ALBUM REVIEW – WEVAL: CHOROPHOBIA
“Rhythm’s deep within, strap in for what’s right.” POP QUIZ TIME: don’t worry it’ll be a short one, but very quickly, could you define the term “Chorophobia”? If you said it’s the fear of dancing, you’d be correct! Unfortunately, I have no prize to hand out, so instead take a powerful sense of pride with you. Trust me it’s worth a lot. Right, why is that relevant? Well, you may recall that an artist this year dropped a heavily dance-orientated album that... Read More
ALBUM REVIEW – GHOSTWOMAN: WELCOME TO THE CIVILIZED WORLD
Nihilistic, sardonic and world-weary… electric, psych-intoxicated Americana that’s bloodshot-eyed, wounded and dangerous. ‘Welcome to the Civilized World’, the cynically titled fourth album by GHOSTWOMAN, is a record beaten into shape by the unrelenting cruelties of life; knocked down countless times, yet staggering defiantly with a crooked smile, daring anyone who will meet its gaze to take one step closer. From the impulsive manner of recording that bears its flaws like... Read More
LIVE REVIEW – BLACK COUNTRY, NEW ROAD: MANCHESTER ALBERT HALL – 13/09/25
Photo by Simon Morrison A young man with long hair stands right at the front of the crowd, centre stage. He sings every word of every song, seeming to conduct the band, his hands as batons. He looks like he got to the Albert Hall about a week before the gig and would have willingly fought anyone in the crowd to get to his prime spot. Black Country, New Road dedicate one song to him, and make sure he has a setlist from the night. This is evidently a band with a dedicated fanbase.... Read More
ALBUM REVIEW – PATRICK WATSON: UH OH
As an exclamation, ‘Uh Oh’ sounds mild, a restrained, almost child-like anticipation of trouble rather than a full-blooded, sweary response to an immediate problem. However, there is nothing half-hearted or childish about Patrick Watson’s ‘Uh Oh’, a sophisticated set of eleven compositions that feel magically alive. The album and its title were inspired by a period of nearly three months during which Watson lost the ability to speak or sing and was unsure whether his... Read More
ALBUM REVIEW – IGORRR: AMEN
Man and machine is a topic that is currently discussed way too often. Nowadays, we have AI chatboxes such as Chatgpt which take up a huge chunk of our time daily. Even though Chatgpt cannot be used for making and recording music, there are different forms of technologies such as drum machines that can be used to create different instrumental sounds, some of which are simply impossible to replicate on a handheld instrument. This may go against what some people may consider as music... Read More
ALBUM REVIEW – ALA.NI: SUNSHINE MUSIC
Home is a loose concept. A person’s physical location is not necessarily where their thoughts and emotions are centred. The third album from ALA.NI is a classic example of this paradox. It may have been written in Paris during the freezing winter of 2023 but the impact of a sojourn in Barbados, Grenada (where her parents grew up) and Jamaica over the preceding two and a half years is written all over ‘Sunshine Music’. It is apparent in the lyrical preoccupations but also... Read More
ALBUM ROUNDUP WEEK ENDING 12 SEPTEMBER 2025
Rafiq Bhatia Environments Drawing on his jazz background that has previously included collaborations with Arooj Aftab, Ambrose Akinmusire, Dave Douglas, Marcus Gilmore, Mary Halvorson, Billy Hart, Kassa Overall, Cécile McLorin Salvant and more, Bhatia marks his return to improvised music with a trio of trusted friends and collaborators on ‘Environments’. Sydney Minsky Sargeant Lunga These are glistering melodic... Read More
INTERVIEW – ROBERT FORSTER
Robert Forster photo by Stephen Booth Even though sales may not have matched the critical acclaim, Robert Forster’s career is enviable. Over 45 years since The Go-Betweens’s debut single and nearly 20 years after the tragic early death of Grant McLennan with whom he shared one of the great songwriting partnerships, he has been enjoying a prolific, late period surge and adding a number of gems to what was already a special body of work. After 2023’s reflective ‘The Candle... Read More
ALBUM REVIEW – DAVID FRANKLIN COURTRIGHT: BRUTAL TENDERNESS
An intake of breath is the first sound you hear on David Franklin Courtright’s debut album, Brutal Tenderness, and you’d better take a deep breath of your own – for 35 minutes, the LA-based singer-songwriter will confront you with all his vulnerability, raw and unvarnished, as he searches for inner peace while exploring his queer identity and the meaning of love and loss. Nearly a decade in the making and recorded over three continents, Brutal Tenderness, whose title is... Read More
ALBUM ROUNDUP WEEK ENDING 5 SEPTEMBER 2025
Now that it is September, bedlam ensues with numerous quality releases clamouring for attention. Here is our weekly guide. Go Kurosawa soft shakes Solo debut from Kikagaku Moya member. Each day, Go would head to the studio, pick up whatever instrument was around and simply play. The process was slow and instinctive. “If something still moved me the next day, I’d add to it. If not, I’d start something new. One step at a time, without pressure.” Tigers and... Read More
