The first of this week’s crackers was recorded on 22 May 2023 when Def Leppard returned to their home city, Sheffield, 47 years after their birth to perform their second-ever stadium concert at Bramall Lane. This monumental homecoming show that kicked off their European tour was sold out, performed to a roaring crowd of almost 40,000 fans. The set includes classics such as ‘Photograph’ and ‘Pour Some Sugar on Me’ as well as UK live debuts of ‘Take What You Want’ and ‘This Guitar’, the latter dedicated to the band’s late great guitarist Steve Clark.
Supernature, originally released in 2005, was Goldfrapp’s era-defining masterpiece, a multi-layered sonic-pop thriller that shattered the electronic rulebook, replacing it with a radical, high-gloss vision of pop music at its most seductive and strange. The album catapulted Goldfrapp into the pop stratosphere, spawning now-classic singles like ‘Ooh La La’, ‘Number 1’ and ‘Ride a White Horse’. The album topped charts worldwide, earned multi-platinum sales and garnered multiple Brit and Grammy nominations.
Taylor Acorn’s career breakthrough came when she bonded with producer Dan Swank over their mutual love of early-2000s pop-punk. If 2024’s Survival in Motion was her introduction to the world, Poster Child shows that she is here to stay. “When people listen to this album I just want them to feel like they’re back in a time period that makes them feel good,” she says. That sense of optimism is evident from the infectious opener, ‘People Pleaser’, to the stripped-down outro of album closer ‘Masquerade’, which showcases the way Acorn is effortlessly able to express both power and vulnerability with her voice.
If Spock’s Beard have taught us anything over their 30-plus years in the business, it’s that they have no interest in becoming their own tribute act. Their latest offering, The Archaeoptimist, is not a retreat into old habits but a recalibration. Just when you think they’re settling in, they kick the walls out instead. “Mad time signatures, impossible harmonies, intense arrangements … sensational.” (The Prog Report)
11 years after their debut, Ahkatari return with an album that is a both clear evolution in their journey and a distinct departure. Blood: Act I sees the Detroit duo double down on the grit and dive even deeper into the streets. Hugh Whitaker’s beats are grainy, layered and dusty, and his sample selection and ability to manipulate is as much a part of the storytelling as Ahk’s lyrics. Ahk’s vocals carry a real weight. He has impact. As they slide once again into the shadows, gone but not forgotten, one message is clear: Ahkatari will return. We just don’t know where or when.
Our release of the week comes from critically acclaimed Scottish-born artist Bryony Purdue. After more than a decade of international touring and nearly three years since she recorded it, she unveils her debut album, Dripfeed – a stunning 15-year musical distillation that transforms personal trespasses into transcendent art. The self-released, self-produced album melds ’70s pop, trip-hop and progressive rock in a hypnotic exploration of recovery and resilience. Bryony’s distinctive approach incorporates live strings, chromatic harmonica, analogue synths and reverberating acoustic textures to create what she describes as “the liminal space between genres”.
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