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

Alex Lahey - The Answer Is Always Yes (Album Review)

Photo: Pooneh Ghana It is almost inevitable that all of us will spend time in our lives feeling stuck, in harmful  cycles, dead end jobs, relationships that are not right for us, or simply as a result of the social constructs we are subjected to. For Alex Lahey, two critically acclaimed records and a host of impressive songwriting commissions have not left her immune from experiencing that same feeling of having your feet glued to the floor.

Written by: Craig Howieson | Date: Monday, 22 May 2023

Paul Simon - Seven Psalms (Album Review)

Photo: Myrna Suarez Paul Simon’s new album is classic Paul Simon: erudite, urbane, observant. Formally unusual, it’s a guitar-led song suite presented as one 35-minute track, and it takes us through the New Yorker’s spiritual musings as he approaches his ultimate destination. 

Written by: Jacob Brookman | Date: Friday, 19 May 2023

Brian Eno and Fred Again - Secret Life (Album Review)

‘Secret Life’ is an ambient collaboration album between muzak pioneer and reluctant national treasure Brian Eno and downtempo house producer Fred Again. The two met in the early 2010s when the latter was still a teenager, and the result has been a kind-of menteeship as he has moved through the grades of electronica.

Written by: Jacob Brookman | Date: Wednesday, 17 May 2023

Cattle Decapitation - Terrasite (Album Review)

Photo: Nick Van Vidler Who’d have thought that a deathgrind band named Cattle Decapitation (famed for their macabre album artwork) would become one of the most thoughtful and acclaimed metal bands of recent years?

Written by: Tom Morgan | Date: Tuesday, 16 May 2023

The Smashing Pumpkins - Atum (Album Review)

Photo: Paul Elledge Smashing Pumpkins frontman and band leader Billy Corgan has described his latest opus 'Atum' as “going in a million different directions”. When the infamously self-indulgent Corgan is labelling one of his projects in this way, you know the release is going to feature plenty of ups and downs.

Written by: Tom Morgan | Date: Friday, 12 May 2023

Billy Woods & Kenny Segal - Maps (Album Review)

Billy Woods doesn't want the limelight. He never has. The New York-based rapper has always been tantalisingly faceless, with official images scrambled or blurred and balaclavas worn in videos and at live shows to keep an air of mystery about the straight-talking storyteller.

Written by: Jack Terry | Date: Thursday, 11 May 2023

Ed Sheeran - - (Album Review)

Photo: Annie Leibovitz Ed Sheeran has been at the top of the pop game for more than a decade now, becoming one of the world's best selling artists while executing genre-hopping collaborations with everyone from Stormzy to Cradle Of Filth. His fifth album '-', though, is his most stripped back yet, arriving influenced by depression, loss and loneliness.

Written by: Jack Terry | Date: Wednesday, 10 May 2023

Drain - Living Proof (Album Review)

California hardcore is having a moment, with cities across the state bursting at the seams with exciting bands. Very few scenes have caught on like the interconnected ones in San Jose and Santa Cruz, though, with genre-shaking albums emerging from the morass like it’s nothing. Few groups embody that spirit quite like Drain.

Written by: Will Marshall | Date: Wednesday, 10 May 2023

Indigo De Souza - All This Will End (Album Review)

Photo: Angella Choe Not unlike the opener of her previous LP ‘Any Shape You Take’, Time Back is a curve ball of an introduction to Indigo De Souza's latest release. The first song on ‘All This Will End’ is a dialled up fusion of Phoenix's indie-pop and EDM, flipping the script on a reputation that has situated the guitarist among the ranks of ‘90s indie-rock revivalists.

Written by: Craig Howieson | Date: Tuesday, 09 May 2023

Jessie Ware - That! Feels! Good! (Album Review)

On Jessie Ware’s previous record, 2020’s 'What’s Your Pleasure', the London singer rebranded herself as a disco soul act, presenting elegant grooves and retro melodies that really built out her sound. New album 'That! Feels Good!' continues the development of those themes with tracks that are larger and more diverse.

Written by: Jacob Brookman | Date: Friday, 05 May 2023