New album: An intriguing, innovative new collaborative project by James Graham of The Twilight Sad and Aidan Moffat of Arab Strap culminates in this mysterious, genre-defying, experimental album of oddly poetic numbers
Read moreSigrid: How To Let Go
New album: High-quality mainstream pop by the high-voiced Norwegian singer-songwriter Sigrid Solbakk Raabe with this second album packed with of disco bangers and power ballads with a running theme of self-empowerment and gaining control in relationships
Read morePeaness: World Full Of Worry
New album: After a series of excellent singles, a very welcome debut LP at last of charming, catchy, indie pop by the mischievous trio from Chester, songs addressing many ongoing concerns from relationships to social media with down-to-earth common sense and a call for general social decency
Read moreRolling Blackouts Coastal Fever: Endless Rooms
New album: Sprightly, fresh, wistful and reflective guitar-rich indie by the Melbourne band in this LP put together in stolen moments in between 2020 lockdowns and wildfires at a mud-brick house in the bush capturing the spirit of the lakeside location punctuated by field recordings of rain, fire, birds, and wind
Read moreKevin Morby: This Is A Photograph
New album: Tender, uplifting, sensitive and moving, the seventh LP by the Texas-born, Kansas-raised singer-songwriter is full of richly vivid lyrics wrapped in strong Americana folk-pop and a vocal delivery that echoes mid-70s Bob Dylan
Read moreObongjayar: Some Nights I Dream of Doors
Kendrick Lamar: Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers
New album: The Pulitzer Prize-winner’s first album for five years is a double LP magnus opus of mind-bogglingly rapid, candid wordplay, an assortment of jazz, rock, classical and more, with so much to unpack, but further cements his place as hip hop’s leading innovator
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 moreWarpaint: Radiate Like This
New album: An alluring, quietly intricate but also beautiful fourth LP by the Los Angeles quartet, whose last was in September 2016, and while the world has churned upside down since, their return is wonderfully welcome
Read moreSunflower Bean: A Headful of Sugar
New album: The smart New York indie-rock trio return with their third album after 2018’s acclaimed LP Twentytwo In Blue with a diverse set of new sounds and songs created mainly in a home studio over lockdown and perhaps their most innovative yet
Read more!!! Chk Chk Chk: Let It Be Blue
New album: Nic Offer and the Sacramento dance-punk band return with their ninth, but while they remain one of the best live acts around, this LP offers their bigger range of styles from acoustic to electronic, house, fun to Latin
Read moreBelle and Sebastian: A Bit of Previous
New album: The tenth studio album by the Glasgow folk-pop band is their first for seven years, and the first recorded in their home city since Fold Your Hands Child in 1999, sounding very much their usual wistful, gently melancholy but catchy selves
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 moreSoft Cell: Happiness Not Included
New album: Fabulous and rather surprising return for the British duo, their first for 20 years, and 41 since their debut, with a wry, witty, catchy electro-pop album about how the sci-fi future dream has not quite turned out how it promised
Read moreArcade Fire: WE
New album: The Canadian alt-rockers return with their sixth LP - one filled with almost messianic singalong stadium anthems and also quieter intimacy, perhaps not quite at the peak of their first three, but still a return to past form
Read moreSharon Van Etten: We've Been Going About This All Wrong
New album: Powerful, passionate, personal and one of her best yet, this sixth album by the New Jersey singer-songwriter has hugely relevant themes, her songs addressing how we might protect the things most precious to us from destructive forces beyond our control
Read moreLoose Fit: Social Graces
New album: Fresh, raw and full of vitality, the debut album by the Australian quartet of Kaylene Miller, Anna Langdon, Max Edgar and Richard Martin is reminiscent of the British late-70s post-punk bands from the Slits to PIL
Read moreTomberlin: I Don't Know Who Needs To Hear This …
New album: Gentle, beautiful fragility and vulnerability abounds in this second album by the Brooklyn singer-songwriter, who sings about insecurity, isolation and relationships with great tenderness with minimal instrumentation
Read moreDana Gavanski: When It Comes
New album: Gorgeous second folk-pop LP by the London-based Canadian-Serbian singer-songwriter, decorated with perfectly weighted hooks and measured arrangements, pure of voice and with pace that’s both intricate but minimal, like a ticking clock
Read moreRöyksopp: Profound Mysteries
New album: Not presented as an album, but an art piece sequence with visuals, these 10 numbers, variously ambient to dance electronica, are still very much in the LP form, half with guest singers Alison Goldfrapp, Beki Mari, Pixx, Susanne Sundfør and Alison S
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