New album: Serial survivor Mark Oliver Everett returns with that familiar mix of droll, ironic but catchy, melancholy but upbeat numbers, on themes of love, the passage of time, as well as more extreme experiences – family trauma, and his recent open-heart surgery
Read moreOrlando Weeks: LOJA
New album: A beautifully tender, serene and touching new LP by the former Maccabees singer and visual artist, the LP named after his Lisbon art studio, with his high, pure voice complemented by various co-collaborators including William Doyle. Katy J Pearson and Wet Leg’s Rhian Teasdale
Read moreLiz Lawrence: Peanuts
New album: A classy, clever fourth LP for the British indie singer-songwriter, now signed to Chrysalis, with a tight, stripped back, thrumming sound, experimental at times, and packed also with excellent hybrid tracks spanning funk, pop, indie, folk and rock
Read moreGoat Girl: Below The Waste
New album: A brilliantly bold, experimental, original third LP by the now south London indie-post-punk trio of Clottie Cream (Lottie Pendlebury), Rosy Bones and Holly Mullineaux, one that bubbles with unusual musical dynamics and lyrics
Read moreBab L'Bluz: Swaken
New album: Out last month, a fabulous second LP by the French-Moroccan quartet who fuse traditional with psychedelia, blues and heavy rock with Africa's Maghreb: Gnawa, Amazigh, Hassani and Houara music
Read moreMaya Hawke: Chaos Angel
New album: Putting aside the obvious advantages of being the offspring of Hollywood actors Ethan Hawke and Uma Thurman, the 25-year-old Stranger Things actress and singer-songwriter’s third album is packed with gems - witty, kooky and original
Read morePeter Bibby: Drama King
New album: Witty, self-deprecatory, earthy, emotional and energetic, the Australian singer-songwriter’s superbly fun and sweary new LP of love, loss and addiction has echoes of Suicide and country-era Bob Dylan
Read moreArooj Aftab: Night Reign
New album: An exquisitely dark, lingering fourth LP from the Grammy-winning Pakistani-American singer and composer with a mix of songs in Urdu and English, her resonant, pure voice accompanied by rippling piano, harp, guitar and more in a dark landscape of folk, jazz and traditional music
Read moreBat For Lashes: The Dream of Delphi
New album: Natasha Khan returns with her sixth studio LP and first for five years, a quirky, swirling experimental release capturing up the early days of her motherhood to daughter Delphi, born in 2020 during the pandemic, and using folkloric, electronica keyboard improvisational approach sometimes with vocals of semi-formed words
Read moreBEAK: >>>>
New album: A surprise sudden fourth LP by the Bristol trio of drummer Geoff Barrow (Portishead), bassist Billy Fuller, and Will Young (Moon Gangs) with that familiar chevron title and distinctly dark, strange but mesmeric post-rock-krautrock thrum
Read moreBess Atwell: Light Sleeper
New album: Serene in sound but with a spectrum of heartbreak and emotional problems laid bare, a gorgeous and candid third album by the Brighton-based singer-songwriter produced by The National’s Aaron Dessner
Read morerEDOLENT: dinny greet
New album: A striking, engaging alt-pop indie debut by the Edinburgh five-piece with songs dealing with dark subjects from heartbreak to alcoholism, dead-end job to mental health issues, but with a running theme of seeking the brighter side with a title that means “don’t cry” in Scottish slang
Read moreLip Critic: Hex Dealer
New album: A dazzlingly high-octane, white-knuckle ride of a debut album by the New York-based electronica-punk-hip-hop-hardcore-noise-rock band, who push the musical boundaries with express vocal delivery and double drummers
Read moreof Montreal: Lady On The Cusp
New album: A new LP of extraordinary experiment and scattershot psychedelic pop kaleidoscopes and lyrical tricks from the eclectic and unpredictably inventive mind of the prolific Kevin Barnes and band from Athens, Georgia
Read moreBig Special: Postindustrial Hometown Blues
New album: A witty, punchy, restless post-punk debut LP by the heavily accented Midlands duo of Joe Hicklin and Callum Maloney, with echoes of Sleaford Mods who they’ve supported on tour, packed with sharp jokes, wordplay and sweary anger about toxic masculinity and the absurdities of modern life
Read moreBillie Eilish: Hit Me Hard and Soft
New album: The American superstar and her brother co-writer and co-producer Finneas O'Connell’s third LP, of predominantly soft, muted, low key and tenderly whispered, sighing and delicately style with understated release without advance singles
Read moreBarry Adamson: Cut To Black
New album: The Manchester legendary singer and composer, bass player of Magazine, The Bad Seeds and other bands, returns with a stylish, swaggering, 60s-influenced 10th studio solo LP, including timeless Motown, seductive blues, and vividly noir cinematic hues
Read moreThe Lovely Eggs: Eggsistentialism
New album: Lancaster’s loveable DIY rockers Holly Ross and David Blackwell return with another punchy collection of comedy, simplicity, profundity and creativity, psych and punk, but also some old-school synth sounds and some complex emotions
Read moreBeth Gibbons: Lives Outgrown
New album: The Portishead singer’s first solo LP, 10 years in the making, is an exquisite release of genre-spanning folk, sometimes with eastern inflections, her haunting voice touching on mutability, motherhood, menopause, bereavement, health and heartbreak
Read moreKeeley Forsyth: The Hollow
New album: Following 2022’s Limbs, another extraordinary, experimental release by the rich-voiced British singer and actress from Oldham of atmospheric, beautiful, evocative, at times vocalisations
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