Articles by Lee Campbell

Forty years after their seminal New Gold Dream (81-82-83-84) album, Simple Minds are back with their 18th studio LP, Direction of the Heart. Incredibly, the former classic was the culmination of a period that saw […]

It wouldn’t be a Pixies LP without having to reach for the thesaurus or dictionary at least once. Doggerel is a comic verse composed in an unusual or irregular rhythm. It could be argued that […]

Nerina Pallot has recently released her brilliantly diverse seventh album, ‘I Don’t Know What I’m Doing.’ It pulls from many genres, including soul, jazz, blues and pop. XS Noize chatted with Nerina about her new […]

This Sunday, Nile Rodgers & Chic will play the British Summer Time Festival at Hyde Park London, where they will be supporting the mighty Duran Duran. Now a massive part of the Chic family, drummer […]

If ‘Blue Hours’ was the first ever Bear’s Den record that you listened to, you would be confused as to why they have been consistently labelled as ‘folk-rock’. They now seem to have fully shed […]

Bear’s Den began as a threesome. Now, eight years after their debut album ‘Islands’, the band’s core is now a very well-established duo, Andrew Davie and Kevin Jones. Lee Campbell spoke with Andrew about their […]

Lo Moon has just released their stunning second album, ‘Modern Life’ and are in the midst of a major European & North American tour with The War on Drugs. Matt Lowell and Sam Stewart from […]

Cowboy Junkies are one of those outstanding bands that just get on with what they do and quietly slip under many people’s radars. The Timmins siblings & bassist Alan Anton are now into their fifth […]

Six albums in thirteen years is not a bad return. Despite a challenging second album that followed their smash 2009 debut, To Lose My Life, the industrious, west London threesome have built up and sustained […]

I’ve never really overtly connected the sound of The War on Drugs with Dylan or Springsteen, but with this, their fifth album, I Don’t Live Here Anymore, I can finally join the dots. Opener ‘Living […]

The future (past) looks bright – The not so ‘New’ Romantics, Duran Duran are in a celebratory mood with plenty left in the tank. Recent, energetic sell-out performances at the likes of Austin City Limits, […]

When Mark Lanegan teamed up with Joe Cardamone of The Icarus Line to release the 12″ single ‘Skeleton Joe Manifesto’ during the summer, it was difficult to foresee it being followed by a monster 16-track […]

London band Desperate Journalist have recently released their fourth album, ‘Maximum Sorrow’, possibly their best yet. XS Noize caught up with Jo, Rob, Caroline & Simon to discuss the LP, unorthodox chord progressions, touring again […]

Chris Turpin and Stephanie Jean, better known as Ida Mae, are back with their excellent second album, ‘Click Click Domino’. A fusion of Americana, rock ‘n’ roll, blues and folk, Lee Campbell spoke with the […]

This week sees the 40th anniversary of Duran Duran’s self-titled debut album. XS Noize looks back on this momentous release from a band that would become the ‘Fab Five’ of the ‘80s. It was December […]

Ageless synth-rocker Gary Numan is back with a fierce and fascinating 14th solo album. ‘Intruder’ is a perfect foil to the sounds of the broken wastelands on his 2017, ‘Savage’ album. Numan gives our battered […]

Merseysiders, The Coral, are back with a rollercoaster double-album that leaves you pining for candy-floss, slot machines and teen love in the fading summer dusk of our childhood amusement arcades. Their 2018 album, Move Through […]

Londoner Raf Rundell’s colourful, musical optimism cleverly fuses funk, indie-pop, soul and electronica in his latest project. Looking at the cover of his second solo LP – O.M. Days – it is unusual and intriguing. […]