The fact that this is Pet Shop Boys’ fifteenth album is an achievement in itself, though even some of the most established artists start to lose themselves after this many releases. Not Tennant and Lowe, though. ‘Nonetheless’ offers 10 fresh tracks of mel…
This album is well and truly in the running for one of my favourites of the year. Combining everything from spoken-word, to jazz, to electronica, to musical theatre, ‘Forgiveness Is Yours’ is an incredibly ambitious undertaking, but for me lands exception…
‘A LA SALA’ translates as “to the living room”, welcoming us to view Khruangbin through an intimate and domestic snapshot. This fourth album is particularly intriguing by being a patchwork quilt of sorts, weaving together a collection of unreleased music.…
This third album from LA psych-pop band Lo Moon has a unifying theme across its nine tracks, exploring how moments of revelation - whether through family, places, youth, relationships or time - shape our lives and personalities. It has a distinctly nostal…
girl in red’s last album ‘if i could make it go quiet’ is one of my favourites of all time, so when she opened this latest release with the (uncharacteristically) optimistic line “I’m back, I’m better than ever” I was excited. Unfortunately, for me, it al…
This East London trio are going to have plenty of plaudits chucked their way this year as their debut album is right on the money, particularly if you’re partial to bluesy indie-rock that has been gently fried. They pull off the rare trick of being able t…
A shining jewel on the local scene for many a year, anything Kathryn Williams is involved with is always worth investing time in and so it proves on her latest album, which sees her teaming up with Dan Willson (aka Withered Hand). It’s a warmly strummy af…
Dru Irving is a north-east singer/songwriter who has been in and around the local scene for a number of years and this, his debut album, is an absolute delight. He can do melancholic and reflective with the best of them, with the kind of tunes that recall…
As the title of this debut album kind of hints at, this release collects together most of The Hemp Queens’ output including EPs and singles. The Newcastle collective manage to be many things at once as they exude a carefree, flippant air, while also hitti…
This Aussie singer/songwriter has won herself a loyal following and with little wonder. Albums such as ‘My Little River’ (country-tinged folk) and ‘LOVE HATE’ (NYC-inspired art/rock/pop) marked her out as a real talent, and her latest is likely to win her…
Nacho Dog is Cullercoats based Dan Gooch, who does pretty much everything on his latest album. He’s given his usual stoner-funk and gently frazzled trip-hop a swerve here for a more rootsy sound and, pleased to report, it’s a release well worthy of your a…
Tyla’s hit ‘Water’ truly took the world by storm last summer, so this debut album has a lot to live up to. I really love how Tyla has brought the South African genre of amapiano into the mainstream, blending it with R&B and pop to create a unique sound th…
The Libertines are back after nine years and it looks like they’ve finally grown up. With their past albums fraught with the rivalry between Carl Barât and Pete Doherty, this fourth release appears to be free from problematics. But is it toxic to say the …
This Newcastle band contains three-fifths of the excellent The Winter Hill Transmission, and their debut album features some swoony harmonising from Ben Holland and Pete Moffat who are ably aided by Katja Roberts on violin, Neil Hopper on double bass, and…
This new release from Cavetown - the musical project of Robin Skinner - is a hazy blend of bedroom pop, indie and electronica, with a lo-fi feel to it. Each song is densely packed with layers of sound and instrumentation, but also with emotion, thanks to …
First releases are always what I’m most excited to review, and Nectar Woode has proven exactly why that is the case. Nothing To Lose places Woode’s beautiful, soulful vocals and impressive songwriting skills centre-stage. Her lyrics are charismatic while …
Even if you’re new to Bleachers, you have most likely heard their music before; they have featured on albums from the likes of Taylor Swift and Lana Del Rey, thanks to frontman Jack Antonoff being one of the biggest producers of the moment. I’m a big fan …
Ariana Grande is no stranger to a heartbreak anthem, but ‘eternal sunshine’ offers a deeper contemplation on the subject that adds a new tangibility to her music. Grande has had quite the rap from the press recently, but by approaching the subject of her …
Though IDLES have built their following on anti-establishment, anthemic rage, album no.5 introduces a melodic nuance to their sound. TANGK presents IDLES through a soft focus lens: the lyrical subject matter is lighter, singing dominates over chanting, t…
Specky Cult are a female-fronted north-east three-piece who play the kind of frothy indie-pop that isn’t afraid to stretch its wings, here taking in everything from strummy and exuberant acoustica (‘Alibi’) to spiky new-wave sounds (‘Love Crap’). They’re …
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…
Sign Up To Little Crack