ALBUM ROUNDUP WEEK ENDING 8 MAY 2026

Lemoncello      Perfect Place   Where the Irish alt-folk duo’s debut centred on intimate guitar-and-cello arrangements, this ten-song collection broadens into full-band recordings, synthesisers and electronic percussion alongside piano and concertina. Thematically, it explores how wider cultural instability filters into personal relationships – how external pressures surface in friendships and romantic bonds. Aldous Harding              Train on the […]
It would be hard to imagine a topsy-turvier career path than that forged by The Loft. In the mid-80s, they were the first Creation Records band to top the indie charts with the classic ‘Up the Hill and Down the Slope’, appear on TV, record a Radio One session and be invited onto a major […]

ALBUM REVIEW – THE LOFT: BADGES

ALBUM REVIEW – ABIGAIL LAPELL: SHADOW CHILD

Toronto singer-songwriter Abigail Lapell is clearly partial to thematically linked song collections. Following on from the self-explanatory ‘Lullabies’ and ‘Anniversary’ comes ‘Shadow Child’, a bundle of songs about motherhood. Recorded during her pregnancy, it comes with the urgency of an unnegotiable timetable and is rich in metaphor with the title referencing ultrasound imaging of a […]
Pigeon                Outtanational  Across the album, Pigeon build party music without limits, drawing lines between afro-disco, krautrock, punk-funk and post-punk, with a DIY spirit and an exploratory edge. Tori Amos          In Time of Dragons       Amos states, “”In Times of Dragons is a metaphorical story about the fight for Democracy over Tyranny, reflecting the current abhorrent […]

ALBUM ROUNDUP WEEK ENDING 1 MAY 2026

ALBUM REVIEW – RINGO STARR: LONG LONG ROAD

Due to an incredibly stressful and procrastination heavy week, I originally handed this in using AI! Lol, soz. Alas, my “experiment” has already given me the shivers since sending to the editor, so here’s my actual typed review; as I sit here watching Aussie Rules Football, gasping for a ciggy and desperate for some Turkish delight. […]
Britpop is something that is ingrained in not just music history, but British cultural history in general. When you think of that word, I’m sure you don’t just think of Jarvis Cocker mooning the crowd at a Michael Jackson performance, or the Gallagher brothers giving it large at the BRITS. You probably think about lads […]

ALBUM REVIEW – VARIOUS: ALL YOU GOOD PEOPLE – BRITPOP AND BEYOND 1995-1999

ALBUM ROUNDUP WEEK ENDING 24 APRIL 2026

Angelo De Augustine   Angel in Plainclothes  Sufjan Stevens collaborator whose latest is full of heartfelt elegies, powerful melodies, and captivating songcraft – but its scope is far broader, his use of dynamics more intriguing and panoptic. He created it using a vast array of largely antique musical instruments, including such oddities as a Marxophone, a […]
With her seventh solo album, Jesca Hoop finally takes the leap to the producer’s chair. It is a move inspired by the independence of her hero, Joni Mitchell, who has played a prominent role in Hoop’s recent creative processes as last year she toured with Lail Arad and This Is The Kit’s Kate Stables to […]

ALBUM REVIEW – JESCA HOOP: LONG WAVE HOME

ALBUM REVIEW – VARIOUS: SOMETHING FOR THE LONGING – SCOTTISH INDEPENDENT POP 1985-1999

Ask a music fan to choose a band that personified the Scottish independent scene and it is likely that there would be lots of different answers. Perhaps it would be the feedback drenched pop of The Jesus and Mary Chain or the trad rockisms of Primal Scream. Alternatively, it could be Belle and Sebastian’s literate […]
Electronic pioneers System 7 (Steve Hillage and Miquette Giraudy) return with a new album, Flower of Life. The duo lean more into the house side of their music on this record, with a fresh and positive sound. Hillage has been involved in multiple genres over the decades, recording with Soft Machine and joining Gong in […]

ALBUM REVIEW – SYSTEM 7: FLOWER OF LIFE