• Jack Cooper – Sandgrown

    August 30, 2017 - By 

    After more than a decade in the music industry, Jack Cooper has found a moment to himself to release Sandgrown. The Blackpool native has fronted indie-rock bands The Beep Seals and Mazes in the past, and is currently making music with James Hoare under the title Ultimate Painting, but his first solo record consists of a set of nine easy-going folk inspired tunes with the lyrics, the instrumentation and the production all handled by the man himself. In his own words, Sandgrown is a “loosely connected concept record” that centres around the seaside town of his youth. Not just the…

  • Nadine Shah – Holiday Destination

    August 29, 2017 - By 

    The past few years have seen a sizeable shift in the workings of politics and global affairs. The media is becoming more and more ‘bias’ from each side, and everyday people are forced to have some sort of stance on every event that occurs worldwide. This somewhat sudden worldwide-moral responsibility has been placed acceptingly on the shoulders of most, but for some, they refuse to acknowledge these horrific events due the fact that they are not affected directly. This peculiar bubble of self importance is targeted directly on Nadine Shah’s third record Holiday Destination as she projects her political beliefs…

  • Liars – TFCF

    August 29, 2017 - By 

    While a new Liars album is always cause for celebration, reactions seemed somewhat tempered this time around for the announcement of eighth LP TFCF (short for Theme From Crying Fountain) by the revelation that the band is now a solo project, with only frontman Angus Andrew remaining. Drummer Julian Gross, part of the trio since their second album after expending their original rhythm section, had already hung up his sticks shortly after last album Mess due to a bad back making touring difficult, but the departure of founding member Aaron Hemphill came as more of a surprise. This, coupled with…

  • Matthew Bourne – Isotherm

    August 29, 2017 - By 

    Picture a venn diagram with three circles. Label one “classical”, the next “minimalism” and the remaining with ‘maximum emotion’. Occupying the centre ground sit A Winged Victory For The Sullen, James Heather and Ólafur Arnalds among others. Each are pioneers of the neoclassical movement in their own way, and are united by their signature combinations of sweeping ambient brushstrokes tinged with electronic roots and often brought to life by earthier elements, such as choirs and string quartets. In doing so, they’ve blown the doors off classical music, redefining everything from its audience, its medium and its purpose. The latest to…

  • Iron & Wine – Beast Epic

    August 24, 2017 - By 

    Hot on the heels of last year’s collaborative record with Jesca Hoop – Love Letter for Fire – Sam Beam returns to the Iron & Wine moniker with Beast Epic – eleven comparatively back-to-basics folk songs. Iron & Wine’s three-album run of The Shepherd’s Dog, Kiss Each Other Clean, and Ghost on Ghost gradually channelled Beam’s musical ambition into more florid arrangements while pulling his songcraft into the middle of the road. The same delicate turns of phrase were still present, but crowded out by florid flutes and saxophones. Recorded in Wilco’s Loft studio, Beast Epic marks a return to…

  • Soccer Mommy – Collection

    August 23, 2017 - By 

    In her debut album to be released through Fat Possum, Sophie Allison’s Soccer Mommy brings a new lease of life to previously released tracks, along with introducing a promising new era with two new ones. In recent years, Allison has become renowned for her lo-fi bedroom recordings, earning her quite the following on Bandcamp. Previous EPs, Songs From My Bedroom and Songs for the Recently Sad were the proud product of a simple TASCAM mic and Garageband set-up, giving her music its trademark, serene vocals and intimate charm as she shared her thoughts on young love, relationships and, more recently,…

  • Kesha – Rainbow

    August 21, 2017 - By 

    We’ve still got another five months to go until the year’s end, there is a certainly a clear frontrunner for the most pleasant surprise of the last 12 months. Do you remember a nearly a decade ago when the phrase “wake up in the morning feeling like P Diddy” entered our cultural milieu? Ke$ha managed to represent an alternative side to female empowerment while also being completely unbearable. Honestly, it’s been eight years and I still can’t understand the actual appeal of songs such as ‘Blah Blah Blah’ or ‘Your Love Is My Drug’. After the initial spark and a…

  • The Districts – Popular Manipulations

    August 21, 2017 - By 

    Since their self-released debut made a critical splash and got the then high-school band signed to Fat Possum, The Districts have seemed to belong to a different age: the Pennsylvania group’s penchant for plaid shirts and moody guitar theatrics evoked the likes of Pearl Jam and even Crazy Horse, while singer Rob Grote’s vocals recalled the early 2000s indie of Wolf Parade, Arcade Fire and My Morning Jacket. A Flourish And A Spoil, their sophomore effort, was a minor triumph which found Grote singing tales of small town heartbreak over garagy riffs that The Replacements would be proud of. Popular…

  • Body Of Work – You Are The Light Of The World

    August 18, 2017 - By 

    You Are The Light Of The World is the title of Body Of Work’s new EP, a five track collection of improvisations from the Berlin based duo of UK and Ireland natives Tom Moore and darken malign. Released through the circle of dolphins collective, it’s the first work from this newly formed duo and is complimented by being equal parts a visual and musical project. It’s an interesting work, with the primary tone of the EP being one of unease. Both members are non-binary femmes and ex-catholics, whose interests range from a fascination with “wasted youths festering in subcultures” to “liberating…

  • Brand New – Science Fiction

    August 18, 2017 - By 

    What is it about Brand New that has allowed them to be one of rock music’s most enigmatic bands for 15 years now? Despite being raised from the same scene that birthed acts who’ve experienced fairly minimal critical fanfare over the years, Brand New have managed to eschew traditional press courting and yet maintain their role as a media darlings. And now in a sudden, startling drop, they release their fifth album, Science Fiction, after eight years in relative obscurity. For fans who were worried by their most recent single, ‘Mene’, Science Fiction is a return to the form that has…