ALBUM REVIEW: DAN + SHAY: BIGGER HOUSES

I don’t want to oversell this duo, but Dan + Shay rarely get the credit they deserve for transforming the country music landscape in the way they have. Their music has always been saccharine and a little stale, but in terms of popularising the softer, neo-traditional country that you find towards the top of the […]
From his early days as a junior virtuoso pianist at the Buena Vista Social Club, Roberto Fonseca has been an accomplished and adventurous performer. Previous releases have seen him blend traditional styles with a variety of modern influences. 2012’s ‘7 Rayos’ offered a cocktail of Cuban sounds, classical music, West-African instruments, electronic music and spoken […]

ALBUM REVIEW – ROBERTO FONSECA: LA GRAN DIVERSIÓN

EP REVIEW – NZCA LINES: UNIVERSAL HEARTBREAK

Michael Lovett knows how to construct perfect pop music. The previous NZCA Lines album, ‘Pure Luxury’, was aptly enough a scintillating collection of sophisticated, luxurious pop dance tunes and one of 2020’s very best releases. This comes in addition to his day job with Metronomy who have the art of making glorious tunes down to […]
I’m still undecided on album anniversary shows. You know the ones: a band don’t have anything new out but in this shit show of an industry they still have to tour if they are to even consider making some cash, so they convene around an arbitrary number of years since a (mostly) beloved album came […]

LIVE REVIEW: 65 DAYS OF STATIC – NEW CENTURY HALL – 15/09/23

EP REVIEW – JAWS: IF IT WASN’T FOR MY FRIENDS, THINGS COULD BE DIFFERENT

Jaws are making their comeback with their first extended release since 2019. If It Wasn’t For My Friends, Things Could Be Different, is an introspective look at friendships, gratitude and the breakdown of relationships. The leading single off the EP, Are My Friends Alright? is perhaps the most prominent. Taking on a more Do-It-Yourself approach […]
Plenty of new releases to feast upon in Silent Radio’s weekly guide. Explosions in the Sky      End        Perhaps the grandest Explosions in the Sky album to date – melding the quiet restraint and crushing weight of their early recordings with the aural exploration and ornate experimentation of their later works (while incorporating their increasingly deep […]

ALBUM ROUNDUP WEEK ENDING 15 SEPTEMBER 2023

LIVE REVIEW: DEXYS – BRIDGEWATER HALL – 8/9/23

As a child in the 1980s, Dexys Midnight Runners were everywhere, you couldn’t go to a party or event without ‘Come On Eileen’ being played at least once. Dexys seemed to dominate the pop world for while, in a whirl of cleverly crafted theatrical pop which blended northern soul with folk influenced violins. Fast forward […]
Four magical songs form the Scottish singer Blair Davie’s wholehearted EP ‘It’ll Be Lovely.’ Beginning with little ethereal noises ‘Found My Person’ starts mystical and light. Gentle drums and Davie’s relaxing vocals fabricate a song that expresses themes of being accepted for who you are but mainly the extreme feeling of falling so in love […]

EP REVIEW – BLAIR DAVIE: IT’LL BE LOVELY

ALBUM REVIEW: SPRAIN: THE LAMB AS EFFIGY OR THREE HUNDRED AND FIFTY XOXOXOs FOR A SPARK UNION WITH MY DARLING DIVINE

The Lamb As Effigy or Three Hundred And Fifty XOXOXOs For A Spark Union With My Darling Divine marks a new phase in the mutation of LA quartet Sprain. Since their first self-titled release in 2018, the band have shifted dramatically from gentle, subdued slowcore in the vein of genre titans Codeine or Bedhead to […]
I love a super-over-produced, American punk record – this is simply what ska-punk should sound like, in my book (apologies to King Prawn and Judge Dredd). Ten tracks, just over half an hour, short but sweet and high-intensity start-to-finish. That ringing p-bass, the brick-wall compressed horns, the clicky, palm-muted percussive guitar chords clicking through the […]

ALBUM REVIEW – RANDOM HAND: RANDOM HAND