New album: Following January’s Wall of Eyes, the trio of Radiohead’s Jonny Greenwood and Thom Yorke, alongside Sons of Kemet drummer Tom Skinner, return with a second LP this year, and third overall – of intricacy and invention – with dark, moody lyrics, and musical excellence
Read moreFontaines D.C.: Romance
New album: With a new look, the popular Dublin post-punk band return with their fourth LP, one with a much broadened scope of sounds, poetic but also at times cinematic in musical image and in lyric, with big-time producer James Ford at the controls
Read moreSam Morton: Daffodils & Dirt
New album: An experimental, dark, mysterious eclectic mix of trip hop, spoken word and electronica in this autobiographical debut LP by acclaimed actor Samantha Morton and producer and XL Recordings owner Richard Russell
Read moreCharlotte Day Wilson: Cyan Blue
New album: Superbly smoky, soulful, sensual, richly woozy and also insightful new work about relationships by the Toronto singer-songwriter in this follow-up to 2021’s excellent Alpha album
Read moreFabiana Palladino: Fabiana Palladino
New album: This striking pop debut with a retro sound, at times evoking sounds of Janet Jackson and Prince, harking back to the late-70s and smooth sheen of the 80s mainstream, has been gestating for 13 years by this seasoned session musician
Read moreThe Smile: Wall of Eyes
New album: Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood join again with jazz drummer Tom Skinner for a second LP of cerebrally inventive, dark tracks, tinged with ghostly melancholy, at times almost more Radiohead than Radiohead
Read moreMakaya McCraven: In These Times
New album: An intricately beautiful and mesmeric fusion of polyrhythm and melody by the Paris-born, Chicago-based percussionist and composer, bringing together cosmic jazz, hip-hop breakbeats, funk, classical and African influences on this sublime fourth album, released back in September
Read moreThe Smile: A Light For Attracting Attention
New album: Radiohead’s Thom Yorke, Jonny Greenwood, and Sons of Kemet drummer Tom Skinner join forces in album of vivid, eerie, ghostly beauty, packed with fabulous guitar and bass riffs and rhythms, reminiscent of cinematic work as well as In Rainbows
Read moreIbeyi: Spell 31
New album: The third album from Afro-Cuban French twins Lisa-Kaindé and Naomi Díaz is a sensual, eclectic mix of R&B, hip hop and more, drawing on their rich heritage, and inspired by a passage the Ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead
Read moreArca: Kick ii, Kick iii, Kick iiii, Kick iiiii
After 2020’s Grammy-nominated KiCk i Venezuela-born, Barcelona-based cyber-looking trans electronic artist Alejandra Ghers doesn’t do things by halves – returning with a daunting but fascinating quadruple release of albums of various styles with 47 songs across 147 minutes
Read moreRadiohead: KID A MNESIA
Reissue albums: An anniversary edition of two landmark albums, Kid A (2000) and Amnesiac (2001) combined, but with a difference, with added tracks and alternate versions, harking back when the band expanded from rock into more experimental, krautrock and electronica territory
Read moreBADBADNOTGOOD: Talk Memory
New album: Mind-bending, mesmeric and complex but also accessible sixth album of jazz and prog by the band from Toronto, much via improvisation but also with a collaboration by legendary Brazilian composer Arthur Verocai
Read moreNew albums: Nadine Shah, Arca, HAIM, Becca Mancari, Khruangbin, Pottery, LYR (Simon Armitage), Public Practice, Bananagun
The latest lineup includes female vocalists of rich original Nadine Shah and Becca Mancari, nonbinary electronica star Arca, wonderful poetry in a band from Simon Armitage, and frenetic work from Pottery and Bananagun
Read moreNew albums: Yves Tumor, Thundercat, Pigs x 7, Everything Is Recorded, Yaeji, Minor Science, Anna Burch, Ren Harvieu, Tops, M Ward
An opulent selection of funk and electronica innovation comes from Yves Tumor and Thundercat, along with Korean artist Yaeji and Berlin’s Minor Science, plus massive metal of Pigs x 7 and beautiful indie and pop by Anna Burch and Ren Harvieu
Read moreNew albums: Childish Gambino, Låpsley, Roger and Brian Eno, Tony Allen and Hugh Masekela, Morrissey, Baxter Dury, Jessie Reyez, J Balvin, Matthew Tavares and Leland Whitty, Xoros
Among this week’s selection is new experimental hip hop by the artist also known as Donald Glover, singer-songwriter Lapsley, Brian Eno collaborating with brother Roger and another duo of two African jazz greats
Read moreNew albums: Grimes, Agnes Obel, King Krule, Pictish Trail, Lanterns on the Lake, Douglas Dare, Peggy Sue, Best Coast
A truly eclectic lineup characterises this week’s roundup with a concept album from Grimes, a work of ethereal beauty from Agnes Obel, space electronic-folk from The Pictish Trail, and much more …
Read moreNew albums: Thom Yorke, The Black Keys, The Tallest Man On Earth, Tunng, Molly, House and Land, Body Type, 75 Dollar Bill, Kim Petras
The latest roundup includes the Radiohead frontman’s collaboration with Paul Thomas Anderson, a return for The Black Keys, beautiful heights by The Tallest Man On Earth, plus a variety of indie, pop and mostly folk in many forms
Read moreNew albums: Thom Yorke, Julia Holter, Ty Segall, Pill, Soap&Skin, Value Void, Gypsyfingers
Otherworldly is recurring theme in this week’s releases, including Thom Yorke’s soundrack to the Suspiria remake, Julia Holter and Soap&Skin, plus pithy postpunk from Pill, and reinterpretations by Ty Segall
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