New album: Grand and theatrical, with oodles of 80s synth sounds and a big dash of Grace Jones and David Bowie-sytyle glamour, Héloïse Letissier returns with his (recently confirmed as a trans man) flamboyant, poetic third LP
Read moreEzra Collective: Where I'm Meant To Be
New album: Energetic, infectiously positive new album by the outstanding five London jazz musicians, infusing also funk and African influences, and including guests rappers Kojey Radical and Sampa the Great, and singers Emeli Sandé and Nao
Read morePhoenix: Alpha Zulu
New album: A return to form in their 20-year career for the quirky, groovy French pop quartet of singer Thomas Mars guitarist brothers Christian Mazzalai and Laurent Brancowitz and bassist Deck D’Arcy, in this seventh album, this time recorded in the Louvre no less
Read moreBig Joanie: Back Home
New album: The London trio of vocalist and guitarist Stephanie Phillips, bassist Estella Adeyeri, and drummer Chardine Taylor-Stone return with an electronic extension to their catchy DIY post-punk with an LP based around the theme of different forms of home
Read moreNative Harrow: Old Kind of Magic
New album: Charming, beautiful retro folk with a dash of 60s and early 70s psychedelia by the Pennsylvania duo of Stephen Harms and Devin Tuel who relocated to the rural Sussex, echo elements of Sandy Denny, Joni Mitchell and Shirley Collins
Read moreDaniel Avery: Ultra Truth
New album: The Bournemouth electronic musician and producer’s latest LP is an intense journey of tender piano to drone, rave, hardcore, ambient and many interweaving textures, drawing in from influences such as Aphex Twin, David Lynch, to My Bloody Valentine
Read moreSpecial Interest: Endure
New album: A third LP of unstoppably energetic fierce, camp, queer, intelligent glam and post-punk by the New Orleans band fronted by Alli Logout following 2018’s Spiralling and 2020’s The Passion Of, a hot potent cauldron of art, sex, drugs and politics
Read moreHorse Lords: Comradely Objects
New album: Mesmeric fifth album by the Baltimore-formed quartet of polyrhythmic avant-garde rock, jazz, prog, also drawing on Appalachian, bluegrass, krautrock, African, post-punk and alternative tuning systems that pull you into their brilliant and beguiling world
Read moreFirst Aid Kit: Palomino
New album: After the heartbreak of the dark 2018 Ruins album, Swedish sisters Johanna and Klara Söderberg return to uplifting, sweet harmony country-folk-pop, sometimes reminiscent of Fleetwood Mac, and expressed in the title by the idea of a free-spirited elegant horse
Read moreNancy: English Leather
New album: Clever, catchy and beautifully crafted, drawing on 60s and 70s pop influences from Beach Boys and Zombies to glam rock, the British artist’s mischievous new LP is described as a “psychedelic portrait of repression, self-denial and introspection, with a perverted underbelly of indulgence and depravity at its core. After all, it’s the English way”
Read moreCakes da Killa: Svengali
New album: Slick, skilful, inventive second full LP, after a slew of EPs and past releases, by the New Jersey LGTBQ+ rapper Rashard Bradshaw, whose album captures a story arc of flirting, sex, relationship and breakup through superbly agile verbal delivery mixed with house and electronica
Read moreBenjamin Clementine: And I Have Been
New album: Sublime third album by the British singer-songwriter, actor and 2015 Mercury winner, whose powerful, expressive, soul and gospel voice brims with elegance and stark emotion in stripped back, tender songs that capture many forms of pain, but also defiantly soar
Read moreVarious (ΠϢΑϪЄ) - The Psychedelic World Of Witchcraft
New album: This magical Halloween compilation release from the radio station and collective ΠϢΑϪЄ is a mesmeric blend of Eastern psych, ancient trance and more, themed around “Magick and the Occult” is packed with dancey grooves and dark allure
Read moreMelby: Looks Like A Map
New album: Serene, textured, mellow and beautifully moody LP by the four-piece from Stockholm, whose eclectic indie, at the surface, runs deep with elements of prog, jazz, electronica and dreamy pop, lightly dusted with shivery soul, folk, sadness and sugar
Read moreMarlowe: Marlowe 3 (L'Orange and Solemn Brigham)
New album: A third album by the brilliant hip-hop pair packed with intelligent lyrics and killer beats, clever jazz and other samples including of riffs sci-fi film soundtrack clips and voiceovers, rhythm changes and sounds, offering a constant flow of originality and wit
Read moreRubblebucket: Earth Worship
New album: A playful, inventive, witty, often humorous and highly original new LP by the Vermont-formed, New York City-based group fronted by Kalmia Traver and Alex Toth “dissolve the imaginary lines between the natural world and its human inhabitants”
Read moreTaylor Swift: Midnights
New album: Much hyped of course, and hardly needing a mention here, but after her lauded foray into folkier territory on albums Folklore and Evermore, the American superstar returns to mainstream synth-pop that’s dark, intelligent, self-deprecatory, small-hours state of mind, dead-of-night numbers
Read moreWitch Fever: Congregation
New album: Dark, seething, searing, angry and explosive, this impressive heavy-rock-punk debut by the Manchester quartet takes no prisoners, especially when it comes to taking aim the harms and hypocrisy of Christianity
Read moreWild Pink: ILYSM
New album: A fourth particularly fine, tender, emotional LP in only five years by the New York indie rock band fronted by singer-songwriter John Ross, with a theme, as the title suggests of loving very much, with some powerful and poignant moments, and broader experimental sounds
Read moreNick Hakim - COMETA
New album: Another sublime, soft, tender soul-funk-jazz fusion by the New York musician who has an unparalleled ability to create new, gentle musical textures decorated with his dreamy falsetto vocals
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