New album: Emotionally powerful, muscular rock-country-soul by the Denver singer-songwriter and band has strong echoes of Hurricane-era, Dylan, northern soul, early Van Morrison, as well as with oodles of swagger, sweat, grit, slide guitar, meaty brass, screams and sorrow
Read moreSnail Mail: Valentine
New album: Second LP by Lindsey Jordan, following 2018’s debut, Lush, broadens her folk-indie-rock brush with a bigger range of sounds and synths, as well as heartbreak, exchanging some of her initial musical intimacy perhaps to reach a broader commercial appeal
Read morePenelope Isles: Which Way To Happy
New album: A bright, sparkly blend of wistful, ethereal dream pop, space rock, some French disco and electronica by Brighton’s core of siblings Jack and Lily Wolter and a fine follow-up to the 2019 debut LP Until the Tide Creeps In
Read moreGeese: Projector
New album: Dynamic and brilliantly experimental debut LP by the very promising young post-punk Brooklyn band brimming with intricate guitars, changes of pace, vaulting from the abstract to the intimate
Read moreSam Evian: Time To Melt
New album: Warm, woozy and fluid, an appropriate title for this super smooth third album by Sam Griffin Owens, the Brooklyn based artist, decorated with light funk, 70s psychedelic soul and lush, orchestral instrumentation
Read moreThe Surfing Magazines: Badgers of Wymeswold
New album: A welcome regrouping of two of The Wave Pictures, Charles Watson from Slow Club and Dominic Brider on drums in a 16-song mix of catchy surf guitar, folk rock, blues, indie, vintage rock’n’roll, bluegrass and no shortage of humour
Read moreShe Drew The Gun: Behave Myself
New album: The Wirral’s Louisa Roach and co return after the acclaimed 2018 LP Revolution of Mind with stirring, feisty, rebellious songs that rally against injustice, celebrate society’s outsiders, filled with seething, articulate anger about everything from food banks to the patriarchy
Read moreSam Fender: Seventeen Going Under
New album: Hugely popular, especially after his 2019 debut Hypersonic Missiles, the 27-year-old singer-songwriter from North Shields builds on this with further Springsteen-style huge choruses and sax-decorated melodies and Strokes turns, but now with edgier, more personal lyrics
Read moreLala Lala: I Want The Door To Open
New album: Largely languid, mellow sounding and alluring indie from the London-raised Chicago-based songwriter Lillie West in her third studio album exploration of persona and presence with experimental textures of voice and instruments
Read moreMuseum of Love: Life of Mammals
New album: Second album by the New York duo of drummer and founding LCD Soundsystem member Pat Mahoney and singer Dennis McNany, aka Jee Day in a work that builds beautifully in that distinctive DFA style of art rock and dance music
Read morePond: 9
New album: No surprise that this is the ninth album by the Australians psychedelic rock and pop band, a dynamic release with a wide variety of styles, intelligent, atypical lyrics, passionate delivery and wonderful unpredictability
Read moreManic Street Preachers: The Ultra Vivid Lament
New album: The Welsh trio’s 14th studio album is their first number 1 since 1998, contains their classic sound, defiant, power-rock melancholy and overt politics, but also a rippling piano sound that echoes some of Abba’s big hits
Read moreIron Maiden: Senjutsu
New album: Epic, apocalyptically double, packed with changes of pace and power, elements of folk and prog, and filled with references to the ravages and ironies of history, ancient and modern, the time is ripe to indulge in the quintessential British metal band’s 17th studio album
Read moreGoat: Headsoup
New album: This welcome first LP helping of primal psych rock from the Swedish band since 2016’s Requium is a stirring, hallucinogenic cauldron compilation of rarities, standalone singles, B-sides, and digital edits and two brand new tracks
Read moreTropical Fuck Storm: Deep States
New album: The third album by the Melbourne quartet of two ex-Drones and more is a magnificently anarchic mix of thrummingly clever noise and art-rock, postpunk, and wittily inventive, sweary, crafted chaos
Read moreDeafheaven: Infinite Granite
New album: Better know as a post-black metal band, San Francisco’s George Clarke, Kerry McCoy and co return with an LP of soaring, ethereal shoegaze rock – jangling guitars and clean vocals that turn the growl into smooth and dreamy
Read moreThe Killers: Pressure Machine
New album: An atypical LP from the American stadium fillers eschews the sometimes nonsense (“are we human or are we dancer”) air-punching pop-rock anthems for more reflective material inspired by Brandon Flowers’ Utah childhood
Read moreWillie Nile: The Day The Earth Stood Still
New album: The veteran 73-year-old rocker from Buffalo, NY is a lesser known treasure, and returns with more sharp, vivid political lyrics that open here comparing New York streets during Covid to a sci-fi alien movie, and many unashamed nods to Springsteen, Dylan, The Who, Mellencamp and The Beatles
Read moreJade Bird: Different Kinds Of Light
New album: The 23-year-old English singer-songwriter and BRIT school graduate’s second LP after 2019’s debut is a strong selection of numbers influenced by Americana and more from Fleetwood Mac to PJ Harvey, Blur to various shades of country rock
Read moreBleachers: Take The Sadness Out of Saturday Night
New album: Super pop producer Jack Antonoff releases a very personal album inspired by his New Jersey upbringing, and features his hero and big influence – Bruce Springsteen – as well as guests Lana Del Rey and string arrangements by St Vincent
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