New music
Album: Sea Girls - Midnight ButterfliesSaturday, 08 June 2024
Inspired by the desire to remain present in the modern world, Sea Girls’ latest album, Midnight Butterflies, is a collection of uplifting tracks to enjoy effortlessly this summer. Most of its songs could easily slide into any indie pop driving... Read more... |
Album: Charli XCX - BratFriday, 07 June 2024
Charli XCX has been making scrambled eggs of pop for a decade. She’s written songs for/with artists including, but far from limited to, Lady Gaga, Iggy Azalea, Giorgio Moroder, Selina Gomez, BTS, David Guetta, Ty Dolla $ign, Blondie, Gwen Stefani,... Read more... |
Album: Joanne Shaw Taylor - Heavy SoulThursday, 06 June 2024
Heavy Soul, the ninth studio album by British blues-rock singer-guitarist Joanne Shaw Taylor, is her first in two years, its 10 songs already released as singles. Produced by Kevin Shirley, whose credits include Aerosmith, Iron Maiden and Joe... Read more... |
Deap Vally, Concorde 2, Brighton review - final blow-out before the rockin' duo quitWednesday, 05 June 2024
Towards the end of the encore, Deap Vally bring on their friend Solon Bixler. Frontwoman Lindsey Troy hands him her guitar. Despite this being their farewell tour, these two songs, she tells us, are new. The duo, now briefly a trio, go ballistic, a... Read more... |
Album: Willie Nelson - The BorderMonday, 03 June 2024
At 91, Willie Nelson is about to tour the US with The Outlaws, AKA Minnesota youngster Bob Dylan, 83, the even younger Robert Plant, 75, with Alison Krauss, a mere 52, and 72-year old John Mellencamp (plus a trio of 21st century artists in Celisse,... Read more... |
Music Reissues Weekly: The Beatles - Stowe School 1963Sunday, 02 June 2024
“We hope if you like it, you'll buy it,” says Paul McCartney. It’s 4 April 1963 and The Beatles are on stage and about to perform their third single “From Me to You.” It’s out in a week.To his left, John Lennon instantly responds to the entreaty. “... Read more... |
Album: Marina Allen - Eight Pointed StarSaturday, 01 June 2024
While some tracks on Marina Allen’s third album are country accented and a pedal steel is used a few times, it’s impossible to categorise Eight Pointed Star as Americana. Its sixth track, “Easy”, has the closeted atmosphere of The Velvet Underground... Read more... |
Album: Becky Hill - Believe Me Now?Friday, 31 May 2024
There’s a whole generation of singers who’ve risen to considerable fame on the back of the return of home-grown commercial dance music to the charts since the early 2010s. Various Jesses and Ellas, Nathans and Calums have flooded daytime radio with... Read more... |
Beth Gibbons, Salle Pleyel, Paris review - a triumph of intimacyThursday, 30 May 2024
Beth Gibbons, once the voice of Portishead, and later a wonderful solo singer and songwriter, hasn’t been on stage for a long while. She makes the most of a paradoxical yet magical mix of being at once fleeting and totally present.Something of Miles... Read more... |
Album: Richard Hawley - In This City They Call You LoveThursday, 30 May 2024
Hot on the heels of his Olivier Award-winning musical Standing at the Sky's Edge, comes In This City They Call You Love, the 10th solo album from Richard Hawley, proud son of Sheffield, and it’s a peach. With echoes of early Elvis (the... Read more... |
The Lovely Eggs, XOYO, Birmingham review - Lancashire duo brings the Bank Holiday to a speedy endWednesday, 29 May 2024
When the Lovely Eggs’ married duo of Holly Ross and David Blackwell took to the stage at the recently rebranded XOYO in Birmingham on Bank Holiday Monday, they looked like they should be playing for two completely separate bands. She was looking... Read more... |
Album: Bat For Lashes - The Dream of DelphiWednesday, 29 May 2024
Natasha Khan’s musical career has always explored the artier end of pop. Her latest album, her sixth and first in five years, is more akin to the soundtrack work she did with Swiss composer Dominik Scherrer on BBC spook-thriller Requiem in 2018 than... Read more... |
