Converge - Hum of Hurt (Album Review)

Photo: Jason Zucco For more than 30 years, Converge have managed to strike an unusual balance between celebrating and reinventing metalcore, a style of music they helped to make a reality. ‘Hum of Hurt’, their second album of 2026 following February’s ‘Love Is Not Enough’, supplies concrete evidence to support that case.

Written by: Jack Press | Date: Friday, 12 June 2026

Rosa Walton - Tell Me It's A Dream (Album Review)

Photo: Nicole Ngai The enduring influence of The Cure on British pop music is often less about sound than attitude. There’s a distinctly southern English casualness running through their best work; an ability to drift effortlessly between melancholy, euphoria, indie-rock and straight-up pop without ever seeming overly concerned about genre boundaries. Rosa Walton’s solo debut operates in the same territory.

Written by: Jacob Brookman | Date: Thursday, 11 June 2026

Niall Horan - Dinner Party (Album Review)

Photo: Zackery Michael A decade on from One Direction’s hiatus, all four surviving members of the era-defining boyband are releasing albums in the same year. But only one of them sounds authentically themselves. Where Harry Styles is playing the reluctant auteur, Louis Tomlinson the tryhard, and Zayn the cog in the pop machine, on ‘Dinner Party’ Niall Horan makes straightforward simplicity his superpower.

Written by: Jack Press | Date: Wednesday, 10 June 2026

Boards of Canada - Inferno (Album Review)

Photo: Peter Iain Campbell It’s been 13 long years since experimental electronica duo Boards of Canada last released an album, but their catalogue has kept them at the heart of any conversations about pushing the boundaries of the genre. Their 1999 debut ‘Music Has The Right To Children’ remains a stone cold classic, but they’ve never quite managed to recapture that lightning in a bottle. 

Written by: Jack Butler-Terry | Date: Tuesday, 09 June 2026

Kurt Vile - Philadelphia's Been Good to Me (Album Review)

Photo: Eleanor Petry Now 46, Kurt Vile shows no signs of slowing down. Judging by the quality and quantity of his output, why would he? ‘Philadelphia’s Been Good to Me’ is his 10th full length in under two decades and one of his best to date, doing things that only he can across a suite of songs that largely wander the streets of his hometown as if they’ve got nowhere else to be.

Written by: Graeme Marsh | Date: Tuesday, 09 June 2026

Violet Grohl - Be Sweet To Me (Album Review)

Photo: Bella Newman Being the daughter of one of the biggest rock stars of all time is bound to help when you’re launching a music career. But, as Violet Grohl has discovered, this exposure arrives with the usual accusations that their position hasn’t been earned the hard way.

Written by: Matthew McLister | Date: Monday, 08 June 2026

Kneecap - FENIAN (Album Review)

Photo: Tom Beard Anyone heard from Kneecap recently? They’ve been quiet of late. All sarcasm aside, once you factor in the noise generated by ruthless media scrutiny, court appearances and threats of censorship the Belfast trio have weathered over the past year, the one certainty driving ‘FENIAN’ is that they hardly had to look far for inspiration.

Written by: James Palaczky | Date: Monday, 08 June 2026

Aespa - Lemonade (Album Review)

Photo: SM Entertainment Two years is a long time in K-pop and, with Aespa having last released a full-length in 2024, ‘Lemonade’ clearly aims to restate their claim to being one of the industry’s most exciting and forward-thinking groups. For the most part, their second album succeeds in sounding futuristic, simultaneously aware of the sounds in vogue today and future developments they might help bring into being.

Written by: Will Marshall | Date: Friday, 05 June 2026

Iceage - For Love Of Grace & The Hereafter (Album Review)

Photo: Alva Le Febvre The discourse around whether or not rock music is dead is seemingly neverending, its many resurrections proclaimed with the frequency of a charlatan preacher. There’s no clear answer to the question, particularly when the rock stars of yore remain as listened to today as ever before, but equally it’s true that streaming culture has hammered the final nail into the linear nature of rock’s progression.

Written by: Tom Morgan | Date: Thursday, 04 June 2026

Action Bronson - Planet Frog (Album Review)

Mr. Wonderful. Dr. Baklava. Bam Bam. Whatever name New York chef-turned-rapper Action Bronson is choosing to go by, his brand of hazy east coast hip hop excellence generally manages to turn heads. Now in his forties, ‘Planet Frog’ follows through on that promise thanks to its high-class aesthetic, although closer inspection reveals a record that lacks a fair bit of substance.

Written by: Jack Butler-Terry | Date: Thursday, 04 June 2026

Towa Bird - Gentleman (Album Review)

Photo: Charlie Denis Towa Bird’s eagerly-awaited second studio album ‘Gentleman’ is a rush and a comedown. Its opening moves are packed with incisive queer storytelling, her strongest vocals to date and electrifying guitars, but it struggles to maintain that momentum as time draws on.

Written by: Laura Mills | Date: Wednesday, 03 June 2026

Ed O'Brien - Blue Morpho (Album Review)

Photo: Steve Gullick Ed O’Brien is best known as one of Radiohead’s guitarists but, much like his bandmates, he has forged an impressive path away from his day job with the trailblazing indie icons. His solo debut ‘Earth’ was released in 2020, showing plenty of ambition, and he has honed his craft further with ‘Blue Morpho’. It’s, as one would expect, an eclectic mix, neatly showcasing O’Brien’s skills as both a guitarist and songwriter.

Written by: Chris Connor | Date: Wednesday, 03 June 2026

Maisie Peters - Florescence (Album Review)

If Maisie Peters’ debut album ‘You Signed Up For This’ proved the hype was legitimate, its popified follow-up ‘The Good Witch’ skyrocketed the singer-songwriter to the top of the charts. After touring support slots with Taylor Swift and Noah Kahan, Peters took an enforced break to protect her mental health. In doing so, she’s peppered her pop with spicy confessionals and a Nashville seasoning that lends itself well to her journey of self-love and appreciation.

Written by: Jack Press | Date: Tuesday, 02 June 2026

Bleachers - Everyone for Ten Minutes (Album Review)

Photo: Alex Lockett Bleachers, the brainchild of musician and producer Jack Antonoff, has consistently delivered a recognisable blend of pop and indie since 2013. The band’s fifth album, ‘Everyone for Ten Minutes’, offers no let-up in that regard. 

Written by: Chris Connor | Date: Monday, 01 June 2026