Yes, you heard that right – highly influential post-punk stars The Psychedelic Furs have recorded their first album in nearly 30 years! From its exhilarating opening bars to its close, Made Of Rain sounds like the Furs and them alone. It’s a joy to hear this sound again, and it sounds fresher than ever. Their…
The first of this week’s selections comes from a legend of pop music. It takes an extraordinary artist to re-imagine some of the most beloved songs of the 20th century and make them completely their own. And that’s precisely what James Taylor has accomplished with his brand-new album, American Standard. Unlike most who have tackled…
Former Drive-By Trucker Jason Isbell and The 400 Unit come together again for a new album, Reunions, their follow-up to 2017’s Grammy-winning The Nashville Sound. Isbell explains the album’s title thus: “There are a lot of ghosts on this album. Sometimes the songs are about the ghosts of people who aren’t around anymore, but they’re…
We have six lovely little rascals for you this week. Notes On A Conditional Form is the follow-up to The 1975’s Brit Award Album of the Year A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships. The album features lead single ‘People’ and the Greta Thunberg call-to-arms album opener, ‘The 1975’. The band have worked hard to use…
Nadine Shah brings the same ferocious determination and distinct voice heard on her Mercury Prize-nominated 2017 album Holiday Destination to matters closer to home with Kitchen Sink, an album that explores her own story as a woman in her ’30s and the societal pressures and expectations that come with that. Jovial and playful at times,…
We start off this week’s recommended releases with Nathaniel Rateliff, who has written and recorded his first solo record since the explosive debut of his work together with The Night Sweats. The result, And It’s Still Alright, is an intensely personal 10-song album of vibrant country-blues, badland ballads, ornate Americana and jazz-inflected R&B. Rateliff’s warm…
For the last two years The Lovely Eggs have sat back and watched England and the rest of the planet slowly eat itself. Their new album, I Am Moron, is the result of their relentless analysis of a modern culture that is bringing the world to its knees. Throughout their 13-year career, The Lovely Eggs…
This week’s super six starts with five-time Grammy Award-winning Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductees Green Day, who unleash their thirteenth studio album, Father Of All…, proving themselves still the masters of catchy stadium singalongs. Critically acclaimed and revered songwriter John Moreland is set to release his fifth solo album, the imaginatively titled LP5.…
What do we hold on to from our past? What must we let go of to truly move forward? Waxahatchee’s Katie Crutchfield spent much of 2018 reckoning with these questions and revisiting her roots for answers. The result is Saint Cloud, an intimate journey through the places she’s been, filled with the people she’s loved.…
This week’s smashers kick off with the magnificent Torres (aka Mackenzie Scott), whose fourth album, Silver Tongue, is a full-scale realisation of the world that she has created in her previous work. Even when singing in more subdued tones, Scott’s voice is fervent, her lyrics stirring and unyielding as she draws from both the divine…