ALBUM ROUNDUP WEEK ENDING 1 AUGUST 2025

Debby Friday   The Starrr of the Queen of Life              Dance music brimming with coded, if-you-know-you-know references—weaving love letters and innuendos from the names of it-girl perfumes, French cognac, and Hellenistic prophetesses who speak in tongues. The New Eves                 The New Eves Is Rising              An instinctive, incendiary mix of Patti Smith radical poetry, rock’n’roll recklessness, […]
Eve ate from the forbidden fruit, the Book of Genesis tells us, and God punished her by making her “pains in childbearing very severe”. Would you say the punishment fit the crime? Was it a crime to disobey God’s orders in the first place? Ask Brighton-based quartet The New Eves and you’ll get the same […]

ALBUM REVIEW – THE NEW EVES: THE NEW EVE IS RISING

ALBUM ROUNDUP WEEK ENDING 25 JULY 2025

Rebecca Schiffman                Before the Future      The album is a collage of varying shades and shapes, with the weight of time at its core. The sonic palette often belies its heavy subject matter. It features contributions from contributions from Sasami plus members of Deerhoof, Woods and Perfume Genius. Cory Hanson                I Love People Written […]
McKinley Dixon is one of the few rappers who can drop a bar like “my target audience is everyone with heart,” and have it feel honest, earned, and true. The music is just that spirited and joyous it would genuinely take someone heartless to find fault, and the slinky flows, compelling thematic depth and luscious […]

ALBUM REVIEW – MCKINLEY DIXON: MAGIC, ALIVE!

ALBUM REVIEW – WET LEG: MOISTURIZER

“He don’t get puss, he get the boot” When Wet Leg, the Isle Of Wight’s most sardonic artist, debuted in 2022 with their self-titled debut, they didn’t so much storm as motor, in a monotonal way, into the indie scene. Their rise seemed unlike anything else, with their debut single ‘Chaise Longue’ not only serving […]
“There is nothing permanent. Except change.” How do you approach the unknown? I ask myself that question a lot given the nature of being a music writer. I feel like a wanderer, constantly stumbling into different dark forests that feel endless, and make me feel like an even smaller individual than what I already am. […]

ALBUM REVIEW – BARRY CAN’T SWIM: LONER

ALBUM REVIEW – CORY HANSON: I LOVE PEOPLE

I love people. That is an arresting title which builds up questions about its intent. (Read our interview with Cory for the answer – INTERVIEW – CORY HANSON : Silent Radio!) Cynics could read a level of irony into it, an interpretation that could be strengthened by considering the characters portrayed in the album’s eleven […]
With his fourth album ‘I Love People’, Cory Hanson gives the clearest example yet of his songwriting abilities, offering a beautifully arranged tunes that recall the melodic peaks of 1970s singer-songwriters. His solo career runs parallel to the different approach taken by his band, Wand, best known for their psychedelic explorations. To celebrate the pending […]

INTERVIEW – CORY HANSON

EP REVIEW – LEI HOPE: INERTIA

A week before the release of his new EP, Manchester-based musician Lei Hope shared the dictionary entry of ‘inertia’ in a social media post: “a tendency to do nothing or to remain unchanged” or, in physics, the property of matter that causes it to rest or move in a straight line, unless an external force […]
It would be fair to call the Kutis the first family of Afrobeats. Fela Kuti developed and popularised the form, becoming such a powerful performer and spokesperson against corruption that he was frequently imprisoned by Nigerian leaders hellbent on silencing him. His sons, Seun and Femi, have continued in the tradition and now Femi’s son, […]

ALBUM REVIEW: MADE KUTI – CHAPTER 1: WHERE DOES HAPPINESS COME FROM?