New music
Liz Thomson
Recently recovered from her fifth bout of Covid, Thea Gilmore last night made a return to London’s Union Chapel, a wonderfully atmospheric venue where the price to pay for a concert is a numb bum (unless you remember to hire a cushion). For the first time since 2017, she stepped out with a band – Charlie Rachael Kay on bass, Jim Kirkpatrick on guitar, Olly Tandon on drums – playing to a not-quite-full house that was overwhelmingly white and appeared rather surprisingly old. It was a strikingly weird disconnect.The tour proper begins in January and this gig was presumably planned to coincide Read more ...
mark.kidel
Nitin Sawhney never fails to produce albums that draw on the talent of his brilliant friends, touch on issues of current urgency, and bridge musical styles with great deftness and in a way that avoids the frequent artifice of fusion.Perhaps more than any other British artist, Sawhney has managed to celebrate both diversity and identity, qualities that have nourished the culture of this island nation for many centuries. Following on widely acclaimed albums – including Beyond Skin (1999), London Underground (2008), Immigrants (2022) – that have built on his infallible instinct for Read more ...
Kathryn Reilly
You may have heard that Mike Skinner’s made a film. He’s certainly done the rounds, press-wise, so you’d be hard pushed to have missed it. You have to admire the man’s tenacity. When the money to make a feature film didn’t surface, he decided to fund it himself. And direct, produce, write, edit, score and star in it, too. Financing it himself gave him complete independence – which is probably why its a noir murder mystery following the life of a DJ. Interestingly, a large chunk of that money came from writing music for the Inbetweeners movie. Which seems appropriate – it’s hard to imagine Read more ...
Jonathan Geddes
The first declaration of love for the Last Dinner Party arrived approximately one song into their set. “I love you too,” declared a delighted looking Abigail Morris, the band’s pirouetting frontwoman, in response, and the ensuing hour suggested outpourings of affection are just one of many reasons for Morris to be cheerful these days.This show had been upgraded from the considerably smaller King Tut’s Wah Wah Hut and yet filled up with ease, with a number of Glaswegians getting dressed up like Morris and her compatriots, whether in Gothic chic or Virgin Suicides esque dresses. Onstage Read more ...
Kieron Tyler
Il Viaggio is a form of soundtrack. Its lyrics, music and soundscapes are created in response to the journey referenced in the title. Though born and raised in Belgium, Melanie De Biasio’s paternal grandfather was Italian. After the Europalia arts festival contacted her to see if she would create a work on its chosen theme of “Trains & Tracks” she chose to explore her roots. This took her to Abruzzo, in central eastern Italy – where Il Viaggio was born.The resultant album arrives six years after its predecessor, 2017’s Lillies. Like that goth-flavoured outing, it’s a long way from her Read more ...
Liz Thomson
The artist formerly known as Afterlight returns with her first self-titled album, a collection of songs which “delves into the cracks between the paving slabs of life's big themes” and which explores “the understanding that comes with experience”."Nice Normal Woman", the track, which opens the album, was inspired by a quote from Bette Davis in All About Eve (“write me one about a nice normal woman who just shoots her husband”) and it arrives in the world with an 800-frame stop-motion video attached, filmed by Gilmour in her bedroom.Having chronicled her escape from a toxic relationship in Read more ...
Kieron Tyler
In an interview following the release of Pale Saints’ March 1992 second album In Ribbons, the band’s Ian Masters expressed his admiration for Eyeless in Gaza, Laura Nyro and Television. He told Option magazine “I find it incredible how much I am moved by Laura Nyro’s songs and how much of the emotional input that she has translates. I find it quite disturbing – it’s uplifting and depressing and really has the full spectrum of feelings.”Of Television, he revealed “I’ve just been buying up old copies of [their debut LP] Marquee Moon and stacking them in my living room. Sooner or later, I’ll Read more ...
Jonathan Geddes
Early on in this arena gig by New Order, a youthful, enthusiastic voice could be heard to say gleefully, “They’re just so 80s!”. That statement was both accurate and yet also misleading, for as this near two-hour performance showcased New Order’s music is both of that decade and yet above it. Take the throbbing “Vanishing Point”, which swirled majestically for several minutes with a driving groove, lights shooting over the crowd. It was a hypnotic, rich tune to lose yourself in, and going by the number of flailing limbs that is exactly what the all ages crowd, from 80s clubbers to Read more ...
Harry Thorfinn-George
Drake’s new album is his fourth full-length in under two years. While his peers like Kendrick Lamar and J Cole disappear for years at a time, Drake seems to be afraid that leaving the limelight means he will evaporate into thin air. As a result, For All the Dogs arrives with a side-order of Drake fatigue, which isn’t ideal considering the album is 23 songs and an hour and half long.For All the Dogs is filled with moody R&B, trendy rap and a stacked roster of guests. Like recent Drake albums it is terminally bloated and coloured by Drake’s cagey worldview and distrust of women. Read more ...
Guy Oddy
Prior to the release of Goat’s last album, Oh Death, it had been six years since our favourite Scandi shamen and women had treated us to any new tunes. Less than 12 months later, however, Goatman and his band of hipsters and tripsters are back with a fine serving of Medicine that will elevate the soul of anyone who cares to tune in.Possibly influenced by their pagan folk soundtrack for Shane Meadow’s The Gallows Pole TV series, however, Goat’s new tunes see them move some of their wide-ranging global influences into the background, taking in a considerably more north European sound for their Read more ...
peter.quinn
With beautiful playing from the Norwegian Radio Orchestra conducted by Ingar Berby, sumptuous arrangements which hint at everything from the great jazz orchestrator Gil Evans to the haunting "night music" of Béla Bartók, and – at its heart – the wonderfully singing quality of Nils Petter Molvær’s trumpet playing, these symphonic reimaginings present a remarkable conspectus of the Norwegian musician’s work.The trilling strings and ominous bass drum thuds of album opener “Maja” (otherwise known as “Little Indian” from Molvær’s 2002 album NP3) serve as an arresting prelude before the crystalline Read more ...
Thomas H. Green
Canberra band Teen Jesus and the Jean Teasers continue the recent tradition of Australian indie bands having unwieldy comedy names. However, their music, as laid out on their debut album, has higher aspirations, bridging their scuzzy punkin’ roots and a larger sound, loosely somewhere between The Breeders and Foo Fighters, yet very much their own thing.Sometimes they sail too far into mainstream rock for this writer but, overall, they win the day. The best of I Love You tends towards either catchy new wavey power pop guitar or snarling, sneering numbers vehemently raging at mistreatment in Read more ...