New releases for 3 December 2021

This week we kick off with the unique Intra-I, an uplifting celebration of black music that, thanks to Theon Cross’s pioneering approach, helps to redefine the sonic possibilities of the tuba. Reflecting his own heritage, the young virtuoso melds jazz with dub, hip-hop, soca, grime and other sounds connected to the Afro-Caribbean diaspora. This is…

Pre-sale of the week: Big Thief – Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe in You, out 11 February

Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe in You is a sprawling double-LP exploring the deepest elements and possibilities of Big Thief. To truly dig into all that the music of Adrianne Lenker, Max Oleartchik, Buck Meek, and James Krivchenia desired in 2020, the band decided to write and record a rambling account of growth as…

New releases for 26 November 2021

The cream of this week’s crop of new releases starts with Metta, Benevolence. In late October 2019, following a successful UK tour ending in a sold-out concert at the mythical Roundhouse in London, SUNN O))) entered studio 4 at BBC Maida Vale on invitation to record a live session for Mary Anne Hobbs to be…

New releases for 19 November 2021

This week’s key releases open with Robert Plant & Alison Krauss, who have reunited some fourteen years after the historic success of their first collaboration, Raising Sand (2007), which reached #2 on the UK album chart, generated multi-platinum sales and earned six Grammy awards including Album of the Year. Like its predecessor, Raise The Roof…

New releases for 12 November 2021

We light the touchpaper on this week’s firecrackers with Crawler, the new album from IDLES. It’s an album of reflection and healing amid a worldwide pandemic that stretched the planet’s collective mental and physical health to the breaking point. Frontman Joe Talbot says: “We want people who’ve gone through trauma, heartbreak, and loss to feel…

Pre-sale of the week: Hurray For The Riff Raff – Life On Earth, out 18 February

Life On Earth is a departure for Hurray For The Riff Raff. Its eleven new ‘nature-punk’ tracks on the theme of survival are music for a world in flux – songs about thriving, not just surviving, while disaster is happening. For her eighth full-length album, the Bronx-born, New Orleans-based singer-songwriter Alynda Segarra drew inspiration from…