The first of this week’s firecrackers comes from The Mountain Goats, led by singer-songwriter John Darnielle, who have built a prolific and influential career since the early 1990s, earning a loyal following with their storytelling and literary lyricism. Through This Fire Across from Peter Balkan expands the band’s sound with lush orchestration and welcoming arrangements…
Courtney Marie Andrews has long been celebrated as an artist who challenges herself and who finds new interplays of folk and americana. Also a vivid poet and accomplished painter, she brings a multidisciplinary richness to her work that shines throughout her ninth studio album. Valentine features complete in-studio performances that prize raw performance rather…
As it is the anniversary of me taking over the shop week next week, the pick of the week’s releases are ones I am interested in. My shop, my rules! My first pick is the 8th studio album from Lunatic Soul, the solo project of Riverside’s main composer and vocalist/bassist Mariusz Duda. The World Under…
The Demise of Planet X boasts Sleaford Mods’s most varied and expressive musical approach yet and charts, critiques and satirises our times, while offering a universal cry of anger and release of energy that pushes against the encroaching cultural darkness. The album, which features a rare guest appearance from former Life Without Buildings frontwoman Sue…
On to this week’s smashers! After years of writing, wandering and starting over, The Lemonheads return with Love Chant: a bold, melodic reaffirmation of one of alternative rock’s most distinctive voices. Evan Dando’s relocation to Brazil, where much of the album was recorded, has offered a chance to reset, reconnect and finally bring these songs…
These Frightening Machines was written over the course of a year as Katherine Priddy made the transition from her 20s to her 30s, and follows The Pendulum Swing, which firmly established her as one of the most exciting artists on the contemporary British music scene. Produced by Rob Ellis (PJ Harvey, Anna Calvi, Bat for…
We kick off this week’s picks with Deadbeat, on which Kevin Parker sculpts a collection of wickedly potent club-psych explorations as a vehicle for some of his most direct, brain-wormy songwriting to date, recasting Tame Impala as a kind of future-primitive rave act in the process. Deadbeat sounds like the work of an artist with…
Kula Shaker reaffirm their place as one of Britain’s most fearless and imaginative rock bands with their 8th studio album. From its opening moments, Wormslayer surges with evangelical fervour: a whirlpool of ’60s psychedelia, sumptuous soul, retro-funk and cosmic storytelling. At its core runs a thematic thread that unfolds like a psychedelic rock opera…
Here are the week’s hottest new releases! In a changing, unpredictable and turbulent world, something we can always rely on is a new Orb album, with the next holiday-for-the-head never far away. On what is quite possibly the millionth long-player helmed by electronic lifer Alex Paterson, partnered with the now firmly entrenched boy wonder Michael…
RSD Black Friday has just been announced! This year it will fall on 28th November. We will be listing the exclusive Black Friday albums that we’ll be stocking on the site over next few days. The same rules apply as for Record Store Day – click here for details. There will be a list in…