• The Weeknd – Kiss Land

    October 14, 2013 - By 

    When Abel Tesfaye mysteriously emerged two years ago with a dazzling set of ice cold mixtapes that vividly depicted post-breakup anxiety, lurid sexual encounters and drug-enhanced paranoia, the impact of his music was only heightened by the ambiguity surrounding the artist. Preferring to lurk in the shadows of promotional imagery (or not appear at all) and presenting himself under the peculiar misspelled guise of The Weeknd, the faceless Ontario native leaned on his piercing falsetto to lure listeners into his desperate and debauched world. While Tesfaye may have crept to the spotlight over time by breaking his anonymity, performing live,…

  • Chequerboard – The Unfolding

    October 10, 2013 - By 

    Back in 1993, Damon Albarn coined the phrase Modern Life Is Rubbish for the title of his band’s second album. Damon, mate, you didn’t know the half of it. 20 years later and modern life is rubbisher than ever. There’s just so much noise: constantly connected to our ubiquitous bleeping smartphones, we’re hit with a non-stop barrage of tweets, texts and emails, while social media sites urge us to ‘like’ and ‘follow’ every two-bit product and adverts blare at us from every conceivable space. Honestly, it’s enough to make you wish they’d just drop the bomb and bring an end…

  • Jesu – Everyday I Get Closer to the Light From Which I Came

    October 8, 2013 - By 

    Justin Broadrick has long been a progressive influence in heavy music, from his pioneering work in industrial legends Godflesh to the stunning ambient/drone soundscapes of Final or any one of his other countless side projects. His output under the Jesu moniker has seen him marry shoegaze blur with metallic heft to remarkable effect. Like its predecessors, Every Day I Get Closer To The Light From Which I Came  features pretty melodies nestling snugly inside woolly swathes of distortion, guitars chiming and chorusing around languid drum patterns and gargantuan low-tuned bass, while distant vocals float airily over glacial tempos. It’s a…

  • Haim – Days Are Gone

    October 4, 2013 - By 

    It’s genuinely difficult to find information about the trio of sisters that make up Haim which doesn’t draw attention to their likeness to 70’s soft-rockers Fleetwood Mac. Such affiliation is certainly warranted, and it would be easy to assume Haim is no more than an impersonation of those rock icons they aspire to – but underneath the obvious influences lies a stark, almost outrageous character all their own. It would be impossible to say Haim are presenting a completely fresh sound, but what they have managed to do on their debut album Days Are Gone is take an amalgam of…

  • Arctic Tern – Leaves EP

    October 9, 2013 - By 

    Having released the extremely promising Paperboats EP last march and a double single at the tail-end of last year, Holywood-based folk singer-songwriter Chris Campbell has returned at an apt juncture in the year under a new music-making moniker: Arctic Tern. Having pertinently conjured darkest and coldest season in his nom de plume, the title of his new six-track EP directly references the decidedly Autumnal air and ponderous undercurrents woven throughout the release.  Beginning via lone and languidly strummed chords, opener ‘Love Is Not A Game’ gradually blossoms into as a wonderfully produced full-band effort with Campbell’s voice taking centre stage. Whilst contemplative and considered…

  • Sky Larkin – Motto

    October 1, 2013 - By 

    So, let’s talk about Sky Larkin‘s new album, Motto. Fans of the band have been waiting three years for this album and with such a long gestation period between albums, you’d hope that the songs would be the most finely crafted in the band’s repertoire. I’m sure that anyone who is a fan of the band who is reading this is probably praying that the release is worth the wait. I wish I could say it was, but I just can’t. I’m not going to say that I didn’t like this album. I did. It’s a collection of enjoyable, fuzzy pop songs that fit…

  • Love Inks – Generation Club

    September 30, 2013 - By 

    For newcomers, Love Inks are a lo-fi dream-pop trio named after an ancient voodoo practice. For the initiated, their highly-anticipated second album could be the one to have them wrestle the spotlight off The xx, Beach House and every other band on next year’s Electric Picnic bill. The music revolves around the husband and wife team of Kevin Dehan (bass) and Sherry LeBlanc, the provider of an original sultry voice found somewhere between Hope Sandoval of Mazzy Star and Stevie Nicks of Fleetwood Mac. In Generation Club the trio is completed by recent addition, guitarist Derek Brown. The minimalism on…

  • Ciaran Lavery – Other People Wrote These

    September 25, 2013 - By 

    Having released one of the finest Irish albums of last year – his mesmerising debut full-length release Not Nearly Dark – Aghagallon-based singer-songwriter Ciaran Lavery is an artist who clearly lives and breathes his craft. When he’s not honing and delivering his own uniquely longing brand of alt-folk he refers to the tales of others and revisits the sweeping imprint of influence that has helped shape his own wonderfully distinctive sound. A four-track manifestation of this, Lavery’s aptly-titled new covers EP, Other People Wrote This, offers a ideal opportunity to re-assess his talents from a totally new and interesting perspective. Starting…

  • Harrison – When It Rains

    September 25, 2013 - By 

    Hip-hop, for me, is music to be enjoyed and considered. It’s unfortunate though that what most would currently call hip-hop is dominated by the kind of backslapping lyricists that appear to only pander to audiences willing to accept alienating stereotypes, or utter musical tripe. Either that or it’s about swag, whatever the hell that is.  On a brighter note, all is not lost. J Dilla is still being released and re-released posthumously; Madlib is still going strong and Peanut Butter Wolf and his Stones Throw label are the gifts that keep on giving. These guys are the true music makers. They are the architects of the…

  • Cordials – Cordials EP

    September 24, 2013 - By 

    With the north coat really having carved a niche in recent years – to the extent that punk, post-hardcore and post-rock practically soundtrack the area – it’s refreshing to hear a band from the area who don’t feel obliged to be boxed in with the usual names. A trio from Coleraine & Portrush, Cordials in their self-titled EP tread paths not a million miles away from heartfelt classic power-pop/college rock bands in the vein of Teenage Fanclub and The Replacements. From the onset of opener ‘Metal Man’, the classic lo-fi overdriven chiming wall-of-sound has been implemented appropriately, allowing the EP…