Dissolution (Weird World) - I’m never not in the mood for a bit of Finnish psych-pop and, on that front, Jaako Eino Kalevi never disappoints. And if last year’s very fine ‘Out Of Touch’ album saw him in something of a reflective mood, here he’s pulled on …
Up On High (Loose) - This is the seventh studio album from Vetiver (his friends call him Andy Cabic), a San Francisco type given to penning warm and neo-psychy tunes. For his latest he’s really went to town with the spacious arrangement side of things for…
Four Of Arrows (Big Scary Monsters) - This Seattle band turned a few heads with the release of their debut album ‘Plastic Cough’, which was released in 2017 and showed they had a fine ear for alt-rocking-bubblegum-grunge. Their follow-up is an altogether …
Human (Paragon Records) - The winner of the 2018 Northern Irish Music Prize is now hitting us up with a debut album of extraordinary beauty and grace. They (it’s one-person, they’re non-binary) have conjured up a suite of songs that explore what it means …
Live at Sydney Opera House (Provogue) - Joe Bonamassa is arguably the world’s biggest blues guitarist and any chance to see him live should never be passed up. If you can’t grab a ticket to see any of his shows any time soon however, then this is the next…
Life Gets In The Way (self release) - If you want to get on board with a local band on the up and up then get on board with TCHOTCHKE (say it with me: Chotch-kee). In fact they’ve risen so much that their debut album sees them silver surfing right up amon…
Easy Window (Apollon) - Subshine is the brainchild of Ole Gunnar Gundersen, one of the most lauded songwriters in Scandinavia who had a global cult following when he fronted up Lorraine, a band who toured with the likes of The Pet Shop Boys. On his latest…
Inside (self release) - There’s not much evidence of global warming on the latest release from this Norwegian artist, which is positively icy. It features the stark, but very listenable, electronica of Norway’s Ellen Sunde who has swapped the wide-open en…
Defy (Mascot Records) - This bunch of Las Vegas hard-rockers were brought up on a diet of Stone Temple Pilots, Third Eye Blind and Faith No More and recognise the value of riffs the size of the Vegas Strip. Their latest long-player is both mean and lean a…
Dreamin’ (Orindal Records) - Philly outfit Friendship are a collective centred around Dan Wriggins’s narratives. They’ve been something of a cult band but they deserve a wider audience with the release of their latest long-player, which features songs of …
KingsRose In June (Hudson Records) - Folk fans will know all about Jon Boden as he was the lead singer (and one of the principal arrangers) with the multi-award winning Bellowhead. The band played their final gig in 2016 but since then Boden has emerged a…
Chaotica (Fairy Snuff) - This female collective are releasing their debut album on the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, which may have you thinking: worthy, but bound to be dull. Not a bit of it! This is stirring stuff feat…
RGB (The Dogan) - Granfalloon is the musical project of Manchester based artist and producer Richard Lomax. He’s a fella who makes a hybrid of lo-fi folk and electronica and he isn’t afraid to lob together omnichords, acoustic guitars and vintage drum loo…
Arrows (self release) - Kettle of Kites is the ambitious new project of Tom Stearn, formerly of Glasgow orchestral-pop outfit Admiral Fallow. He’s now turned his attention to a cerebral new concept album with each of the nine tracks inspired by the works …
Philophobia (Easy Life Records) - This Nottingham three-piece have honed their sound over three albums and this time they’re on the hunt for love: romantic, unrequited, platonic, or, hey, even ugly. And they’re doing this through the power of rock, specif…
The Rat Race (self release) - The debut album from this Newcastle singer/songwriter is packing delights of an off-centre nature. He writes songs about universal themes – heartbreak, dealing with a hangover, declaring your love for someone by getting a tat…
first timer (Heist or Hit) - Pizzagirl is actually a man (fancy that!) from Liverpool who makes the kind of bedroom pop-tronica that looks well beyond the bedroom. I’m talking 1980s film soundtrack songs, offbeat-upbeat pop (DEVO etc) and lo-fi yacht rock…
One True Pairing (Domino) - One True Pairing is the new project of former Wild Beasts songwriter, vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Tom Fleming, and I, for one, am hugely on board with it. He’s written and played everything himself (with Ben Hillier on m…
2020 (Domino) - “Open your eyes, time to wake up,” is the first line you’ll hear on Richard Dawson’s sixth studio album. It’s from the track ‘Civil Servant’, which is about the drudgery of unfulfilling work, but the line could be read as a clarion call of…
Today’s Another Day (self release) - This Northumberland lass studied Folk and Traditional Music at Newcastle University and whatever she learned there was all certainly taken on board. This is her second album and it’s a bracing listen, exploring the jou…
This Is All We Have (self release) - We first heard from Billingham’s Phil Smart, and his To Kill A Nation project, last year with his fine ‘Aftershock’ EP and now he’s pushing a full album’s worth of good stuff. He wields the kind of electronica that is …
Modular Mantras (CEL36) - Newcastle label CEL36 are home to some of the most innovative and progressive electronica around and the latest release from them is no exception. Acrobotik has got rare skills and the techno he’s pushing on this album is often f…
A Comprehensive Sex Education (self release) - The north-east boasts its fair share of idiosyncratic, plough-their-own-furrow types, and this fella certainly belongs in that category. The CD sleeve tells me that this album was written between 1999 and 200…
Losing, Linda (Cascine) - Melbourne’s Sui Zhen straddles the worlds of ‘Pop’ and ‘Experimentation’ with much deftness and that’s in full effect on this release, which features beguiling delights by the score. She creates electronic pop soundscapes, which,…
Close To You (Braveheart) - A Norwegian three-piece steeped in 1980s adult orientated pop? I don’t mind if I do. And this, their debut album, sounds like French maestros of all things smooth, Phoenix, rummaging around among Guilty Pleasures playlists and …
Transduction (self release) - This Stockholm synth duo are coming to their new album fresh off the back of soundtracking the film ‘Cuck’, and their cinematic electronica is very much to the fore on this latest release. It’s rocking an unashamedly 1980s vi…
The Practice of Love (Sacred Bones) - Over six previous albums Jenny Hval has beguiled and delighted her dedicated bunch of fans and, once again, she’s on fine form for her latest long-player. And where her last album ‘Blood Bitch’ was very much in your f…
Holding On To A Dream (Memphis Industries) - This Gothenburg-based artist is adept at blurring genre boundaries and for this, his second album, he’s taken his jazz-inspired electronic palette and added some wonderful hip-hop and soul into the mix. What un…
Let It Melt (Palo Santo Records) - Leicester band Diesel Park West have been around in one form or another since 1980 but this is their first album for Palo Santo, a hip independent label located in Dallas. With an album title that references both the Bea…
You Need The Needs (Jansen Records) - Norwegian band The Needs were formed by Kvelertak’s guitarist Maciek Ofstad and two-time Norwegian Grammy award winner Bendik Braenne and their debut album is an uncomplicated winner. They play straight up and down, s…
Circadian (One Little Indian Records) - The latest album from this world-renowned handpan player and composer is a beautiful delight. It takes the listener through the cycle of sleep stages, emulating REM, light sleep, deep sleep and abrupt awakening. Tha…
Light It Up (prologue) - The Torquay born, former Mixed Martial Artist, Kris Barras has had an interesting time of it over the last year and a half. He’s went from playing in pubs to around 30 people to headlining Islington Academy (capacity: 800). He pla…
The November Guest (self release) - This 23-year-old folk singer from Northumberland has real poetry running through his soul, which is very evident on his debut album. He says that the release has been inspired by the bleak Northumberland moorlands and t…
Woman (Mount Silver Records) - This is the sixth studio album from this Irish singer/musician/songwriter and she’s showing no signs of being any less inventive. By turn, these songs are both rootsy and soulful, and lyrically she’s as forthright as ever ta…
Chronologic (MVKA) - This bunch of Parisian electronic adventurers scored a big hit with their last album and on their latest they’re once again pushing several envelopes at once. They marry a heady mix of melodic beats to everything from early swing and …
Take Me To The Nasties (Sapien Records) - Whoah mama! This Newcastle trio have really got it going on, especially if you’re into your low-slung, stoner-rock. They stand or fall on their size of their riffs and, thankfully, they’re suitably massive. They e…
The Ghost Ship (self release) - This three-piece from Chester-le-Street played live for the first time on St. Patrick’s Day last year (and went down a storm) and their first album shows just why they’re such big live favourites. It’s a collection of tradi…
I’ll Never Give Up On Love Until I Can Put A Name On It (Wagram Music) - I became aware of this French band earlier this year with their skew-whiff break-up song ‘You Need A Dog’, which sounded like a glorious amalgamation of 60s girl groups, riot grrrl, …
A Vanity Spawned By Fear (Cruel Nature Records) - Over the last few years or so, this Newcastle three-piece have been your go-to band if you’re in need of rock music that pummels hardcore, garage and surfbilly into new and interesting shapes. Their 2017 d…
Blue Skies (Tantobie Records) - The local three-piece of Kate Bramley, Simon Haworth and Kari Macleod turned plenty of heads with their self-titled debut album and they’ve widened their musical scope even further with their startling good second release. …
Noise Of The Fisherman (FishFish Records) - Newcastle band Cows Lying Down are real craftsmen when it comes to bringing words and melody together in perfect harmony for beautifully affecting songs. Their latest album sees them developing and expanding the…
Wasted Energy (Hassle Records) - This is the second album from these Aussie rockers and all their sonic bits and pieces remain present and correct but ramped up even further. They’re still fuzzed up and roiling and have that kicked-in speaker bass of Iain…
Charlie Parr (Red House Records) - Minnesota-based Charlie Parr is a modern day troubadour of dust-bowl folk. He’s the real deal and on his latest he’s revisiting some of his classics and audience favourites as well as regaling us with some quality new tu…
Absent Minded (One Little Indian) - One Little Indian have got previous when it comes to snapping up top Icelandic acts (they’re home to the likes of Björkand Ásgeir) and this time they’ve landed on a 19-year-old composer and pianist. His mellifluous debu…
Hell Is Here (Dais Records) - Woah mama! This is intense! Hide are an electronic duo from Chicago, made up of fine artist Gabel and percussionist Seth Sher, and they make incredibly caustic music with titles such as ‘Chainsaw’ and ‘Everyone’s Dead’. Their…
Basic Love (Milk! Records) - Hey! I’m loving the debut album from these Melbourne types. Fronted up by Jade on vocals (who has a slackerish, Courtney Barnett vibe) the band have the kind of art-rock stylings that I can’t get enough of. And these are art r…
When I Have Fears (Human Season Records) - Someone must be sticking something good in the water in Dublin at present because the city is continuing to unleash great new guitar bands on the world. The latest rabble rousers firing off steely riffs are The M…
1985 (self release) - (now based in Newcastle) and his multi-instrumentalist collaborator Guy Bainbridge. It’s a concept album, of a sort, the concept being a personal account of the singer’s coming-of-age in Michigan in the 1980s. Consequently, it’s imbu…
Basking in the Glow (Triple Crown Records) - Long Island band Oso Oso have been big cheeses among followers of all things emo, but on this, their third studio album, it appears that lead singer Jade Lilitri has had an attack of optimism. He’s turned his f…
The Bell (Kscope) - This Russian duo – Marjana Semkina (singing in English) and pianist Gleb Kolyadin – are an arresting proposition blending pop, rock, classical and folk and on their new album they’ve pulled together ten tracks that tell different stori…
Safe and also No Fear (Big Scary Monsters) - Slaughter Beach, Dog? Isn’t that the solo project of Jake Ewald of Modern Baseball? Indeed! (Modern Baseball? Aren’t they the Philadelphia emo rockers? Indeed!) Anyway. Here he isn’t reinventing the wheel, just…
The Big Sulk (self release) - Newcastle’s Cameron Scott has previously fronted up the rock band Save The Bees, but, seeing as they’re on hiatus at the minute, he’s decided to wander down some distinctly different avenues. This has a 3am, last-drink-of-the…
Squall Echo (self release) - This well regarded Scottish singer/songwriter raised over £6000 through Pledge Music to help fund this release (she’s got plenty of fans out there). Pledge Music collapsed however leaving her with nothing, but, thankfully, she…
Morganway (UE-Records) - Yacht Rock got another shot in the arm earlier this year with Katie Puckrik’s excellent BBC 4 documentary on the super smooth genre, and if you’re in thrall to those classic sounds then you’ll find much to enjoy in the debut album…
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