• Adrianne Lenker – songs/instrumentals

    November 6, 2020 - By 

    In April, Adrianne Lenker retreated to an isolated cabin in the midst of two crises: one public (the coronavirus pandemic) and one personal (a tough breakup).  Two albums, ‘songs’ and ‘instrumentals’, were recorded concurrently during this period, and feel at once like separate entities and like something whole. Comprising a collection of the lyric-based tracks we’ve come to know for Lenker, and two long instrumental pieces, they compliment each other perfectly, while offering many of their own charms. Had ‘instrumentals’ been released on its own, it would have risked being sidelined as a minor side project, but when paired with…

  • clipping. – Visions of Bodies Being Burned

    October 26, 2020 - By 

    If your only knowledge of Daveed Diggs is his roles in Hamilton, Black-ish and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, then you’re in for a shock. A bit like finding that Neil Buchanan from Art Attack was the lead guitarist in a NWOBHM band, Diggs’ work with clipping. is a firehose of cold water. The trio, composed of Diggs, William Hutson, and Jonathan Snipes, have been putting out their brand of experimental hip-hop for the better part of a decade now. Since their debut mixtape in 2013, they’ve existed in that same space as Death Grips and JPEGMAFIA, embracing harsher industrial sounds, wrapped up in…

  • Róisín Murphy – Róisín Machine

    October 13, 2020 - By 

    Much of the monotonous conversation surrounding dance albums released during lockdown – be it by Lady Gaga or Disclosure – dwell on not being able to hear it in a club. While it is frustrating to not be able to go out dancing, the music is not made for just one setting. Ultimately, many will spend more time listening to dance music while going about our daily lives than at raves anyway. Róisín Murphy understands better than anyone that, with the right mindset, you can turn anywhere into a makeshift dancefloor.  Over the past few months, Murphy has shared a series…

  • Osees – Protean Threat

    October 7, 2020 - By 

    Another year, another album, another confusing name change. After a flurry of name variations in their earliest years, John Dwyer and co. seemed to finally settle on Thee Oh Sees for nigh on a decade, releasing 12 albums under the monicker before suddenly deciding in 2017 that it must be shortened to simply Oh Sees. Along the way, a one-off return to the band’s original OCS moniker allowed Dwyer and former member Brigid Dawson to revisit the band’s quieter, folkier roots, but only served to confuse archivists further. Now, a further contraction sees them rebrand once more as Osees for…

  • Pillow Queens – In Waiting

    October 5, 2020 - By 

    Pillow Queen’s anthemic indie-rock has seen them gain incredible momentum as one Ireland’s most refreshing musical exports. On their debut album, In Waiting, the Dublin group take the very best aspects of themselves and craft a magnificently poignant collection, exploring the emotional transition from adolescence to adulthood in a repressed society. With two highly-acclaimed EPs under their belt, along with a Choice Music Prize Nomination for their track ‘Gay Girls’, the four-piece set a high standard for their debut LP to meet. In Waiting exceeds all expectations, and offers a comprehensive showcase of Pillow Queens’ talent for captivating, emotional ballads.…

  • Deftones – Ohms

    September 30, 2020 - By 

    Starting their fourth decade together as a cohesive unit, the critical darlings of alternative metal, Deftones, have created one of their finest albums to date with Ohms.  Re-entering the studio with producer Terry Date (who was behind the desk for their first four studio releases, not to mention the shelved project Eros), the band come out with all guns blazing, rejuvenated, motivated, and at the top of their game. Their most accomplished release since 2000’s White Pony, Ohms offers much by way of depth. For the first time in a long time, the band focus on pure song writing as opposed to…

  • Bill Callahan – Gold Record

    September 21, 2020 - By 

    Despite having an impressively prolific career behind him, after the long gap between Bill Callahan’s last two albums – 2013’s Dream River and 2019’s Shepherd in a Sheepskin Vest – you’d be forgiven for not expecting a follow up any time soon. But the fact that the latter record was a 20-track double album should have been an ample warning that after taking some time away to get married and have a child, the songwriting floodgates had well and truly reopened. And so we find that, just a year on, we have Gold Record in our midst – his seventeenth…

  • Orville Peck – Show Pony

    September 1, 2020 - By 

    Bedecked in a Stetson hat, a Roy Rogers Nudie Suit and enough rhinestones and country verve to power the Dollywood Ferris wheel, enigmatic troubadour Orville Peck’s star has been on a steady rise since first ten-stepping his way onto the world stage back in 2019. His acclaimed debut album Pony marked Peck out as an important new songwriter in country music, showcasing not only his unique style and towering vocal chops but also a seemingly endless array of face obscuring leather fringed masks, a stylish nod to anonymity that has since become his calling card.  Melding the macho “outlaw country”…

  • Angel Olsen – Whole New Mess 

    August 28, 2020 - By 

    The songs on Angel Olsen’s new album should not, we are told, be considered to be merely a collection of demos. Nine of the eleven tracks on Whole New Mess already appeared on last year’s All Mirrors record, albeit in a more fleshed out form, and then some. For that album Olsen teamed up with orchestral composer Jherek Bischoff, arranger Ben Babbit, and an expanded band to deliver a feast of synths, strings and horns, all topped off with some of Asheville, North Carolina-based artist’s most commanding vocal performances to date. While unavoidably similar, Whole New Mess, is a very…

  • Fontaines D.C. – A Hero’s Death

    August 26, 2020 - By 

    Veteran YouTuber and renowned online personality Tom Scott has an interesting point about the double-edged sword of Internet virality. He posits that if you want to be a successful content creator, then a viral smash hit at an early point in your journey can derail you just as you’re leaving the station. His argument fundamentally rests on the belief that most artists and creators don’t have a clear enough idea of who they are, or what exactly it is they want to say, at that early stage. It’s better, he believes, to spend time honing your craft and developing a distinct identity, rather…