Reviews

Art-rock/art-pop singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Alicia Walter has released her debut solo album, I Am Alicia, via Sooper Records. Well-known for fronting Chicago’s math-rock outfit Oshwa, in 2016, Alicia relocated to NYC. The year 2016 also […]

The Shakespeare’s Globe theatre is so old and famous that the two original buildings (1599 and 1654) featured on postage stamps in 1995. Slightly younger is Damon Albarn, aged 53, whose 1994 LP Parklife was depicted […]

Swedish born, Berlin-based singer-songwriter Adna released her album Black Water a few days ago, an album flavoured by both shadowy and warm textures. Black Water follows her previous trio of albums, Night, released in 2014, followed […]

Despite this Wigan four-piece only being around since 2018, they are living proof that despite the pandemic bands need the opportunity to perform live to develop and build up their fan base. Prior to playing […]

Conceived in 2017 following Donald Trump’s election victory, this Durham, North Carolina punk trio (who are all Muslims) formed as singer QADR says to express their “experiences that make you wake up and push back […]

Cuntry Covers Vol. 1 is the debut EP from the latest Sub Pop act, Bria, which is a collaborative act of Bria Salmena and Duncan Hay Jennings. As the EP’s potentially unpublishable-without-asterisks title may suggest, […]

Ahead of the Future Past album release date, Duran Duran felt that it was only appropriate to celebrate the first album’s 40th anniversary in Birmingham, the very place where they started their career. For this […]

In The Absence of Light is the new EP from singer/songwriter musician Polly Scattergood and follows on from her long-awaited third album In This Moment, released back in July last year. Being in lockdown certainly […]

“Calling all guitarists…It’s the Jimmy Reed move,” proclaims the blurb on the rear sleeve. “It’s all about those visceral chords that send a shiver down your spine.” The passage finishes with, “It’s the flavour of […]

St Etienne has always been masterful in their ability to convey emotion through their sonics. Their decades-long collaboration has produced engaging works winning them significant critical praise and a Mercury Award nomination. Their latest offering, […]

In 2005, a largely unknown Danish band Mew swept the international scene with their fourth album And the Glass Handed Kites. This band’s breakthrough was unique because this effort departed from their previously more accessible […]

Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter Seth Glier recently released his new album, The Coronation, an exploration of the essentiality of human interconnection and healing. Glier explains, “’The Coronation’ marks the emergence of our collective unconscious into consciousness and […]

Last year’s Forest Robots album, After Geography, made it into my top ten Xs Noize albums of the year list. A beautiful slice of electronic dreamscapes, emotive, imaginative and blissful. In Spring (2021), Forest Robots […]

Twenty-nine years ago, the Manic Street Preachers released their debut LP, Generation Terrorists. Now they release their 14th: The Ultra Vivid Lament. What has changed? What is different about this new offering? In discussing this […]

The ongoing longevity enjoyed by Happy Mondays and Black Grape legend Shaun Ryder is proof that his unique talents and maverick charm have woven themselves into the fabric of British culture. In a career of […]

The Irish musical duo Embarcadero surely didn’t think their decision to form in late 2019 would face the unprecedented struggle of a world pandemic. Their game plan was to gig and get their foundations set […]

San Clemente, California-based pop singer-songwriter DYLVN, releases his debut album, Falling Far From Home, a collection of 10 tracks delving into love, heartbreak, and redemption. DYLVN explains, “I was going through a period in my […]

Based in NorCal, specifically Healdsburg, California, surf-folk artist A.A. Triggs recently released his solo debut album, Sounds to Salve the Scarred and Scornful. Formerly an EDM DJ producer, Triggs eventually got tired of the tedium […]