• Big Thief – U.F.O.F.

    May 2, 2019 - By 

    There’s a mysterious quality to Big Thief, their songs have a familiar warmth that feels as though they could be made up of melodies you’ve known for years, but at the same time they don’t sound quite like anyone else. This makes listening to a new Big Thief album an oddly nostalgic experience. On U.F.O.F, the band’s third album and their first on 4AD, there are moments when their sound feels like it could belong to an esoteric forgotten 1960s folk album, another Vashti Bunyan-esque rediscovery, while there are other times when the fragile timbre and turns of Adrianne Lenker’s…

  • Anna Mieke – Idle Mind

    April 30, 2019 - By 

    Hailing from the hills of Co. Wicklow, singer/songwriter Anna Mieke independently released her stunning debut full length LP Idle Mind in April; fusing elements of Irish folk music with those of global  traditions and alternative pop, Mieke’s debut is a tremendously promising effort. Folk influences abound Idle Mind’s soundscapes: Mieke’s cello drones underneath neatly percussive guitars and a layered arrangement of auxiliary instruments such as harmonium (played here by Ye Vagabonds’ Brian Mac Gloinn), bouzouki, piano, drums and fiddle. The bulk of the instrumentation on the album is provided by Mieke and Mac Gloinn, with additional players Matthew Jacobson, Sonny Sampson,…

  • Foxygen – Seeing Other People

    April 27, 2019 - By 

    Accompanying the announcement of Foxygen’s fifth album Seeing Other People, frontman Sam France penned a letter to fans assuring them that this isn’t the end. “We’re never breaking up. We’re not a band and never were”. Right, then.  We’re told to “read between the lines” on Seeing Other People, but unfortunately the album offers little more than superficial gripes – a tepid and weak account of a public parting that feels, now, like it’s been a long time coming. Opener ‘Work’, with lyrics attuned to the petty stirring of doubt in relationships, sees France play the genius-nightmare creative partner up…

  • SOAK – Grim Town

    April 25, 2019 - By 

    A northern voice cuts through the chatter; “this train is for the following categories of passenger only—recipients of universal credit or minimum wage, the lonely, the disenfranchised, the disillusioned, the lost, the grieving”. You pull your jacket closer to fend off the chill air that fills the carriage, wiping at the window with your free hand. It’s foggy outside, you make out nothing but a few barren trees and distant hills. With a heave the train begins to move, and before the conductor has even announced the destination you know where you’re going. Bridie Monds-Watson’s (aka SOAK) sophomore album Grim…

  • Buntús Rince: Explorations in Irish Jazz, Fusion & Folk 1969-81

    May 2, 2019 - By 

    Indie-punk wunderkinder Fontaines DC drew the ire of many an Irish music fan lately with the neophile claim that until Girl Band’s emergence, “the only way to sound Irish was to be fuckin’ ‘diddly-diddly-aye’”. Perhaps that statement is more telling of the limitations in Ireland on exposure to genuinely forward-thinking music on a grassroots level as it is of the band’s attitude. On an island the size of our own, there does tend to be room only for that lucky few in the bylines of the Great Irish Narrative, but that overlooks the communities of troubadours, session players and ubiquitous…

  • Aldous Harding – Designer

    April 24, 2019 - By 

    Aldous Harding embodies many selves. Often flickering between different characters in a single song, she weaves between evocations of the tragic, world-weary chanteuse and the elfin and spirited jester seamlessly. She’s not afraid to unsettle, and it’s this fluidity that is the crux of Harding’s appeal – the adamant refusal to be contained by any static identity for too long. At the heart of her work is a lavish commitment to the theatrical. Designer is Harding’s third album, reuniting her with esteemed producer John Parish for a second time, after 2017’s exquisite Party. This time however, we find Harding departing from…

  • LAMB – The Secret Of Letting Go

    April 22, 2019 - By 

    Five years since their last effort, LAMB have returned with their seventh full-length album: The Secret Of Letting Go. Having revisited their acclaimed self titled debut for its 21st anniversary in 2017, LAMB have now attempted to strike new ground with their latest release, a goal, which at times, and despite a decent effort, seems just out of reach. Sonically speaking, The Secret Of Letting Go is a delight. The production throughout is consistently shiny and full, all the while retaining enough sparseness to allow Lou Rhodes’ vocals to shine through. Standout moments come in the form of tracks such…

  • Billie Eilish – When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?

    April 22, 2019 - By 

    On a recent episode of Vox music podcast ‘Switched On Pop,’ songwriter Charlie Harding explains the theory he has about superheroes and pop music. Superheros have to have a narrative that speaks to their time and to their generation. Eventually, they age out and are rebooted or a new superhero comes along. Harding suggests pop music follows a similar template, and there’s no one more equipped to be the next Generation’s superhero than seventeen year old Billie Eilish. Eilish has grown up in an America defined by mass shootings, rising suicide rates, poverty, and the opioid epidemic. Her home state…

  • Ye Vagabonds – The Hare’s Lament

    April 14, 2019 - By 

    Just under two years since Dublin-based duo Ye Vagabonds announced their debut self-titled album, their second, The Hare’s Lament, has landed. A collection of traditional and folk songs, sung in both Irish and English with a medley of skilfully played string instruments and the most beautiful harmonies, it’s a remarkable follow up. Brothers Brían and Diarmuid Mac Gloinn have created a sound that is based on a rich folk tradition, but have revived it with their own fresh approach and style of songwriting, resulting in just over 40 minutes of elegantly arranged songs that feel both contemporary and rooted in…

  • Stephen Malkmus – Groove Denied

    April 11, 2019 - By 

    The rock press has made much of Stephen Malkmus’ reinvention on Groove Denied, his first solo LP to lack any contributions (credited or otherwise) from his Jicks bandmates; publicised as an homage to the minimalism and analogue electronics of late-’70s and early-’80s post-punk, it’s been received as a left-turn for a songwriter closely associated with ’90s indie noise. Malkmus discussed the new direction with Rolling Stone recently, explaining: “I guess everyone has their distorted self-image, and I have one where I think I’m a music-maker who can go anywhere” – and though the album reflects this playful approach, one might highlight his awareness…