Crosstown Rebels released the first in their ‘Spirits’ collection back in 2017 and this annual showcase is well worth a listen if you’re hankering after underground and future club hits. Their latest compilation kicks things off in fine style with NYC’s L…
Rosie Carney is the Irish musician/singer who gained a certain amount of traction when she released an album featuring covers of all the tracks on Radiohead’s ‘The Bends’. But with her new release, she proves she’s a superb tunesmith in her own right with…
Vero are three Stockholm women in their early 20s who make punchy art-rock that tackles friendship, sex, desire and trying to figure out who they are. It’s suitably raw but stuffed with memorable hooks that grab you right from the first track. Touchstones…
Duncan Lloyd is one of the founder members of local art-rockers Maximo Park and a superb songwriter in his own right as evinced by this 31 track double album, which features songs both old and new. He has a fine knack of making the intimate sound cinemati…
This new release from Brooklyn’s Raavi is full of the moody, 90s inspired alt-rock that has characterised their sound since they formed in 2017. Energetic guitar riffs contrast with laid back baselines and gentle vocals to create the narrative of idleness…
Blossoms just keep getting better and better. Their fourth album is full of the bouncy, feel good indie tracks that we expect from a Blossoms release, but with the addition of powerful string sections that give their music a new depth of emotion. Jangling…
Ouseburn Collective exists as a platform for Scottish Polis Inspectors’ Michael Cook’s solo, largely improvisational, studio practice. For this release, he’s collaborated with drummer Marlene Everling for a series of improvised duets that are imbued with …
The Mental, Gentle, Man. Mañana (self release) This Stockton fella continues his ‘The Mental, Gentle, Man’ series of releases with another tip-top long-player of real quality. It features a real sunburst of beats; dance music you can listen to; dance mus…
Wow. I genuinely think I’ve found one of my new favourite albums here, so I’m not sure how to sum it up in 100 words. Here’s a place to start: every song made it on my Spotify playlist (and I’m highly selective, I’ll have you know!). From feminist anthem …
There’s some fabulous stuff being released by UK country artists at present, and Elaine Palmer is right at the forefront. Her latest is a mid-pace exploration of the creative arts, and the worlds that artists create, and how we like to tumble into them. T…
Tomberlin is Sarah Beth Tomberline – a pastor’s kid born in Florida and raised in rural Illinois – who has gained something of a cult following due to her emotionally raw and sparse debut album (2018’s ‘At Weddings’). This is just as good. It’s still room…
This New York trio (fronted by the fabulous Julia Cumming – also on bass) have been around for around ten years now and over the space of two albums have given us oodles of supercool indie with side orders of glitter. Their thrid album sees them navigatin…
Though she has hinted at a desire to express her Mexican-Cuban heritage through her music in tracks like 2019’s ‘Senorita’ and 2017’s ‘Havana’, Camilla Cabello finally breaks the chains of commercial pop with this record full of Latin influence. Mariachi …
Their first album in just under six years, the Chilli Peppers have topped rock album charts around the world with this new release, which is their best-selling record since 2006’s ‘Stadium Arcadium’. Such well-established bands often go down one of two ro…
Though ‘Persistence’ is only Daniel Maunick’s second solo album, the artist has been releasing electronic tracks since he was just 15, stating that he “practically grew up behind the mixing desk” and collecting an impressive range of collaborations along …
‘Haar’, the name of Heaton-based Jessie Howard’s music project, is a meteorological term meaning a sea fog on the east coast of England or Scotland between April and September, when warm air passes over the cold North Sea. This is exactly what ‘skylight’ …
Charm Of Finches are a sister duo from Melbourne who have built up a sizeable following among those of us who love melodic and baroque folk. And this, their third album, is simply magnificent. It’s filled with haunted tales of love and grief – and whisper…
There’s a track on this album entitled ‘Punk Rock In Our Veins’, which gives you some indication of what this Sunderland band are all about. Needless to say, the track, and the album as a whole, is a rumbustious affair full of pell-mell guitars and a thun…
Irish born, Berlin-based, Wallis Bird’s seventh studio album is an incredibly bracing listen, whether she’s hitting us up with skew-whiff R&B (‘Go’, which sounds like Joni Mitchell hitting the town) or up-front pop rhythms (‘What’s Wrong With Changing’, w…
Oh wow! This Teesside four-piece have released their new album on a gorgeous chunk of vinyl, which comes with gatefold sleeve, cool abstract cover art – the lot! And within its grooves you’ll fine a myriad of delights, particularly if you like post-punk, …
You’d be forgiven for thinking that an album called ‘World in Flames’ would feature hardcore punk, or industrial metal. Not so! Rojor is a Teesside fella who pens widescreen, sophisticated pop, that harks past to Aztec Camera, Prefab Sprout, The Blue Nile…
Featuring Emese Arvai-Illes on vocals and Krisztian Arvai on keyboards, Black Nail Cabaret are a dark-pop synth duo from Hungry (singing in English) who have begun to receive more attention outside their home country. So much so, in fact, that this – thei…
Komparrison were originally formed in Redcar by friends Elise Harrison and Kaitlyn Kempen. In late 2020 the pair brought in Ellie, Jess and Elliot to complete the package, and man what a package! Their latest EP features guitar pop that has all the melodi…
Alexander O’Connor has supplied us with 11 more songs of his trademark sweet vocals and kicked back vibe. What separates ‘WHO CARES?’ from his other works is how it’s laced with rich string accompaniments, which shades his sound with a new sentimentality.…
The fourth album from these Australian favourites sees frontman Dave Le’aupepe opening up about the loss of his father with an achingly sincere rawness. Grief and loss undoubtedly dominate the record, but what is great about ‘angel in realtime.’ is that i…
Kalme is Berlin-based Sonja Deffner (singing in German), who has previously worked with a number of groups. She’s also an artist and has acted on stage. Her debut album is a real envelope-pusher, evolving out of avant-pop and R&B into areas that take in e…
This is Dublin newcomer CMAT’s debut album, yet you would never think it. The confident lyrical eloquence and distinctively spellbinding vocals, with which she has strutted onto the scene, have a strength of identity that usually takes artists a good coup…
This is a mess. But it’s either a glorious mess, or an unlistenable mess, depending on your tastes. It features a wild mix of spoken work rants and growled vocals alongside a crunchy selection of electronic beats, industrial/metal/punk riffs and more. Pic…
Featuring Emese Arvai-Illes on vocals and Krisztian Arvai on keyboards, Black Nail Cabaret are a dark-pop synth duo from Hungry (singing in English) who have begun to receive more attention outside their home country. So much so, in fact, that this – thei…
Metronomy’s song ‘Salted Caramel Ice Cream’ is one of my favourites of all time, so I was excited to hear their new album. Despite being no strangers to an evolving sound (there’s a notable shift between each of their albums) I was surprised to discover s…
This young Liverpool bunch have been widely tipped and this, their debut album, does much to back up such promise. They take the garage rock template and drag it downtown to a place where The Stooges, The Doors and Sticky Fingers era Stones are smashed in…
Yova are Macedonian vocalist Jova Radevska (singing in English) and Mark Vernon (who has worked with John Cale and PJ Harvey) and their debut album – which reunites PJ Harvey’s original rhythm section of Rob Ellis and Ian Oliver – is a pure delight. They’…
Lady Bri’s latest album is the definition of feel good music. Witty lyrics of empowerment, strength, self love and resilience dominate the fun, colourful sounds of this record. These themes are a perfect match for Bri Bryant’s vocals, which are the only t…
This Stockton fella grew up immersed in house and US garage sounds, but it wasn’t until 2014 when he began his ‘Mental, Gentle, Man’ series. This is the third in the run, and it sees McNally pushing his effervescent electronics into some very uplifting ar…
Rocket Boy is Chris Hill’s outfit. Hill grew up in Salford, and in the late 70s was in Sister Ray, a band that numbered Johnny Marr among its members. During lockdown he started writing again – with Chris McDonald, and Andy Bell from Blast Studios – and m…
US hyperpop singer Slayyyter lends her frothy vocals to this cold-stone banger from the Aussie production duo of Peking Duk. Produced by dance music royalty KLP, its punchy and rhythmic magic grabs you right from the get-go and then never lets up. And it’…
At first, I thought alt-J’s fourth album was going to be defined by fun and quirkiness - opener ‘Bane’ is a love letter to Coca-Cola and third song ‘Hard Drive Gold’ satirizes cryptocurrency. Then all of a sudden, they struck me right in the feelings with…
In her latest release, up and coming R&B artist Amber Mark takes us on a journey through, as the title suggests, three dimensions: insecurity, self-discovery and self love. The immaculate story-telling of her lyrical talent is made clear by the contrast b…
I’ve been a fan of Foxes since she burst onto everyone’s radio in 2014 with her hit ‘Holding onto Heaven’, but despite entering the music scene with the speed and stealth of her namesake, she also disappeared the same way. Thankfully, Foxes is back and th…
‘Starfruit’ is an explosion of flavour, with a combination of woodwind, electronic and sampled sounds giving each track limitless texture. Amber Navran’s light as a feather vocals multiply and weave together in intoxicating harmonies, adding a little deli…
Hinako Omori is a London based sound engineer and her debut album is pure aural balm. She’s interested in the physical and psychological effects of different frequencies and takes inspiration from the Japanese practice of shinrin-yoku or forest-bathing (l…
I’m never not going to a love an album that contains titles such as ‘Elvis Knickers’, ‘Don’t Swallow The Horse’ and ‘Bob Hope’, particularly an album boasting such impressive electronica chops as this one. It’s been put together by Newcastle’s Brian Feral…
Babeheaven (not a TV show you’ll find on channel 946) are a duo from London featuring singer Nancy Anderson and Jamie Travis. They make electronic pop that is far less in-yer-face than their moniker might suggest. And they’ve moved away from their trip-ho…
Jody & The Jerms formed in Oxford in 2019 and they’ve already caught the ear of BBC 6 Music types with their frothy indie-pop. They do a very nice line is sugar-rush jangled guitars, and although there’s nothing too original going on here, fans of Voice o…
Born and raised in the small town of Marion, Arkansas – just outside of Memphis – Bailey Bigger has always been steeped in country sounds. And the authentic sound of Americana runs deep through her debut album, which is packed with mid-tempo, gather-round…
Specky Cult? Aren’t they that three-piece acoustic punky outfit from the north-east who don’t take themselves too seriously? Bang on, and their latest album is packed with tuneful ditties (and ditties is the right word) that are the polar opposite of po-f…
Placebo are back! Who’d have thought it! This is their eighth studio album (their first in nine years) and, pleased to report, they still have plenty to say about the human condition in all its messy glory. They remain a band who deftly manage to strip aw…
MJH&TSB are a recording project from Gateshead and their self-titled debut album, released in 2018, was a dream-pop-dunked thing of beauty. Their second long-player sees Hammond exploring the impact five years’ worth of training to become a psychotherapis…
In ‘Few Good Things’, Saba opens up about the deep period of reflection that successful artists often reach by their third album. In his own words, “The concept of ‘Few Good Things’ is the realisation of self after a search for exterior fulfilment. It is …
Sea Change (aka Norway’s Ellen A. W. Sunde) won plenty of plaudits for her previous album ‘Inside’, which was inspired by the club culture of Los Angeles and Berlin, but her latest stuff was recorded back in Norway during lockdown. This – the first cut fr…
Our favourite Glaswegian rock duo sound completely different on this quirky, pop-infused album. It is a far cry from the heavier anthems such as ‘Heart and Soul’ and ‘No Sleep’ that the band are most known for. However, their charisma makes it work. I did…
Full of synthy, indie goodness, ‘Now or Whenever’ has a song for whatever mood you’re in: energetic, sing-a-long anthems, chilled out, bluesy explorations of emotion, and pretty, stripped back acoustic croonings. The poetic lyrics and sense of bittersweet…
Two of the most exciting artists on the hip-hop scene right now - Grammy nominated producer and songwriter, Murrille, and up and coming rapper and lyricist, Lady London - join together for this electric album. The witty lyrics both have become known for e…
This 6-track release from New York DJ and music producer, POZIBELLE, is a colourful explosion of sound. From 90s mixtape samples, fizzing textures, thundering beats and jungle influences, it is an all you can eat buffet for your ears. POZIBELLE’s music tr…
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