Opening this week’s slammers are Amyl & The Sniffers, who have seen their horizons broaden exponentially in every way since the release of Comfort to Me. And it’s this attitude – bigger, brighter, smarter, sharper – that’s fuelling their third album, Cartoon Darkness. Recorded with producer Nick Launay at Foo Fighters’ 606 Studios in Los…
Enter Now Brightness feels different for Nadia Reid. It is an album, she says, of departure and questioning, that has reminded her how songwriting can be “the most useful thing to do with pain and joy and thoughts and feelings and anger.” That through music we can find great change. “I’m so much better off…
The first of this week’s stormers is Dreamstate, the fourth studio album from Kelly Lee Owens, which is born from the experience of inner evolution in the aftermath of a break-up and which has an incredible feeling of freedom and escapism throughout. It’s the sound of a person letting loose and letting go while encouraging…
Larkin Poe’s new album, Bloom, sees the dynamic sister duo venturing further along on their evolving musical journey with a collection of songs that resonate with introspection, authenticity, and a profound connection to their roots in American music. The album marks a significant evolution for Larkin Poe, reflecting a synergy that extends beyond mere musical…
The first of this week’s peaches comes from Zach Bryan, whose highly anticipated new studio album, The Great American Bar Scene, comprises 18 tracks including a poem, plus notable features from John Mayer and Bruce Springsteen. Limits of Language is the first album of new music from Field Music for almost four years. Back in…
Rome is the definitive live document of The National. Recorded live, without overdubs, on 3 June 2024 at the architecturally stunning venue Parco Della Musica Ennio Morricone – named for the famed Italian film composer – the 21-track LP showcases scintillating versions of beloved songs like ‘Bloodbuzz Ohio’, ‘Don’t Swallow the Cap’, ‘I Need My…
This week’s smashers kick off with the second volume of live recordings from Jason Isbell and The 400 Unit’s annual residency at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee. Live from the Ryman Vol. 2 features live versions of 13 songs from Weathervanes and Reunions, plus a stunning rendition of ‘The Last Song I Will Write’…
First out of the box this week is a record born of grief. You can hear it in the title, White Roses, My God, as well as in tracks such as ‘Heaven’, in which Alan Sparhawk describes the afterlife, wrenchingly, as “a lonely place if you’re alone”. You can sense it too in Sparhawk’s decision…
THE PLAIN TRUTH== we drifted through it, arguing. every day a new war crime, every day a flower bloom. we sat down together and wrote it in one room, and then sat down in a different room, recording. NO TITLE= what gestures make sense while tiny bodies fall? what context? what broken melody? and…
The run-down of this week’s six best releases starts with Someday, Now, on which the signature acoustic-led, sweetly-voiced singer-songwriter fare of Katy J Pearson’s albums Return and Sound of the Morning is transmuted through the desk of electronic producer Nathan Jenkins aka Bullion. After a period of burnout, self-enforced exile from music-making and solo travel,…