New album: A gorgeously soulful, gentle, intimate and indeed heavenly third solo album by the London singer-songwriter familiar to fans of Sault and her longtime collaborator and once again here producer – Inflo
Read moreThe Pretenders: Relentless
New album: Rolling back the years to their early new wave 80s heyday, a fabulously strong 12th album by Chrissie Hynde and co, packed with strong songwriting, her powerful vocal presence and a top-notch songwriting partnership with the versatile guitarist James Walbourne
Read moreMitski: The Land Is Inhospitable And So Are We
New album: With one of the purest voices around, a sublime seventh album by the Japanese-American artist – slow, powerful, dreamy country-flecked pop with orchestra, themed around troubled love and coloured with animal-themed metaphors
Read moreCorinne Bailey Rae: Black Rainbows
New album: A landmark of powerful storytelling and songwriting in this fourth album by the Leeds-born singer with songs inspired by immersion into a rich collection of art, books and artefacts about Black history organised by Theaster Gates at the Stony Island Arts Bank in Chicago
Read morePublic Service Broadcasting: This New Noise (Live)
New album: A tremendous noise indeed about radio, as the vintage footage-inspired experimentalist band led by J Wildgoose Esq release a remastered album version of their acclaimed 2022 BBC Proms performance from London’s Royal Albert Hall with the full BBC Symphony Orchestra
Read moreOlivia Rodrigo: GUTS
New album: Following the extraordinary success of her 2021 debut album, Sour, this follow-up contains all the formulas for more, from passionate pop to heartbreak piano ballad, and Billie Eilish-style vocal intimacy, but now with a harder, dealing-with-fame edge
Read moreCLT DRP: Nothing Clever, Just Feelings
New album: Brilliantly original and fresh post- and dance-punk and electro-pop by the Brighton band with songs about heartbreak and queerness, feminism, vulnerability and gender fluidity, packed with unique sounds, passion and humour
Read moreThe Chemical Brothers: For That Beautiful Feeling
New album: Tom Rowlands and Ed Simons return with their 10th LP in nearly three decades, one with that brings together sci-fi-themed, almost psychedelic apocalypse and upbeat, laser-light dance floor bangers
Read moreRóisín Murphy: Hit Parade
New album: Recent controversies aside, the Irish singer-songwriter’s collaboration with German producer DJ Koze is a mesmerically inventive, intimate, candid exploration of funk, pop, disco and house, skilfully pushed through an wonderfully warped aural lens of vocal effects and sounds
Read moreYussef Dayes: Black Classical Music
New album: Taking a title cue from Miles Davis, a brilliant, landmark 19-track debut LP by the supremely gifted British jazz drummer variously exploring and re-interpreting many sides of 70s funk, reggae and afrobeat, joined by a stellar group of musicians and vocalists
Read morePale Blue Eyes: This House
New album: After last year’s promising debut, Souvenirs, the Devon trio return with an uplifting fusion of electro-pop and krautrock, one that deals with parental loss, but with a fondness, stylistically with some echoes of Django Django and some 80s sounds reminiscent of New Order and The Cure
Read moreBuck Meek: Haunted Mountain
New album: The New York-based, Texas-bred singer/songwriter and Big Thief guitarist returns with a beautiful third solo album of sensitive, moving, melodious alt-country, Americana and folk rock
Read moreKofi Flexxx: Flowers In The Dark
New album: Another vibrant new project by the illustriously creative tenor saxophonist Shabaka Hutchings of Sons of Kemet, The Comet Is Coming and Shabaka and the Ancestors, with a potent mix of jazz, spoken word and hip-hop and a stellar lineup
Read moreSlowdive: Everything Is Alive
New album: The classic British shoegaze band of the 1990s return again after 2017’s self-titled comeback, resurgent with a new and old audience, blending dream-pop haze with resonant, atmospheric, noise-guitar textures
Read moreeee gee: SHE-REX
New album: Packed with smart, witty lyrics and an eclectic mix of dreamy pop, disco, folk and electronica, a wonderful new melodious LP by the smooth-voiced Danish artist Emma Grankvist from Copenhagen
Read moreHiss Golden Messenger: Jump For Joy
New album: Rich storytelling, engaging melodies, subtle humour and perfect, gentle pacing out this strong, highly enjoyable loosely concept album of Americana, country and folk by the North Carolina five-piece led by MC Taylor
Read moreDanger Mouse and Jemini The Gifted One - Born Again
New album: Delayed by almost two decades, but worth the wait, this stylish hip-hop follow-up to 2003’s acclaimed Ghetto Pop Life LP is a second collaboration between producer Brian Burton and New York MC
Read moreBirdy: Portraits
New album: Luxuriant, grandiose yet also melancholy high-quality synth-pop by the English artist Jasmine van den Bogaerde (and great-niece of Dirk Bogarde) from Lymington, Hampshire, in a fifth LP that particularly evokes mid-80s Kate Bush and some current Caroline Polachek
Read moreJaimie Branch: Fly or Die Fly or Die Fly or Die ((world war))
New album: A posthumous release for the brilliantly innovative New York Chicago-raised jazz trumpeter with punk ethic or died last year aged just 39, with wonderful experimental sounds following 2017’s Fly Or Die and 2019’s Fly Or Die II – Bird Dogs of Paradise albums
Read moreWillie J Healey: Bunny
New album: With echoes of Shuggie Otis, 1970s George Harrison, and heaps of Sly Stone-style chilled, squelchy funk, the British singer-songwriter third album is smooth helping of soulful pop with a delicious, laid-back summer vibe
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