CDs/DVDs
James Mellen
Lorde’s trajectory is continually fascinating. From the minimalist, sparse electropop of Pure Heroine to the similar but more grandiose production of Melodrama was a linear progression, but then came the acoustic guitars and organic percussion of Solar Power.Though, like Melodrama it was produced by pop powerhouse Jack Antonoff, it had the laid back vibe of an artist who’d ditched her mobile phone and got back to nature – and divided fans. Now, the DIY aesthetics and pop-up warehouse events to promote Virgin suggested it might be a Read more ...
Liz Thomson
It’s somewhat surprising to read that The Boss wasn’t happy with Born in the USA. After all, it was – remains – his most iconic album, the LP (for that’s what it was originally) that jet-propelled Bruce Springsteen into the mainstream. A cultural phenomenon whose anthemic title track was, wilfully and otherwise, often misinterpreted and frequently misappropriated.It sold 30m copies and spawned seven hit singles. Turns out it was just “a record I put out. It became the record I made, not necessarily the record that I was interested in making.” He was much more interested in Read more ...
Kieron Tyler
A Sober Conversation is the work of a master songwriter, one who knows how to achieve their goals. As the album’s nine tracks pour from the speakers, comparisons come to mind: 20/20 and Smiley Smile-era Beach Boys, Lindsey Buckingham, the early solo years of Todd Rundgren.But nothing sounds quite like any of these – spikiness is never far. The initially dreamy opening track “The Tent” is punctuated by squalls of noise. Next, on the sumptuous “Two Legged Dog,” dense, overstated keyboards contrast with the jaunty melody. Part of the point seems to be undermining anything which might lean into Read more ...
Mark Kidel
Neo-soul devotees Durand Jones and the Indications mine a vein of sensuous sounds, at the soft end of a genre that's partly defined by the raw passion of gospel. Their roots draw from vintage Curtis Mayfield and the smooth vocal harmonies of the Impressions, the delicate heartbreak evoked by Smokey Robinson, and a host of groups, many of them identified with the Philly Sound. Their latest album, following solo outings by members of the band, not least golden-voiced Aaron Frazer (Into the Blue - 2024), goes wholeheartedly for songs of romance and seduction, perfect for late-night Read more ...
Guy Oddy
Yungblud has declared his fourth album, Idols, to be a “a project with no limitations”. This is quite a claim.So, what musical wonders has Dominic Harrison created in collaboration with his team of producer Matt Schwartz, composer Bob Bradley and guitarist Adam Warrington? Perhaps a reggae infused mix of hardcore punk, techno and folk rock? Or maybe a delirious fusion of heavy metal, grime, be-bop and desert blues?Unfortunately, not. Idols comes on like a full-on celebration of soulless second wave Britpop, with maximalist production that leans heavily into the “loudness wars” style of the Read more ...
Ibi Keita
Loyle Carner’s Hopefully! is a luminous, deeply personal exploration of fatherhood, identity, and artistic reinvention, marking the south London rapper’s most tender and experimental work yet. Building upon the introspection of Hugo (2022), this record takes listeners into Carner’s emerging domestic world.Hopefully! moves through genres and rhythms that resonate perfectly with his previous work yet push further outside the Lo-Fi Hip Hop box that had dominated Carner’s discography for years. Gone is the raw urgency of Hugo, replaced by a gentler, more meditative tone. Carner’s signature Read more ...
Thomas H. Green
Haim’s profile just grows and grows. Since their last album, youngest sibling Alana’s starring role in Paul Thomas Anderson’s whimsical Seventies L.A. nostalgia-fest, Licorice Pizza, has done them no harm. I Quit is, the band says, thus titled because its songs are about “quitting something that isn’t working for us anymore”. More than its concept, though, the listener is swept away by the sisters’ joy in ransacking their skills and studio, any which way they can, to create sun-dappled retro-futurist pop.This is not pop in the Gaga/Roan vein, though. Alongside ex-Vampire Weekend super- Read more ...
Demetrios Matheou
A look at Darling on its 60th anniversary offers a sobering reality check on the "Swinging Sixties", a reminder of the fallacy of the decade’s gaiety and supposed liberation, especially for women. This attractive 4K restoration reveals the film to be a very complicated animal indeed – both in its own time and through the prism of today’s very different political correctness and gender ethics. While John Schlesinger’s "classic" plays like a scathing satire of the period, I’m not convinced that this was entirely intentional at the time, which of course makes it even more Read more ...
joe.muggs
One of the great untold stories of the past decade is just how potent a cultural force R&B has been. It might not have had the wild musical innovation it did in the 2000s when the likes of Neptunes, Missy Elliot, Timbaland and Rodney Jerkins reigned supreme as producers – but through the 2010s and ‘20s, it has established a whole set of performers who are able to exhibit extreme range in subject matter, style and seriousness, held together with force of artistic personality.Post-Lemonade Beyoncé tends to absorb the majority of critical attention, but Kehlani, Jhene Aiko, Tinashe, SZA, H.E Read more ...
Guy Oddy
Swiss electro-rockers, Young Gods have been around for 40 years, but this in no way should suggest that they’ve gone soft in their old age. These days, vocalist Franz Treichler looks like the psychopathic Bob from David Lynch’s original Twin Peaks TV series and still exudes a certain malevolence – which is more than reflected in their new album Appear Disappear.The Young Gods’ influence has been readily acknowledged over the years by the likes of David Bowie, Mike Patton and even U2, to name just a few. Their sound draws from the same sonic seam as industrial metalheads Ministry and Nine Inch Read more ...
joe.muggs
When I was writing the introduction to my book, Bass, Mids, Tops: An Oral History of Soundsystem Culture, I came up with a phrase, which I ended up putting on promotional badges: “BASS CULTURE IS FOLK CULTURE”. It referred to the way riffs, refrains, ways of acting were passed down the generations, from reggae to rave to grime and on. But it also quickly took on more meaning, about where soundsystem and club music exist in society.Hull-raised, longtime Bristol-based Sam “Binga” Simpson exemplifies a lot of this. First, he’s a scholar of the vernacular: this album in particular really shows Read more ...
Guy Oddy
When Neil Young releases a new album, you can be reasonably sure that you’ll get either a disc of melancholy singer-songwriter fare or a set of blistering rock’n’roll. His debut album with the Chrome Hearts, however, gives a bit of both – and it pretty much has Young at the top of his game throughout.Opening track, “Family Life” is a reflective ballad about Young’s view of his place on the planet, about his relations with his wife, his grandchildren and his friends. It’s certainly not syrupy though but comes on with plenty of grit and more than a dash of Country and Western vibes, curtesy of Read more ...