New releases for 2 September 2022

This week’s sensational six start with This Is Midpoint, the first album in which Tom Chaplin presents his whole self: as a writer, a singer, a husband, a world-beating artist with a past – and all the ups and downs that come with it – and, now, as a middle-aged man. It’s a beautiful collection…

Pre-sale of the week: The Mars Volta – The Mars Volta, out 16 September

Breaking a decade of omertà, The Mars Volta reawaken from their lengthy hiatus with an eponymous album that radically reshapes their paradigm. Formed by guitarist/composer Omar Rodríguez-López and singer/lyricist Cedric Bixler-Zavala, The Mars Volta rose from the ashes of El Paso punk-rock firebrands At The Drive-In in 2001. On a mission to “honour our roots…

New releases for 26 August 2022

We open this week’s aural refreshers with Pre Pleasure, the breathtaking third album from Australian singer-songwriter Julia Jacklin. Co-produced with Marcus Paquin (The Weather Station, The National), Pre Pleasure shows Jacklin at her most authentic, delivering the most intimate, raw and devastating ten songs of her career to date. This uncompromising and masterful lyricist is…

Pre-sale of the week: Buddy Guy – The Blues Don’t Lie, out 30 September

The Blues Don’t Lie is the amazing new album from Buddy Guy, and is the legend’s 34th studio album, following 2018’s Grammy-winning The Blues Is Alive And Well. Produced by songwriter and drummer Tom Hambridge, The Blues Don’t Lie features guests including Mavis Staples, Elvis Costello, James Taylor, Jason Isbell, and more. The album will…

New releases for 19 August 2022

We kick off this week’s round-up with a record to bring solace to anyone who has experienced loss. Over six months spanning the end of 2019 and early 2020, American Aquarium’s B J Barham lost his grandmother and mother, and watched as the world fell into a more than 2-year pandemic that decimated businesses, relationships…

New releases for 12 August 2022

The first of this week’s hot six is Day-Glo – an unexpected album, featuring 10 brand-new Erasure songs, each track created using elements from The Neon’s universe. Familiar but unexpected, the songs bear little resemblance to the original album, although echoes of The Neon can be heard from time to time. The album is an…

Pre-sale of the week: Red Hot Chili Peppers – Return Of The Dream Canteen, out 14 October

The news of Return Of The Dream Canteen’s imminent release marks the Red Hot Chili Peppers’s second album of 2022, hot on the heels of the platinum-selling chart topper Unlimited Love, which debuted at #1 in the UK in April. It will also be the band’s second Rick Rubin-produced album of 2022, and reinforces their…