sun 06/07/2025

New releases on CD & DVD

Album: Barry Can't Swim - Loner

Kathryn Reilly

Despite being Mercury nominated, Bazza’s hardly a household name. Nevertheless, his debut album When Will We Land was highly praised by those in the know. I am definitely not in the know and am more or less a stranger to electro stuff – it can often leave me cold (Guetta can get off, quite frankly). But I know a good tune when I hear it.

Album: Kesha - .

Thomas H Green

“I’m, like, pop star when I have to pop star, and then I’m, like, naked hippy when I can naked hippy.” So Kesha explained recently on the Jennifer Hudson Show, going on to say she spent most of her time romping in the woods and chasing butterflies.

Album: Claudia Brücken - Night Mirror

Thomas H Green

German singer Claudia Brücken has had a long and busy career, initially defined by her role in Propaganda. They were a cult 1980s band on ZTT Records...

Album: Mocky - Music Will Explain (Choir Music...

Joe Muggs

Dominic “Mocky” Salole has had a long career in which the tension between authenticity and pastiche has been a constant. Toronto-born, of English and...

Album: Brìghde Chaimbeul - Sunwise

Kieron Tyler

The first five-and-a-half minutes of Sunwise’s opening track “Dùsgadh / Waking" are taken up by a drone. Played on the Scottish small pipes – a form...

Subscribe to theartsdesk.com

Thank you for continuing to read our work on theartsdesk.com. For unlimited access to every article in its entirety, including our archive of more than 15,000 pieces, we're asking for £5 per month or £40 per year. We feel it's a very good deal, and hope you do too.

To take a subscription now simply click here.

And if you're looking for that extra gift for a friend or family member, why not treat them to a theartsdesk.com gift subscription?

Album: JF Robitaille & Lail Arad - Wild Moves

Thomas H Green

A set of graceful, wry melancholy from an Anglo-Canadian singer-songwriter duo

Album: Lorde - Virgin

James Mellen

Sombre self-examination and scratchy cellos fail to ignite on the New Zealander's new LP

Album: Bruce Springsteen - Tracks II: The Lost Albums

Liz Thomson

The Boss: Finding joy in imperfections

Album: BC Camplight - A Sober Conversation

Kieron Tyler

Brian Christinzio exorcises childhood trauma

Album: Durand and the Indications - Flowers

Mark Kidel

Languorous neo-soul to chill by

Album: Yungblud - Idols

Guy Oddy

Dominic Harrison’s latest disc fails to live up to the hype

Album: Loyle Carner - Hopefully!

Ibi Keita

The rapper takes a deep breath with his latest release

Album: HAIM - I Quit

Thomas H Green

The Californian trio convincingly continue their ascent to the top of the pop-rock tree

Blu-ray: Darling

Demetrios Matheou

John Schlesinger's Sixties classic now feels problematic, but retains an icky fascination

Album: Yaya Bey - do it afraid

Joe Muggs

The continued maturation of Yaya Bey and of modern R&B dazzles and nourishes at every turn

Album: The Young Gods - Appear Disappear

Guy Oddy

Swiss electro-rockers unleash a techno-metal monster

Album: Sam Binga - Sam Binga Presents Club Orthodontics

Joe Muggs

A thrilling whirlwind tour of bass culture across decades and continents

Album: Neil Young & the Chrome Hearts - Talkin' to the Trees

Guy Oddy

Musical titan reflects on his life as he careers towards his 80th birthday

Album: Mary Halvorson - About Ghosts

Kieron Tyler

Lauded US jazz guitarist strikes a balance between the composed and the improvised

Album: Marina - Princess of Power

Thomas H Green

Sixth album from L.A.-based Welsh singer is over-the-top but rife with pop gems

Album: Mary Chapin Carpenter - Personal History

Liz Thomson

Distinctive, intimate, perfectly pitched

Album: Van Morrison - Remembering Now

Tim Cumming

As he approaches 80, a lush new set has an invigorated Van showing his mystical side

Album: Pulp - More

Kathryn Reilly

The very opposite of past it, this immersive offering is perfectly timed

Album: Turnstile - NEVER ENOUGH

Ibi Keita

Hardcore, ambient and everything in between

Album: Little Simz - Lotus

Joe Muggs

A major hurdle in the UK star's career path proves to be no barrier

Album: Death In Vegas - Death Mask

Thomas H Green

Electronic music perennial returns with an hour of deep techno illbience

Blu-ray: Eclipse

John Carvill

The BFI has unearthed an unsettling 1977 thriller starring Tom Conti and Gay Hamilton

Album: Nick Mulvey - Dark Harvest Pt.1

Thomas H Green

Fourth album from unique singer-songwriter is patchy but contains gold

Album: Miley Cyrus - Something Beautiful

Joe Muggs

Psychedelic soft rock of staggering ambition that so, so nearly hits the brief

newsletter

Get a weekly digest of our critical highlights in your inbox each Thursday!

Simply enter your email address in the box below

View previous newsletters

The future of Arts Journalism

 

You can stop theartsdesk.com closing!

We urgently need financing to survive. Our fundraising drive has thus far raised £49,000 but we need to reach £100,000 or we will be forced to close. Please contribute here: https://gofund.me/c3f6033d

And if you can forward this information to anyone who might assist, we’d be grateful.

latest in today

'We are bowled over!' Thank you for your messages... ...
Music Reissues Weekly: Motörhead - The Manticore Tapes

Manticore was owned by Emerson, Lake and Palmer and their manager. The organisation provided the name for the band’s label. Apart from ELP and its...

Kiefer / Van Gogh, Royal Academy review - a pairing of oppos...

When he was a callow youth of 18, German artist Anselm Keifer got a travel grant to follow in the footsteps of his idol, Vincent van Gogh. Some...

Siglo de Oro, Wigmore Hall review - electronic Lamentations...

Siglo de Oro are a vocal ensemble who specialise in older music – and especially neglected older music – but they have also...

Album: Barry Can't Swim - Loner

Despite being Mercury nominated, Bazza’s hardly a household name. Nevertheless, his debut album ...

Jenny Saville: The Anatomy of Painting, National Portrait Ga...

When in the 1990s, Jenny Saville’s peers shunned painting in...

Hot Milk review - a mother of a problem

Rebecca Lenkiewicz’s Hot Milk, adapted from Deborah Levy’s 2016 Man Booker shortlistee, has been described as a "psychological drama"....

Glastonbury Festival 2025: Five Somerset summer days of musi...

MONDAY 30th JUNE 2025

“I think you’d better drive,” says Finetime, his face sallow, skull-sockets underscored by...

Tom Raworth: Cancer review - truthfulness

I recently heard a BBC Radio 4 presenter use the troubling phrase: "Not everyone agreed on the reality of that." Once the domain of Andre Breton’s...