New releases on CD & DVD
Album: Dua Lipa - Radical Optimism
Friday, 03 May 2024
This album has a lot to live up to. Its predecessor Future Nostalgia came along just as the Covid crisis was properly kicking into gear, and it became, in its way, era defining. As we said at the time, it was “the sound of a musician finding their own voice and revelling in it”: Lipa hitting a groove as a very charming avatar of disco/house glitterball vibes, just at the point we most needed them in our lives.
Album: Sia - Reasonable Woman
Thursday, 02 May 2024
Sia has well and truly stepped into her power. Gone are the days of releasing songs that were pitched to megastars but turned down (“This Is Acting”), or hiding behind collaborations and Christmas albums.
Album: EYE - Dark Light
Wednesday, 01 May 2024
Skirting along the peripheries of doom metal, unbeknownst to almost everyone, there existed a band called Mammoth Weed Wizard Bastard. Hailing from...
Blu-ray: The Dreamers
Tuesday, 30 April 2024
Isabelle (Eva Green) leans over, her long hair catches fire from a candle, and Matthew (Michael Pitt) devotedly snuffs it out. She doesn’t miss a...
Album: The Lemon Twigs - A Dream Is All We Know
Monday, 29 April 2024
The Lemon Twigs aren’t shy about telegraphing their inspirations. A Dream is all we Know, their swift follow-up to last May’s Everything Harmony, is...
Album: Justice - Hyperdrama
French electronic dance stalwarts return from eight-year break in fine fettle |
Album: St Vincent - All Born Screaming
Annie Clark transcends indie’s average leanings |
Album: Pet Shop Boys - Nonetheless
Longing, love and longevity as the duo resolutely refuse retirement |
Album: Mdou Moctar - Funeral for Justice
Tuareg rockers are on fiery form |
DVD/Blu-Ray: Priscilla
The disc extras smartly contextualise Sofia Coppola's eighth feature |
Album: Fred Hersch - Silent, Listening
A 'nocturnal' album - or is it just plain dark? |
Album: Taylor Swift - The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology
Taylor Swift bares her soul with a 31-track double album |
Album: Jonny Drop • Andrew Ashong - The Puzzle Dust
Bottled sunshine from a Brit soul-jazz team-up |
Album: Pearl Jam - Dark Matter
Enduring grunge icons return full of energy, arguably their most empowered yet |
Album: Paraorchestra with Brett Anderson and Charles Hazlewood - Death Songbook
An uneven voyage into darkness |
Album: EMEL - MRA
Tunisian-American singer's latest is fired with feminism and global electro-pop maximalism |
Album: A Certain Ratio - It All Comes Down to This
Veteran Mancunians undergo a further re-assessment and reinvention |
Album: Maggie Rogers - Don't Forget Me
Rogers continues her knack for capturing natural moments, embracing a more live sound |
Album: Lizz Wright - Shadow
Brilliant album from superlative vocalist |
Album: Shabaka - Perceive its Beauty, Acknowledge its Grace
A quiet and reflective breakthrough |
Blu-ray: Happy End (Šťastný konec)
Technically brilliant black comedy hasn't aged well |
Album: Nia Archives - Silence is Loud
Sweeping up generations' worth of influences into a giddy pop rush |
Album: Fabiana Palladino - Fabiana Palladino
A remarkably sleek and sophisticated debut |
Album: Aaron West and the Roaring Twenties - In Lieu of Flowers
Aaron West’s carefully crafted next chapter is storytelling at its finest |
Album: Khruangbin - A LA SALA
Same old same old, and all the better for it |
Album: The Black Keys - Ohio Players
A safe, contained album from a band that made its mark with searing blues rock |
Album: The Libertines - All Quiet on the Eastern Esplanade
The riotous spirits of the Noughties mellow into a surprising maturity |
Album: Beyoncé - Cowboy Carter
So much more than an Country album |
Album: Anoushka Shankar - Chapter II: How Dark It Is Before Dawn
A sonic journey through space and time |
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Album: Dua Lipa - Radical Optimism
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