Arcade Fire - We (Album Review)

Photo: María José Govea Having been critical darlings throughout their career, Arcade Fire found themselves coming unstuck with the reception to their last LP ‘Everything Now’ in 2017. Win Butler has spoken of the response fitting a script: one that paints a picture of their greatness faltering before a comeback. In this story, ‘We’ is that return to form.

Written by: Graeme Marsh | Date: Monday, 09 May 2022

Toro y Moi - Mahal (Album Review)

The seventh studio album from Toro y Moi, the chillwave producer and performer also known as Chaz Bear, has been five years in the making. ‘Mahal’ is a smooth cruise through the psychelia of the 1970s and ‘80s with stop-offs at skronky surf, yacht rock and bassy funk. In many ways, it’s a success.

Written by: Jacob Brookman | Date: Friday, 06 May 2022

Bloc Party - Alpha Games (Album Review)

Photo: Wunmi Onibudo Bloc Party’s sixth LP ‘Alpha Games’ is one where Kele Okereke has attempted to write about “people in extreme situations making extreme choices”. He also claims to have ventured into new realms with his lyricism, and there is some truth to that even if this is a record inspired by a brave musical outlook that doesn’t always deliver the goods.

Written by: Graeme Marsh | Date: Friday, 06 May 2022

Kirk Hammett - Portals EP (Album Review)

Photo: Ross Halfin It’s no secret that Kirk Hammett’s contributions to Metallica have been micromanaged for years amid the band’s mix of domineering personalities and  regimented work, but with every element of this debut solo EP under the guitarist’s assured command, he’s revealed an ability to spin dynamic stories through impressive compositional choices that bring his epic, cinematic visions to life.

Written by: Simon Ramsay | Date: Thursday, 05 May 2022

Rammstein - Zeit (Album Review)

Photo: Bryan Adams With the German metal titans having taken a decade to follow 2009’s ‘Liebe ist für alle da’ with 2019’s untitled album, nobody expected a new Rammstein album so soon, and there was naturally a worry that the band might be phoning it in with such a short turnaround. But they have never been ones to do what is expected, and with ‘Zeit’ they’re again out to prove that.

Written by: Will Marshall | Date: Wednesday, 04 May 2022

Let's Eat Grandma - Two Ribbons (Album Review)

Photo: El Hardwick Let’s Eat Grandma’s third studio album finds the duo in terrific creative shape, delivering 10 tracks of exuberant pop music led by gorgeously unaffected lyricism and singing.

Written by: Jacob Brookman | Date: Tuesday, 03 May 2022

Spiritualized - Everything Was Beautiful (Album Review)

So much of what Spiritualized are good at comes from deliberate, painstaking refinement. In 2014, J Spaceman (Jason Pierce) recorded a bunch of demos, which formed the basis of 2018’s ‘And Nothing Hurt’, a fine return to form that was the result of immense amounts of  re-recording, remixing and layering. 

Written by: Graeme Marsh | Date: Friday, 29 April 2022

Kurt Vile - (watch my moves) (Album Review)

On Kurt Vile’s ninth album—and first on a major label—he comes close to achieving perfection. For almost 15 years now, he has been releasing solo albums that have a foot in two distinct camps: on one side are mesmerising songs that build around simple hooks, and on the other lazy sunny afternoon gold. '(watch my moves)', arguably for the first time, nails both at the same time.

Written by: Graeme Marsh | Date: Thursday, 28 April 2022

S. Carey - Break Me Open (Album Review)

This is the end. The desert is on fire. Rainforests are turning to mud. Pacific islands are being swallowed by the sea. It’s late stage capitalism. Elon Musk is buying Twitter and the death-worshipping corporate oligopoly is defining every characteristic of our lives with its narcissism and greed. Oh, and S. Carey is releasing a new album.

Written by: Jacob Brookman | Date: Wednesday, 27 April 2022

Pusha T - It's Almost Dry (Album Review)

Pusha T is a master of minimalism. Where countless rappers load their albums with bits, skits and half-formed ideas, he trims things down to the bare essentials. His finest works are dependent on this pared-down philosophy—from 2013’s Kendrick Lamar-featuring Nosetalgia to his masterful 2018 album ‘Daytona’.

Written by: Tom Morgan | Date: Tuesday, 26 April 2022

Fontaines D.C. - Skinty Fia (Album Review)

Fontaines D.C. enjoyed a precipitous rise. Coming around at a time when the post-punk explosion in the UK was hitting its peak, their 2019 debut album ‘Dogrel’ saw them bring the grey skies of Dublin straight into our ears.

Written by: Matty Pywell | Date: Monday, 25 April 2022

Father John Misty - Chloë and the Next 20th Century (Album Review)

On ‘Chloë and the Next 20th Century’, Josh Tillman, better known by his stage name Father John Misty, breathes a new life into everything we thought we knew about nostalgia. Incorporating elements of swing and jazz into songs that brood with tender emotion, he delivers each twist with an orchestral flourish.

Written by: Rebecca Llewellyn | Date: Friday, 22 April 2022

The Linda Lindas - Growing Up (Album Review)

Photo: Zen Sekizawa Some viral stars burn out just as quickly as they arrive. The Linda Lindas’ debut album is their chance to prove that this won’t be their fate, after a video of them playing their proud, punky anthem for tolerance Racist, Sexist Boy in L.A’s Public Library lit TikTok on fire last year.

Written by: Emma Wilkes | Date: Thursday, 21 April 2022

Vince Staples - Ramona Park Broke My Heart (Album Review)

Photo: Zamar Velez Vince Staples is nothing if not unpredictable. From his inventive 2015 debut to last year’s ultra lean self-titled album, the Long Beach rapper never fails to surprise and, occasionally, confound.

Written by: Tom Morgan | Date: Wednesday, 20 April 2022

Wet Leg - Wet Leg (Album Review)

Rhian Teasdale and Hester Chambers have had a good lockdown. Hailing from the Isle of Wight, the two musicians managed to rattle off both an incredibly infectious pseudo-novelty song and a hugely impressive debut album that charts late 20s ennui and digital overdrive. The result has been a record deal with Domino, millions of streams and late night TV spots on US talk shows.

Written by: Jacob Brookman | Date: Tuesday, 19 April 2022

Meshuggah - Immutable (Album Review)

The definition of immutable is “unchanging over time or unable to be changed”. As strange as it may seem for a band with their legacy and status as innovators, Meshuggah more than fit the bill with their ninth album. This is, at its core, a band doing what they do, in both the best and worst ways.

Written by: Will Marshall | Date: Thursday, 14 April 2022

Orville Peck - Bronco (Album Review)

Orville Peck wrote ‘Bronco’ by holing up in his home studio for eight hours a day after his spring 2020 tour was cancelled due to COVID-19. True to its namesake, the record finds the masked cowboy navigating a depressive period with the freedom and spirit of someone who is determined to outlast it.

Written by: Laura Johnson | Date: Wednesday, 13 April 2022

Jack White - Fear of the Dawn (Album Review)

Photo: David James Swanson Jack White’s first album in four years is a wild ride—a ghoulish, genre-fluid descent into the Michigander’s bat cave of carnival skronk. It’s also quite surprising. While the former White Stripes frontman has cultivated a public persona as a bit of a blues puritan curmudgeon, ‘Fear of the Dawn’ demonstrates something different and out there: a musician constantly on the hunt for new sounds and effects.

Written by: Jacob Brookman | Date: Tuesday, 12 April 2022

Carpenter Brut - Leather Terror (Album Review)

Carpenter Brut is a one-off. The Frenchman hurls everything from rock, EDM and pop to AOR, disco and all forms of metal into his symphonic, dark synthwave mix. Although it’s not hard to spot the influences at play, the way he smashes them together, to create an imaginary soundtrack for a John Carpenter-esque slasher flick, couldn’t have been done by anyone else.

Written by: Simon Ramsay | Date: Friday, 08 April 2022

PUP - THE UNRAVELING OF PUPTHEBAND (Album Review)

Photo: Vanessa Heins PUP are a band who laughs at themselves because, otherwise, they’d cry rainstorms. They’ve done a pretty good job of running with that idea all things considered—the shiny JUNO award (essentially a Canadian Grammy) on their mantelpiece certainly says so, as do millions of streams and thousands of packed shows.

Written by: Emma Wilkes | Date: Thursday, 07 April 2022