ALBUM REVIEW – PILLOW QUEENS: NAME YOUR SORROW

Name Your Sorrow offers catharsis, honesty and exposure. It’s no mystery as to what this album is about. Loss of youth, heartbreak and lessons learnt are contained within 12 tracks, in a raw and unrestrained monstrosity of potent emotion. Finding themselves in a place they haven’t been before, no longer cloaked in the invincibility of […]
Don’t Forget Me is a warm hug, it’s a ride in the car with the top down on a hazy summer afternoon. It’s the feeling of growing up, finding yourself and realising your potential despite the problems you faced along the way. It’s your well-worn favourite pair of jeans, mastering wearing just the right amount […]

ALBUM REVIEW – MAGGIE ROGERS: DON’T FORGET ME

ALBUM ROUNDUP WEEK ENDING 26 APRIL 2024

After a brief spell of convalescence, the new releases guide is back to guide you through the week’s releases. Iron & Wine      Light Verse       On their seventh album Beam’s lyrics once again draw on a series of fictional and personal insights, filled with desperate characters and wide-eyed optimists, offering promise and a dose of heartache, […]
Isn’t it brilliant when something connects seamlessly, when something locks in perfectly? For jigsaw nerds it might be that final piece snapping into place to reveal the whole; it might be something as simple as the feel of a key turning to open a lock; it could be something more complex, like the final bit […]

LIVE REVIEW: STILL HOUSE PLANTS – THE WHITE HOTEL 17/04/2024

ALBUM REVIEW – PARSNIP: BEHOLD

This is the first album review I have written under the combined influence of COVID and a shedload of medication. It feels an appropriate coincidence as Parsnip’s ‘Behold’ sounds woozy and psychedelic, not always of or tied down by the real world. I hasten to add that impression had already been formed on a first […]
Kai Bosch’s ‘Love, Throw Me A Bone’ presents itself as a refreshing body of work, peering its intimate head into a music scene that often forgets the importance of individuality and character. Whilst the record itself certainly has aspects of a yearning for commercial success, the originality of Bosch’s melodies and lyricism aren’t just polarising, […]

EP REVIEW – KAI BOSCH: LOVE, THROW ME A BONE

ALBUM REVIEW – THE FALL: LIVE AT THE WITCH TRIALS

2024 has a special date on the calendar, March 16th. It marks the 45th anniversary of one of post-punk’s seminal albums, The Fall’s uneasy and atmospheric debut ‘Live at The Witch Trials’.  In celebration of this monumental milestone, Cherry Red Records is releasing a fully remastered version of the band’s crucial debut on April 19th […]
There is something especially engaging about trios. I first became obsessed with the idea in the 1980s due to Big Flame. Slimmed down line-ups bring an element of clarity and demand that everyone’s contribution must be essential. Amongst post-punk acts of this size, the most notable have a frenetic quality, from The Minutemen through Big […]

ALBUM REVIEW – OBJECTIONS: OPTIMISTIC SIZING

LIVE REVIEW:THE ZUTONS – NEW CENTURY HALL 13/04/2024

Standing in the midst of a packed New Century Hall crowd, this feels like a big Saturday night out, a party to celebrate the return of a much loved band, and although they’ve only been away a few years, a rebirth of Zutons psych infused pop is well overdue. Having released the first new material […]
Although it may be the 21st century, the patriarchy continues to be fundamentally dependent on the tireless oppression of women, queer people, ethnic minorities and those from low socio-economic backgrounds. Whilst a significant portion of the music industry is complicit in burying their heads in the sand when it comes to issues regarding war, gender […]

ALBUM REVIEW – EMEL: MRA