Fill In The Gaps: Anathema Evolve Further On 'The Optimist'

First impressions count for a lot in the music business. If an artist nails a marketable aesthetic on their debut, it can dictate the direction of their entire career. That perhaps explains why Liverpool collective Anathema aren’t recognised as one of the greatest alternative rock bands to come out of the UK in the last three decades.

Written by: Jonathan Rimmer | Date: Friday, 09 June 2017

Sad Girls To The Front: Introducing Kamikaze Girls

Kamikaze Girls want you to know something: it’s OK to be sad.

Written by: Laura Johnson | Date: Wednesday, 07 June 2017

Sad Songs and Serendipity: Introducing Jade Jackson

Photo: Xina Hamari Ness Sometimes our lives feel like a series of completely random experiences. Like a series of haphazard, unconnected dots we spend our time trying to arrange into a meaningful pattern. Then there are those magical moments when an intangible masterplan seems to be unfolding; when everything feels like it’s happening for a reason. Hailing from smalltown USA, specifically Santa Margarita, California, singer-songwriter Jade Jackson knows that feeling. For a while it’s seemed like the universe wants to make her a star.

Written by: Simon Ramsay | Date: Wednesday, 31 May 2017

EXCLUSIVE: Stream My Name Is Ian's New Album 'Cincinnati Cola'

My Name is Ian are set to release their latest album, 'Cincinnati Cola', on June 2 via Bubblewrap Records and you can stream the collection exclusively below.

Written by: Jennifer Geddes | Date: Tuesday, 30 May 2017

No Compromise: Employed To Serve Make Their Mark On 'The Warmth of a Dying Sun'

There’s a man wearing novelty cufflinks. He’s not actually reading the copy of the Financial Times in his lap, but his eyes are glazing over at the pictures. A woman has brought her entire house onto the train carriage like an urban hermit crab. Children are screaming. Someone’s shouting the details of a banterous night out with the lads down a phone. This is a daily commute. This is hell.

Written by: Alec Chillingworth | Date: Thursday, 18 May 2017

If You Don't Gamble You Don't Win: Inglorious Aim For The Big Time

Ignoring the obvious quips about the importance of size, if we were to describe British rockers Inglorious in one word, then it would be ‘big’. Or maybe ‘massive’. Either way, both terms encapsulate their sound and what they aspire to become.

Written by: Simon Ramsay | Date: Tuesday, 16 May 2017

Duran Duran: Many Happy Returns To 'Rio'

When Duran Duran released their second album, ‘Rio’, in May of 1982, the power of the music video as a promotional tool had barely taken off. Aside from the legendary Queen video for Bohemian Rhapsody – put together in a matter of hours and subsequently aired on Top Of The Pops – the marketing possibilities had yet to be adequately explored, particularly in relation to sales.

Written by: Graeme Marsh | Date: Wednesday, 10 May 2017

The Devil Is In The Detail: The Rise And Rise of Zeal & Ardor

“We wanted to…how do you say it? Spit fire? When you take the special liquid, take the torch and blow on it. That. We did that with gasoline for a moped. Not really reflective stuff, just kinda dumb kid stuff. The shit you get into when you’re really bored, I guess.”

Written by: Alec Chillingworth | Date: Thursday, 27 April 2017

The Stranglers: Many Happy Returns To 'Rattus Norvegicus'

Great songwriting partnerships are scattered throughout the history of music in the UK. Most famously, of course, you have John Lennon and Paul McCartney and Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, whose compositions took on lives of their own beyond the confines of releases by the Beatles and Rolling Stones.

Written by: Graeme Marsh | Date: Monday, 24 April 2017

Have We Learned Nothing? Nine Inch Nails' 'Year Zero' A Decade On

Everything gets written down. Are you an optimistic person? What does the future look like? A decade ago, Nine Inch Nails’ Trent Reznor pulled us aside and told us how things were going to go down. We would become sedate and pliable, he said. We would allow government control to become our norm. We would stop fighting back. He called this warning ‘Year Zero’.

Written by: Alec Chillingworth | Date: Wednesday, 19 April 2017

The Smith Street Band: Wil Wagner And The Power Of Storytelling

The best stories don't travel directly from A to B. Often it’s the digressions and asides, the forays into deep background and analysis, that are the colour between the lines. That's true whether tales are told over a table stacked with empty glasses or read from a book with a cover plastered in pull quotes. The telling is every bit as important as the details. “Our stories, our books, our films are how we cope with the random trauma-inducing chaos of life as it plays,” is how Bruce Springsteen put it in his autobiography.

Written by: Huw Baines | Date: Wednesday, 12 April 2017

From The Outside Looking In: Dream Theater's Keyboard Wizard Talks 'Images And Words' And Beyond

When it comes to any artistic form, masterpiece is a word that should be reserved for works of true genius; those unique creative expressions that are pioneering, inspiring and timeless. Dream Theater’s hallowed sophomore record ‘Images and Words’ more than fits the bill, having birthed a legion of imitators by fusing metal riffage, melodic beauty and progressive experimentation together into a ball of virtuosity and emotion that’s as powerful today as it was in 1992.

Written by: Simon Ramsay | Date: Wednesday, 12 April 2017

Tei Shi: On 'Crawl Space' And The Desire To Be Inspired By Light

Tei Shi composes devastatingly poetic love songs. Whispering in sexy, tobacco-stained tones, her voice stalks like a bird of prey. She suddenly owns her powerful choruses with intent; her vocal buildups are all-consuming and dominate emotions and senses upon first listen. Tei, real name Valerie Teicher, released ‘Crawl Space’ via Polydor at the end of last month and proudly unveiled an accomplished, autobiographical body of work decorated with a picture of herself on the sleeve.

Written by: Milly McMahon | Date: Tuesday, 11 April 2017

The Neal Morse Band: Enjoying Life's Grand Experiments

If this world had been created by Neal Morse, there’d be no such thing as subtlety. Mountains would be 10 times taller, romantic gestures more grandiose than a billionaire’s cocktail party and movie screens so ginormous they’d render IMAX puny by comparison. Fortunately for lovers of bombastic progressive rock, he is but a mortal man, so instead he channels his widescreen, Technicolor vision into albums like last year’s near two hour concept piece ‘The Similitude Of A Dream’.

Written by: Simon Ramsay | Date: Friday, 07 April 2017

The Flatliners: Finding Quiet In A 24/7 World

“Let’s just go home.” It looks like a simple idea when it’s written down. But for the Flatliners, a Toronto punk band who’ve been on tour pretty much non-stop for the last decade, it sparked a sort of quiet revolution in their ranks. What if, instead of grinding through the gears of writing a new record while quite literally doing the same in the van, they just...went home for a while?

Written by: Huw Baines | Date: Wednesday, 05 April 2017

First Time's A Charm: Can't Swim Set Out Their Stall On 'Fail You Again'

Could you hum the melody of the first (only?) song you wrote?

Written by: Huw Baines | Date: Tuesday, 04 April 2017

Creeper: Eternity, In The Charts?

I’m locked out of my flat with no shoes on. I’m locked out of my flat with no shoes on and Ian Miles, guitarist from Creeper, is on the phone. “You’re breaking up again, mate,” he says. “Do you want to try calling on Facebook?” “Cracklexxyxyxyxcracklefuzzzzzz,” I reply, hanging up and sprinting to the door.

Written by: Alec Chillingworth | Date: Friday, 24 March 2017

Me And That Man: Nergal And John Porter Sing Out Their Darkness

“Me and That Man is a side dish,” says Nergal. “A salad.” “A dessert,” says John. “Some songs are like a fuckin' thick, bloody steak, while others are desserts,” says Nergal. “Others are appetisers. Does that make sense?”

Written by: Alec Chillingworth | Date: Friday, 17 March 2017

Modern Love: Craig Finn Finds Hope In Adversity On 'We All Want The Same Things'

When Craig Finn was young he spent a fair bit of time with a copy of Lou Reed’s Greatest Hits. In particular, he was drawn to Wild Child and its cast of characters: Chuck, Phil, Betty, Ed and Lorraine. Back in 2012, while discussing the pros and cons of striking out from the comfort of your band prior to the release of his solo bow, ‘Clear Heart, Full Eyes’, he told Jessica Hopper that his biggest takeaway from the song was a simple one: he wanted to know more about Chuck.

Written by: Huw Baines | Date: Wednesday, 15 March 2017

Embodying An Aesthetic With Sound: Idles' Joe Talbot Talks 'Brutalism'

“In the rank of unflattering monikers for an artistic style, Brutalism has got to score near the top. Like the much kinder-sounding Fauvism or Impressionism, it was a term of abuse for the work of architects whose buildings confronted their users - brutalized them - with hulking, piled-up slabs of raw, unfinished concrete.” - Nikil Saval, the New York Times

Written by: Laura Johnson | Date: Tuesday, 14 March 2017