New album: The London electronica post-punk, tree-camouflage-dressed quartet return with their vigorously inventive, infectiously dance-inspiring, krautrock-ish defiant work holding up a mirror to the absurdities and injustices of modern life
Read moreYukimi: For You
Yukimi: For You
New album: This debut solo album by the seasoned frontwoman of Sweden’s acclaimed electronica/dance group Little Dragon Yukimi Nagano is a classy collection of measured pace, poise and elegance, mixing soul, jazz and pop with guest vocals by Lianne La Havas
Read moreLucy Dacus: Forever Is A Feeling
Lucy Dacus: Forever Is A Feeling
New album: The golden-voiced Richmond, Virginia singer-songwriter and one-third of the Boygenius trio is the first to return to her solo work – a subtle, candid, understated, richly lyrical, sensitive LP about her troubled relationship, decorated with fingerpicked acoustic guitar, piano, orchestral strings and harp
Read morePerfume Genius: Glory
Perfume Genius: Glory
New album: The shapeshifting, enigmatic US singer-songwriter Mike Hadreas returns with his distinctive brand of polished, beautiful chamber pop, with themes of the body and its decay, of domesticity and love, identity, and also features a guest appearance by Aldous Harding
Read moreJeffrey Lewis: The EVEN MORE Freewheelin' Jeffrey Lewis
Jeffrey Lewis: The EVEN MORE Freewheelin' Jeffrey Lewis
New album: One of the great independent singer-songwriters around, the prolific New Yorker and cartoonist returns with his clever, witty, alternative indie-folk, here with an amusing visual play on that famous Bob Dylan album for this brand new LP recorded with his band in just four days at Haptown Studios, Nashville
Read moreHamilton Leithauser: This Side Of The Island
Hamilton Leithauser: This Side Of The Island
New album: Having experimented with different styles his solo albums The Walkman frontman rekindles passionate, raw intensity and pent-up energy alongside introspection in latest LP in part produced by The National’s Aaron Dessner.
Read moreBenefits: Constant Noise
Benefits: Constant Noise
New album: Super-sharp, angry and articulate, this is striking, vivid, social and political spoken word and hip-hop on a backdrop of cinematic electronica, dance and punk by the Middlesbrough duo of Kingsley Hall and Robbie Major – a scything sonic and verbal attack on western ills at home and abroad
Read moreYHWH Nailgun: 45 Pounds
YHWH Nailgun: 45 Pounds
New album: A rite of passage to the senses, this short, sharp, experimental debut noise rock LP by the New York quartet feels like being dropped into a growling, stop-start pinball machine, but the experience is weirdly rewarding
Read moreAnnie & The Caldwells: Can't Lose My (Soul)
Annie & The Caldwells: Can't Lose My (Soul)
New album: A fabulously uplifting soul, gospel and funk release the the family band who release their first LP four decades into their career, fronted by the supreme voice of West Point, Mississippi’s Annie Caldwell, alongside her daughters, husband and god-daughter
Read moreBrian D'Addario: Till The Morning
Brian D'Addario: Till The Morning
New album: A solo album by one half of the Long Island brothers band The Lemon Twigs, here channelling his many 60s and 70s influences, from The Beatles to The Hollies, Beach Boys to Byrds to Dave Clark Five, bringing balladic beauty and melancholy, and old-school vocal harmony pop
Read moreGreentea Peng: Tell Dem It's Sunny
Greentea Peng: Tell Dem It's Sunny
New album: South-east London’s Aria Wells returns her second album after 2021’s Man Made with a stylish, dark, smoky fusion of trip-hop, hip-hop, reggae, neo-soul, R’n’B, and indie rock, with a variety of timbres and themes, but overall one of self-renewal and change
Read moreJapanese Breakfast: For Melancholy Brunettes (& sad women)
Japanese Breakfast: For Melancholy Brunettes (& sad women)
New album: Rapturously crafted, literary, smart, dream pop by the Philadelphia band fronted by singer-songwriter Michelle Zauner, this fourth LP also has a darker, more melancholic, introverted hue than her previous Jubilee, here inspired by myths, poetry and fiction on thematic cycles of temptation, transgression and retribution
Read moreCourting: Lust For Life, Or ‘How To Thread The Needle And Come Out The Other Side To Tell The Story'
Courting: Lust For Life …
New album: A lengthy title for a short, snappy, cleverly interwoven eclectic indie-dancefloor-postpunk experimental third LP by the Liverpool band with a theme of duality, a cyclical intro and outro, and each song paired with a balanced counterpart, sharing specific sonic elements.
Read moreThe Tubs: Cotton Crown
The Tubs: Cotton Crown
New album: With a Sonic Youth-referencing title, the London-based Welsh indie quartet’s second LP, following 2023’s Dead Meat, is a short, sharp, punchy release of nine jangly, Johnny Marr-influenced guitar tracks, reflecting on love but also with a gut-wrenching, tragic finale
Read moreThrowing Muses: Moonlight Concessions
Throwing Muses: Moonlight Concessions
New album: The veteran Rhode Island alternative rock and post-punk band fronted by Kristin Hersh return with an 11th studio album with a strikingly different sound - a stripped back, almost-unplugged acoustic release of restrained but haunting powe
Read moreEdwyn Collins: Nation Shall Speak Unto Nation
Edwyn Collins: Nation Shall Speak Unto Nation
New album: A beautifully tender, reflective 10th indie pop solo album by the acclaimed Scottish singer-songwriter and former Orange Juice frontman, with strong, resonant indie numbers on life’s circularity, love, home, health and belonging
Read moreCircuit des Yeux: Halo On The Inside
Circuit des Yeux: Halo On The Inside
New album: Dark, vivid, pagan, hedonistic, carnal goth-dancefloor experimental electronica and more by the Chicago-based multi-disciplinary superbly alternative artist Haley Fohr and her otherworldly, mesmerically rich, four-octave voice
Read moreclipping.: Dead Channel Sky
clipping.: Dead Channel Sky
New album: Breathlessly brilliant warp-speed hip-hop with a cyberpunk, electronica and house music soundtrack by the trio fronted by rapper and actor Daveed Diggs, set in a sci-fi dystopian universe of multiple characters and stories
Read moreLady Gaga: MAYHEM
Lady Gaga: MAYHEM
New album: Something of return to form and fun for the superstar singer and actress? Certainly this revisits something of her late 2000s Poker Face- and Bad Romance-era flamboyant, bombastic pop sound where excess and outsider oddness made her name
Read moreMelin Melyn: Mill On The Hill
Melin Melyn: Mill On The Hill
New album: Enormously entertaining, witty, catchy, folk-country-psych-rock by the Cardiff-London band, with clear, upbeat comparisons to Gruff Rhys and Super Furry Animals as well as other original twists in this warm, vintage-feel new release
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