Kali Uchis - Orquídeas (Album Review)

Photo: COUGHS Kali Uchis keeps moving. The Colombian-American singer only recently finished touring her last album, ‘Red Moon In Venus’, but she’s already back with her second predominantly Spanish-language release, ‘Orquídeas’.

Written by: Jack Terry | Date: Friday, 19 January 2024

The Vaccines - Pick-Up Full Of Pink Carnations (Album Review)

The Vaccines have reached a stage in their career where they can bend different themes to their will. Three years ago ‘Back In Love City’ was heavily inspired by dystopian blockbuster movies, but its excellent follow up ‘Pick-Up Full Of Pink Carnations’ is dominated instead by a dramatic, tangible feelings of loss.

Written by: Issy Herring | Date: Wednesday, 17 January 2024

Bill Ryder-Jones - Iechyd Da (Album Review)

Photo: Marieke Macklon Bill Ryder-Jones has come a long way from being recognised chiefly as The Coral’s lead guitarist. Since leaving the psych-rock band in 2008, he has fashioned a diverse, exciting solo career that, thanks to the patchy ‘Iechyd Da’, now runs to five albums. 

Written by: Issy Herring | Date: Tuesday, 16 January 2024

Marika Hackman - Big Sigh (Album Review)

Photo: Steve Gullick Marika Hackman’s ‘Big Sigh’ is just that: a therapeutic release of sadness, stress, and lust described by the indie-rock auteur as the hardest album she has ever had to make.

Written by: Katie Macbeth | Date: Monday, 15 January 2024

Sprints - Letter to Self (Album Review)

Photo: JP Dougherty Sprints have already amassed a solid live following since forming in 2019, but nothing can truly prepare you for their debut album ‘Letter to Self’. It’s a work that sounds like it was made by a more weathered band, but it retains such a sense of vitality and urgency it constantly strains at the seams.

Written by: Will Marshall | Date: Friday, 12 January 2024

Nicki Minaj - Pink Friday 2 (Album Review)

When Nicki Minaj came onto the scene she changed the game, particularly with her 2010 debut album ‘Pink Friday’. Since then she has solidified her standing, but that artistic catalyst remains untouched, making this sequel all the more appealing.

Written by: Jack Terry | Date: Wednesday, 20 December 2023

Health - Rat Wars (Album Review)

Photo: Mynxii White It’s cold, dark and wet outside, so it’s the ideal time to crank up some moody industrial rock to get the blood pumping. Health's ‘Rat Wars’ is the perfect companion. 

Written by: Tom Morgan | Date: Wednesday, 13 December 2023

Tate McRae - Think Later (Album Review)

Tate McRae isn’t trying to reinvent the wheel. There’s nothing you haven’t heard before on ‘Think Later’, from its nods to ‘Beauty Behind The Madness’-era The Weeknd and the darkly-lit vulnerability of Billie Eilish, or its embrace of PVRIS-style electro rock, but she does most of it really, really well.

Written by: Jack Press | Date: Tuesday, 12 December 2023

Full of Hell and Nothing - When No Birds Sang (Album Review)

Photo: Caleb Conner On the surface, acerbic powerviolence outfit Full of Hell and shoegazers Nothing have essentially that in common. But appearances can be deceiving.

Written by: Will Marshall | Date: Monday, 11 December 2023

Spector - Here Come the Early Nights (Album Review)

On ‘Here Come The Early Nights’ Spector pull off a difficult trick — they stay true to who they are while moving on, displaying fresh perspective from within the same fizzing indie songs that made them big fish in the UK indie scene of the early 2010s, alongside bands such as Peace, JAWS and Swim Deep.

Written by: Katie Macbeth | Date: Thursday, 07 December 2023

Guided By Voices - Nowhere To Go But Up (Album Review)

Photo: Trevor Naud There is a decidedly festive thrust to The Race Is On, The King Is Dead, the opener on Guided By Voices’ third, and one can only assume final, full length release of 2023. Amid tolling bells and swaggering guitars, frontman Robert Pollard is in celebratory form as he ushers in another set of songs that are almost impossible to fathom.

Written by: Craig Howieson | Date: Wednesday, 06 December 2023

Take That - This Life (Album Review)

Is there still space for Take That in 2023? It’s been more than three decades since the release of their debut album, and almost two since their comeback, while their core appeal has been diluted by the sorts of comings and goings that affect most legacy acts. Robbie Williams rejoined, and then left again, and since the departure of Jason Orange in 2014 the group has become a trio. But ‘This Life’, their first album of new material in six years, shows beyond all else that they still know their audience.

Written by: Adam England | Date: Tuesday, 05 December 2023

The Goa Express - The Goa Express (Album Review)

Photo: Cal Moores Thanks to their infectious, hooky brand of guitar pop, Burnley five-piece The Goa Express have established themselves as one of the UK’s brightest young bands. Their self-titled debut album only underlines that sense of promise, serving up a fantastic collection of explosive indie tracks laden with psych harmonies. 

Written by: Matthew McLister | Date: Monday, 04 December 2023

Peter Gabriel - I/O (Album Review)

Photo: Nadav Kander Peter Gabriel has led an eclectic career, initially as a flautist and vocalist for prog icons Genesis before launching a hugely successful solo career studded with hits including Sledgehammer, Solsbury Hill and Big Time. But, remarkably, it has been 21 years since his last album of original material, 2002’s ‘Up’.

Written by: Chris Connor | Date: Friday, 01 December 2023

2 Chainz & Lil Wayne - Welcome 2 Collegrove (Album Review)

Seven years on from the red-tape nightmare of ‘ColleGrove’, Lil Wayne and 2 Chainz are back together again, this time with both of their names on the marquee. ‘Welcome 2 Collegrove’ has been painstakingly assembled to make sure that the record is co-signed properly this time and Wayne’s face on the cover feels like a real show of “Yes, he's really on this one!”

Written by: Jack Terry | Date: Wednesday, 29 November 2023

Chris Stapleton - Higher (Album Review)

Photo: Becky Fluke Country music as a genre is conservative with both a small and a big ‘C’. When country singers move beyond quite strict musical and storytelling parameters, they risk being ostracised, debarred. “That ain’t country,” is a battlecry for barstool bores from Nashville to Austin.

Written by: Jacob Brookman | Date: Tuesday, 28 November 2023

Danny Brown - Quaranta (Album Review)

Photo: Peter Beste Danny Brown is a busy man. The Detroit rapper has already released one album this year — ‘Scaring The Hoes’, a supreme collaborative effort with JPEGMAFIA — as well as maintaining a weekly podcast. It’s also been a time of immense change, with a stint in rehab a capper to the circumstances that led to the creation of ‘Quaranta’ during a period of heavy drinking and drug use that spilled out of the pandemic.

Written by: Jack Terry | Date: Monday, 27 November 2023

Beirut - Hadsel (Album Review)

Photo: Lina Gaißer Like many of Beirut’s albums, understanding how ‘Hadsel’ was conceived and recorded is important, but only gets you so far. After a ruthless touring schedule and the pandemic Zach Condon, Beirut’s front and often only man, withdrew to a Norwegian church to assemble the follow up to 2019’s ‘Gallipoli’. Despite its reverent, deep organ mingling with weaving Nordic choruses throughout, ‘Hadsel’ emerges as a mostly joyful and surprisingly spirited album.

Written by: Jacob Brookman | Date: Friday, 24 November 2023

André 3000 - New Blue Sun (Album Review)

When André 3000 announced his debut solo album and first full length in 17 years, people immediately paid attention. But when we found out that the OutKast legend’s ‘New Blue Sun’ was an 87-minute instrumental flute record, there were questions. How could it be that one of the greatest rappers and lyricists to ever grace the game was going to do without words?

Written by: Jack Terry | Date: Thursday, 23 November 2023

Dolly Parton - Rockstar (Album Review)

Being the Queen of Country is, apparently, not enough for Dolly Parton. Following her induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2022, she has set out to earn her stripes in that grizzled arena with ‘Rockstar’, a 30 song behemoth of a record that combines covers and a handful of originals performed alongside megawatt guest stars.

Written by: Jack Press | Date: Tuesday, 21 November 2023