Here’s a curio. Peter Watts wrote a whole bunch of songs when he was 16 or 17, but he didn’t record them. He’s now 72 and has decided to get a band together to finally give them an airing, the result being ‘Bluebottle Green’. And – what do you know – it’s…
This all-female four-piece hail from Washington in the US and over four albums they’ve found favour with indie types drawn to their dreamy, often low-key, ways and means. Their latest sees them operating in all sorts of liminal spaces, balancing melanchol…
Oh, wow! I love an album that leaves me feeling like someone has shoved a Dyson up my jumper and Ponyland’s ‘Hare Brains’ delivers that experience in spades. They’re a self-described “psychotropic-punk 6 piece from Newcastle” and cite bands such as The Co…
Local outfit TGWTRH started out as a duo but now number Mick Porter on bass and The Go-Betweens’ Lindy Morrison on drums among their ranks. Seems like a match made in heaven because their latest album is a shimmering thing of joy. It’s a release shot thro…
LA singer-songwriter Laena Myers is best known as being the lead singer, guitarist and songwriter with Feels, but for this, her debut solo album, she’s pulled together a whole bunch of songs that she reckons were two personal and dreamy for Feels. And it’…
This is Etta Marcus’ debut album, so I was taken aback by how self-assuredly she leans into her own, unique sound on this release. While detectably influenced by the likes of Lana Del Rey, Sharon Van Etten and Phoebe Bridges, Marcus has a distinctly soft …
Tom Odell’s lyrical talents are far from obscure at this point in his career, yet on his sixth album the artist takes the candid and confessional nature of his writing to another level. Raw and sombre, Black Friday is undoubtedly brimming with emotion, pe…
This third album from Manchester’s Chemtrails is delightfully weird. Sprawling across a variety of genres, from psychedelic, to punk, to pop, The Joy of Sects is as colourful a listen as its cover would suggest. The unique vocals of front-women and romant…
This is the third full-length album from these Aussie psych rockers, and it’s bathed in the kind of gorgeous beanbag vibes that’ll have you positively cooing with delight. Percussive melodies are pushed very much to the fore as garage-rock boogies and bli…
Singer-songwriter and something of a guitar hero, Mary Timony has been enrapturing her loyal fans for 30 odd years. This – her first solo release in 15 years – has a delicious, acid-folk, freak/garage sound, and sees her contemplating not only the loss of…
South Shields born Martin Francis Trollope has been writing and performing his own music for nearly 20 years, but this is his first release under his own name. It sees him returning to a bunch of old demos and re-recording them in lo-fi/bedroom pop style.…
At just short of 15 minutes long, Little Simz’ latest release is the epitome of ‘good things come in small (or rather, Little) packages’. Starting incredibly strong with ‘Mood Swings’, which is probably my favourite track of 2024 so far, Drop 7 offers thu…
Kanye West has made some pretty unforgivable remarks as of late, so it’s understandable if you’d prefer to give this one a miss. However, if you operate on a ‘separate the art from the artist’ policy, VULTURES 1 has a fair bit to offer. The mix is clean, …
Londoner Pete Kosanovich has won praise from everyone from Dave Davies of The Kinks (“I love the tone in Pete’s voice”) to Liam Gallagher – and no doubt such support is due to Kosanovich’s commitment to an authentic psych-rock sound that harks back to Bri…
This Country Durham based outfit are superhot right now as evinced by their new album, which is an intoxicating blend of slowhand blues and blissy psychedelia. ‘Hill End’ has been produced by John Martindale (Sam Fender, Pigsx7) and he’s done a superb job…
Powered by Jova Radevska’s eminently delectable vocals (in turn suggesting both a breathless intimacy and a certain stridency) and Mark Vernon’s ever-imaginative production, this collection of songs gambol with breezy abandon across ethereal electronica, …
Night Lovell’s latest album delivers cutthroat lyrics and dark trap beats, which work particularly well when paired with his unique, deep voice. At just 29 minutes, despite having 12 tracks, ‘I HOPE YOU’RE HAPPY’ feels like a bit of a whistle-stop tour of…
The debut album from this Australian singer-songwriter boasts an eclectic take on pop as a genre. Though united by Fischer’s authentic and emotive lyrical voice, no two songs on this album are the same - each one offers something different, whether it be …
Afrobeat has been making waves on the popular music scene as of late, with Libianca’s hit ‘People’ amassing 4.5 million views on YouTube. This debut EP from the Cameroonian artist contains six laidback tracks - including ‘People’ - that are rich in storyt…
San Francisco’s The Umbrellas coalesced around a group of musicians who would frequent legendary SF record emporium Amoeba Music. The four-piece all share a love for earnest and accessible pop music and that’s very evident on ‘Fairweather Friend’. The ten…
This singer/songwriter from North Yorkshire has been busy over the years as evidenced by this box-set of his work that stretches back to 1993 and right up to the present, with the set taking in everything from early songs recorded on simple tape decks to …
This north-east threesome have been creating waves in the jazz world for all the right reasons. Featuring Abbie Finn on drums, Harry Keeble on tenor sax, and Paul Grainger on double bass, they take inspiration from past greats while pushing their sound in…
The third AO album is a real thing of joy with a raft of new band members adding plenty of body to their sound. The whole thing is anchored by Daniel Clifford’s delectable vibrato vocals and the band’s preoccupations remain as leftfield as ever, taking in…
After a successful debut album in 2022, Tate McRae’s success has been exponential, with the breakout star dominating screens on TikTok and recently scoring another hit with ‘greedy’. Her sound has definitely taken a step towards the mainstream as of late,…
Billy Porter has had quite the career, gaining success on Broadway, TV and even on the runway, but this fifth album unveils yet another facet of his endless talent as he launches himself into the world of dance music. ‘Black Mona Lisa’ is a vibrant and jo…
This Newcastle artist should be your go-to if you’re looking for whip-smart electronica that is capable of taking you to another plane, an altogether better plane. His latest album features seven tracks that run the gamut from rhythmic and roomy minimalis…
Chase & Status refer to their seventh LP as a mixtape rather than an album, heavily zoning in on their drum’n’bass roots without any evidence of their usual forays into diverse genres - you won’t find any big pop choruses here. In fact, almost all of the …
You physically could not escape PinkPantheress’ hit with Ice Spice, ‘Boy’s a liar Pt. 2’ earlier this year, so I was intrigued to see what else she had to offer on this debut album of hers. ‘Heaven Knows’ is a fun listen, developing the short but sweet in…
Ever heard orchestral music performed entirely by robots? Neither had I until I listened to this album from Italian composer Leonardo Barbadoro. Named after its ensemble of robotic performers, Musica Automata, which are controlled remotely by Barbadoro, …
The debut album from this London-based Austrian-Brazilian artist is a real scuzzy joy. Her songs – throbbing with delicious melodies – are fuzzed up in all the right places and collide in that happy place where low-slung indie nous slaps together with alt…
X-Ray Spex will always have a place in punk history because of their blazing 1978 debut album ‘Germfree Adolescents’. The follow-up to that album didn’t arrive until 1995, and it slipped down the back of the settee somewhat. It’s now getting released on v…
Alison Garner’s vocals are as dreamy as ever on this, the first release from The Fauns in around a decade. The Bristol band formed in 2007 and soon found favour among shoegaze aficionados who snapped up their self-released debut album and subsequent follo…
Based in Newcastle, this extravagantly gifted musician straddles genres with ease and ropes in all manner of influences to inform his idiosyncratic sound. His second full-length album is a skew-whiff delight that takes in quirky-bedroom pop that teeters i…
Steve Luck is a classical, award-winning pianist from Newcastle, and his latest album is a pure joy. It features 12 tracks – only one of them over three-minutes in length – that capture a range of fleeting moods from the breezy uplift of ‘Smile’ to ‘Night…
This debut from Laura Misch does exactly what its title suggests, allowing us to sample the natural world through an enchanting sonic journey that captures London’s wild edgelands. Light, airy and ethereal, Laura’s gentle vocals combine with wind-inspired…
Cult horror film ‘The Wicker Man’ celebrates its 50th anniversary this month, and one of the most striking elements of the film is its folky soundtrack, so as both a film and music buff I was very excited for this one. Katy J Pearson does a fantastic job …
Over the years dozens of bandmates have swirled around Ashington’s g.w. lang under the St James Infirmary banner, and his latest release features contributions from Richard Dawson, Nev Clay and Cath & Phil Tyler. And the results are fantastic. From Lankum…
This bunch (and they are a bunch – not just Smoove & Turrell) are often held up as one of the most feted bands in the region and with good reason. They play funk that positively sizzles, and on their latest they’re really cutting loose with a sterling col…
Troye Sivan’s first album in five years starts strong with ‘The Rush’, a sensual, high-energy dance anthem. I also loved the exploration of queer romance and sexuality, which is encapsulated beautifully on its cover. However, the majority of the album jus…
I’m a little late to the Holly Humberstone craze - this was in fact my introduction to her music, and it has actually ended up being one of my favourite albums of the year. She has an incredible lyrical talent, creating evocative scenarios filled with rel…
I’m a big fan of Doja Cat, so when she announced she was switching up her sound - even going as far as saying that her past albums were “cash grabs” - I was a little worried. However, I now actually see her point. Scarlet moves away from the palatable pop…
San Francisco Bay Area songwriter (and trumpeter) Anna Hillburg has a super voice – unflashy and never stretching for those high notes – but it’s eminently listenable, and her latest album features the kind of widescreen-alt-country-and-western pop that k…
The third album from Art Freynman (aka US visual artist and producer Luke Temple) was recorded live in-studio with a full band, which certainly helps capture the lightening-in-a-bottle feel that this release throbs with. He’s a fella dealing in itchy art-…
The debut album from Southern California’s Zooey Celeste brings together the kind of elements I can really get behind: bedroom astral goth, spindly Americana, hypnotic synth pop – and much more besides. It’s underpinned by sparse drum-machines and droney …
Maple Glider is the adopted professional moniker of Tori Zietsch, a singer-songwriter from Australia who was “raised from birth in quite a restrictive religious household.” This – her second album – continues her exploration into her Christian childhood w…
This Irish artist can take you to some very otherworldly places and her latest (her third album) features nine tracks of monumentally resonant dirges that encompass choirs (cellar deep in the mix), elongated strings and field recordings. It’s slow and beg…
Anywhere were a north-east band who garnered a bit of record label interest in the mid-90s, but nothing eventually came of it. The band split, but the members got back together in 2018 to jam and then reform under a new moniker: Anywhere But Now. And I’m …
15 albums down and Kylie Minogue is still supplying us with bangers, with her first single release from Tension - ‘Padam Padam’ - completely blowing up this summer. The rest of the album keeps the energy high, full of vibrant, sensual floorfillers that se…
As its title suggests, this second EP from London’s Slaney Bay explores the symbiotic relationship between love and loss. With a sound that simultaneously has a hint of 90s and 2000s pop punk, yet also feels like a fresh approach to indie, ‘Why Does Love …
A few months ago ‘Requiem For A Fading World’ was a real highlight of Sage Gateshead’s summer season. A narrative work – set in a post-apocalyptic world – it followed two solo singers (a Mother and her Daughter) as they sought separate paths to greener pa…
The Misty’s describe themselves as “the soundtrack to a longed for kiss” - indeed, their song ‘Bite Marks’ was the soundtrack of Killing Eve’s first kissing scene - which intrigued me to listen to this new release of theirs. They have created a very disti…
When Royal Blood first emerged onto the scene in 2014, I remember being taken aback by how a duo could make as much wonderful noise as a full rock band. They always kept things pretty simple, so when 2021’s ‘Typhoons’ arrived with a host of guest producer…
It’s been four years since Hozier’s last album, so ‘Unreal Unearth’ has been much anticipated. I was disappointed to find out he’s only a sole lyricist on just 2/16 songs, but if you like Hozier’s music you’ll probably like ‘Unreal Unearth’. His vocals, h…
Steve Jinski was born in Liverpool but has made his home in the north-east since his late teens, and he’s become a popular fixture on the circuit by dint of his powerful songwriting abilities. He’s on stellar form on his latest album, which manages to hit…
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