Kathryn Williams first started causing people to sit up and take notice back in the late 90s and early 00s with albums such as ‘Dog Leap Stairs’ and ‘Little Black Numbers’ (which garnered her a Mercury nomination). Since then she’s built up an incredible…
International sensation, Post Malone, has doubled his power by assembling a sort of Avengers team of huge collaborators on this fourth album: Doja Cat, The Weeknd and The Kid LAROI all lend their talents. Fans of the artist’s trademark quivering vocals an…
You’ll likely recognise Vance Joy from his hugely popular 2014 hit ‘Riptide’, which is still constantly played on the radio. Keeping with the largely acoustic instrumentation he is known for, the raw sound of ‘In Our Own Sweet Time’ matches Joy’s vulnerab…
You know it’s summer when George Ezra starts releasing new tunes - ‘Shotgun’ came to define the summer of 2018. This third album from the blockbuster artist boasts the kind of feel-good earworms that you’d expect, with ‘Green Green Grass’ already creeping…
For a band whose first release was only back in 2019, Kamikaze Nurse make quite the impact with this sophomore album. Fiery in some places, like title track ‘Stimuloso’, yet breezy in others, such as gentle, poetic closer ‘ubobo’, Kamikaze Nurse coordinat…
Working Men’s Club are one of the more interesting indie bands to emerge over the last couple of years, certainly if you like your indie to be informed by electronic beats. On their second album they wield those beats once again and do so with a scuzzy ha…
The London-based punky trio of Holly (guitar/vocals), Lauren (bass) and Lucie (drums) do a very nice line in gritty garage rock and their debut album is full of the kind of spiky stuff you can really hang your hat on. They tackle issues such as mental hea…
Manchester’s Mica Millar could be the new soul star that the UK has been looking for, especially if enough people get to hear her debut album, which is chockfull of good stuff, from the gospel stomp of ‘Preacher Man’ to the slinked up ‘More Than You Give …
This Newcastle lad deals in bangers, specifically bangers of the electro/pop/dance variety. His new album is overflowing with rump-shaking disco house that’ll have you gravitating towards the dancefloor from the first beats. What’s more, it’s all complime…
Born in Kentucky and raised in a musical family, Kimberly Morgan York first started singing in church at the tender age of three. It was a pretty safe bet that she would move into music and she’s certainly done that with much success. She’s a country arti…
The feted Welsh singer/songwriter and electronic producer returns with her third album, which was written in St. Ives and is sung almost entirely in Cornish. It concerns – it says here, I don’t speak Cornish – the journey of rediscovering oneself after th…
Sunderland’s Labyrinthine Oceans will not be bound by genre (or lyrical concerns – their new album references everything from Nintendo soundtracks to classic court dances…). It all kicks off with ‘Below’, a gorgeously ethereal track that weaves magical pa…
This solo debut from Chelsea Rose, former front woman of Summer Twins, is an introspective delight. Tinged with the sound of 60s pop, the LA artist cuts deep into matters of the heart with eloquent lyrics that capture both the euphoria of love and the pai…
For their third album, Fontaines D.C. step outside of their post-punk box with their most adventurous sound yet. Opening with the haunting harmonies of ‘In ár gCroíthe’ - an Irish-Gaelic phrase meaning “in our hearts forever”, which the Church of England …
‘Time~Lapse Nature’ is the perfect title for this third album from Diatom Deli. The album is peppered with evocative samples from nature, serving as background noise to lyrics that narrate a passing of time measured by fluctuating emotions and changing re…
Washington DC’s Flasher became a name to drop in 2018 with their very fine debut album ‘Constant Image’, which was a new wavey, post-punky, thing of joy. They’ve now slimmed down to a two-piece (guitarist Taylor Mulitz and drummer Emma Baker – both on voc…
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…
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