Who’d have thought that an album simply titled ‘Steve’ could contain such a myriad of delights! Āvā & The Fates is the musical project of 17-year-old Ava Ellis (brought up in London but now based in Sunderland), and she’s produced an idiosyncratic thing o…
The debut album from this Newcastle-based singer/songwriter is startlingly good. He blends warm folk with indie/alternative influences in a way that instantly draws you in close to listen to his intimate songs of reflection. And whether he’s examining the…
This Newcastle band – led by the estimable Mike Soanes – do a fine job in embracing everything from folk to blues, with added world music flavours, and that is very evident on their latest album. From the stripped back and strummy ‘Hold On’ (a plea to kee…
Recently signed to Morella Records, this Newcastle outfit have injected plenty of vim into the darkwave scene, and their latest seven-track EP is throbbing with the kind of post-punky gothic goodness that left me floored (in a good way). Tracks like ‘Tear…
Originally from Nova Scotia – but now based in Consett – this duo (Janet Mills and David Farrell) play the kind of rootsy folk that, despite its stripped back nature, feels full of body. That’s down the warmth of their sound, their beautiful harmonies, an…
The second album from this Tyneside nine-piece sees them dialling up their “viper jazz” sound for an exuberant release that pushes old-timey swing into some new and ecstatic pastures. ‘Ice Cream for Breakfast’ is real kick-your-heels-off and party stuff (…
Hen Ogledd are the collaborative project of artists Dawn Bothwell, Rhodri Davies, Richard Dawson and Sally Pilkington, and their third album is another arresting listen featuring the kind of acid-folk that burns its way, rather melodically, through both y…
When I heard that Charli xcx was creating the soundtrack for the new film adaptation of Wuthering Heights, I thought that it could either be the best or the worst idea ever. Going directly from Brat summer to a period piece set on the Yorkshire Moors is q…
Joji’s dramatic shift from absurd YouTube comedy to somber alt-R&B music never fails to amaze me - an expertly navigated rebrand that launched the Japanese artist into a whole new stratosphere of success. However, this fifth album suggests he’s not quite …
Maria BC won great praise for their debut album ‘Spike Field’ – an ambient classic in many people’s eyes – and their follow up is equally as enticing. It’s an altogether grittier affair with the songs running the gamut from glitchy and fuzzed up monsters …
These Newcastle based rabble-rousers could start a party in an empty room with their glorious melange of sounds which take in everything from scuzzed up rock and roll to twangy alt country to slap-happy punk. Their new album is all kinds of fantastic, sou…
This Newcastle-based fella – who is also one of the producers from a band called Nadine Hurley – really does lead experimental live electronic music down some very interesting avenues. His latest solo album features everything from lo-fi garage clatter su…
Made up of Electrelane frontwoman Verity Susman and Wire guitarist Matthew Simms, MEMORIALS are art-rock personified and their latest album in a wondrous thing. Susman is a fine vocalist – very much in the Nico or, on occasion, Vashti Bunyan mould – and s…
With a cover by acclaimed Canadian artist Darren Merinuk, and the plaudits of The Stingrays frontman Bal Croice ringing in their ears (“This is one of the best surf albums in over ten years”), this Durham bunch boot surf and garage punk into orbit with a …
Newcastle’s Cane Rouge are beginning to receive national attention and with good reason as their heady blend of up-and-at-‘em indie-rock is the kind of raucous call-to-arms that everyone can get behind. Live albums can be a bit hit and miss, but this is a…
A sprawling concept album exploring the darker side of the music industry and the fame that comes with it. This has been a popular topic across recent album releases…but no one has done it quite like Labrinth. The production on this record is astounding -…
I was very excited for some new Ari Lennox after being a big fan of her last album. ‘Vacancy’ offers up more helpings of the sultry, honey-sweet contemporary R&B I’ve come to expect from Lennox, but with a little extra polish and sophistication thanks to …
Momoko Gill is a singer-songwriter, drummer and multi-instrumentalist who has been making waves in London’s jazz-adjacent scene. ‘Momoko’ is her debut solo album, straddling genres such as jazz, soul and electronica to carve out a distinct sound that neve…
This Teesside lass takes synthwave and filters it through the kind of post-punky filter that gives her a significant amount of edge. She also knows how to pen a really killer tune as evidenced by ‘Coders’, which sounds like Depeche Mode taking a trip roun…
The Kid LAROI is at his strongest on BEFORE I FORGET, putting a melancholic spin on the R&B genre with 15 vulnerable tracks. More often than not, a high-profile breakup album becomes more about the drama than the music, but this is a welcome exception. BE…
A thunderous return from progressive metalcore outfit QUEEN KONA. LONG LIVE is as monumental as its title suggests, combining loud, relentless aggression with intricate guitar work and groovy basslines to create a powerful wall of sound. What sets QUEEN K…
The three women who make up this trio have been causing waves on the LA underground, certainly among the hard rocking community, and their fourth album sees them working up a real lather. ‘Not Here Not Gone’ throbs with enormous slabs of shoegaze wonder w…
The debut release from Gateshead’s Stuart Edwards (aka Your Autopilot) is a sumptuous slice of electronica. It’s the soundtrack to an imaginary film about a washed-up musician who takes a job creating samples for an AI program designed to make perfect son…
The second album from this Sunderland-based singer/songwriter is the kind of confident modern pop album that’ll have you standing on a chair and applauding. I liked her debut album ‘Square One’ but ‘Secrets’ is even better, exploring darker, deeper waters…
Durham’s Foster Neville has gained an international reputation for his ambient electronica (and has been featured on the likes of Stuart Maconie’s ‘Freak Zone’ on BBC 6 Music) and with good reason as he conjures up real wonderments. His latest album takes…
This north-east based indie-folk band know their way around a lovely melody, and their stellar way with a catchy tune can be heard in full effect on ‘The Here and Now’, their fabulous third album. It’s a release that is jam-packed with subtle hooks, lovel…
I really love Madison Beer’s cinematic take on pop, so was excited to hear about this new album. The intro track is a textbook Madison Beer opener: dreamy harmonies, sweeping strings and manufactured distortion that makes it sound slightly like playing an…
This is Sleaford Mods’ 13th album - an impressive feat, although very telling that a duo who specialise in gut-punching political commentary haven’t run out of material in the almost two decades they’ve been active. In The Demise of Planet X, vocalist Jas…
The seventh album from this local artist is absolutely extraordinary. She bills it as “playful, restorative, medicinal and direct” and she couldn’t be more correct because ‘PORTAL’ is pure balm for your tattered soul. Featuring new material and covers sun…
Christmas came early for fans of Tems, who dropped her latest album ‘Love Is A Kingdom’ as a complete surprise. These seven tracks showcase Tems’ signature blend of soul, R&B and afrobeat at its very best, with the grounded take on production allowing the…
This London-based singer/songwriter has received support from the likes of Liam Gallagher and The Kinks’ Dave Davies, and it’s easy to hear why on ‘Beauty Within You’, which is a stripped back affair. Using vintage acoustic guitars, Kosanovich has produce…
I reckon 2026 is going to be a big year for this Hartlepool four-piece, certainly if their new EP is anything to go by. The four-tracks here are stuffed with big, guitar-driven anthems, the kind of which Bruce Springsteen fans are going to go mad for, and…
This is the fourth album from the Tuareg desert blues innovators from Algeria, and this time they’ve introduced electronic textures to their sound, as well as a newfound intimacy. It’s a release that saw local artists and friends join the sessions, result…
everything, in time allows Ella Eyre to steer away from the ‘dance hit guest vocalist’ box she is often reduced to, into jazzier territories that are a little Winehouse-esque. The album’s blend of pop and soul perfectly complements Eyre’s trademark husky …
This latest release from French-born, London-based producer and vocalist ultra caro is aptly named, as it’s dark and dreamy electronic soundscapes evoke the sensation of a melancholy walk through a city at night. moonlight diaries is expansive and experim…
Film and TV composer Isobel Waller-Bridge steps into the avant-garde with this solo project, which is as much concerned with stillness and quiet as it is with music. In ‘Objects’, background noise is brought into focus, with the musical elements feeling l…
I’ve been eagerly following Yim Siwan’s acting work since being wowed by his performance in ‘Squid Game’, so I was pleasantly surprised to hear of his return to music. Having previously been a member of K-Pop boy band ZE:A in the 2010s, Yim definitely pro…
‘Ghost World’ is Alison Wonderland at her most confident and cathartic. Her latest is a vibrant, immersive journey, perfectly balancing raw vulnerability with exhilarating, hard-hitting electronic production. The EDM tracks here offer a genuine sense of r…
The first album from electronic music producer Orlando Higginbottom (FKA Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs) under his TEED moniker is a beautifully restrained and emotionally resonant record. Stripping back his sound to focus on light, breezy synth textu…
Mexican-American producer Delia Beatriz (Debit) continues her fascinating work, expertly decelerating classic cumbia rebajada bootlegs into an immersive, ambient experience. The album is a hauntingly beautiful journey that reimagines familiar Afro-Latin d…
ROSALÍA has never shied away from bold musical moves: she debuted with a reimagining of flamenco for a new era, then blessed us with Grammy-winning MOTOMAMI, a genre bending fusion of Latin and Reggaeton. And yet, LUX still caught me completely by surpris…
This post-punky Newcastle band have been garnering rare praise on the goth scene over the last year or two and they’ve backed up all that early promise with a debut album that is packing more dark delights that a bar of Green & Black’s 85% Cocoa. They ref…
George Patrick is a composer/performer/music teacher based in the north-east and his new EP is packing instrumental wonderments that slip rather delightfully between jazz and contemporary classical. From the sparky ‘Development’, with its deft piano chord…
Hailing from Sunderland and Newcastle, Cazimi are a three-piece who knock out a very feisty and taut post-punk sound that is whip smart and toting the kind of memorable melodies that instantly lodge in your brain. They can rumble like The Stranglers (‘Hig…
Melody’s Echo Chamber is the music project of French musician and singer Melody Prochet and her fourth studio album is resplendent with life-affirming vibes and the kind of fluffy kitten-heeled melodies that will lift even the most jaded of hearts. It sou…
Majken is a Malmö-based songwriter and multi-instrumentalist who plays what she terms “gospel grunge”. What that means in effect is work that takes in piano, guitar, harp (she plays them all) that are melded into extraordinary tunes that are part hymn, pa…
Back in 1989, north-west band Joanna were on the cusp of being The Next Big Thing, and in 1990 the NME called them “the most popular band without a record out”. But being “on the cusp” never actually tipped over into an actual record deal and the band fel…
Twenty-five years since its original release Britpoppers My Life Story are re-releasing their 2000 album. Featuring the singles ‘It’s a Girl Thing’, ‘Empire Line’ and ‘Walk/Don’t Walk’ it’s nice to revisit it and its references to the concerns of the time…
I was very excited for a new Tame Impala album after five long years. Deadbeat is quite the departure from the evergreen psych-rock anthems of third album Currents, which you still hear being played everywhere almost a decade after its release. This new m…
Among the saturated market of modern country music, Orville Peck remains distinct in his theatrical way of evoking an authentic Wild West. The traditional sounds and instrumentation of Appaloosa wouldn’t be out of place in the soundtrack of an old western…
Celeste’s debut album Not Your Muse is a tough act to follow - it rocketed to No 1 on charts and received a whole lot of acclaim. Taking time to write album two was a sensible choice, as it has resulted in nine thoughtful tracks that are meant to be savou…
Ashnikko is back with her maximalist take on pop, and if you’re looking for a pure adrenaline shot in musical form, this one’s for you. Relentless, pounding beats and y2k electronic soundscapes dominate across 15 tracks that very much toe the line between…
Alternative folk band Bear’s Den and singer-songwriter Ciaran Lavery have teamed up on this new EP, and the result is stunning. The accompaniment is relatively stripped back, sticking to gentle piano and guitar melodies with an emotive fiddle solo here an…
As a big Verve fan, I was excited to hear about some new material from Richard Ashcroft. I really enjoy the album’s first track, Lover; the anthemic, Bitter Sweet Symphony-esque strings are brimming with nostalgia and it’s a real feel good song. Unfortuna…
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