The first of this week’s smashers comes from Sprints, whose music – driven by experience, tough political climates and social and economic uncertainty – is honest, often politically charged and authentic. Back Catalogue collects the band’s early work together for the first time. Their 2020 debut single The Cheek won them early support from BBC 6music legend Steve Lamacq, DIY and NME among others. 2021’s Manifesto EP saw the band develop sonically and politically, with the title song quickly becoming a fan favourite. This marked the beginning of a fruitful working relationship with Gilla Band’s Daniel Fox as producer. 2022‘s A Modern Job EP received critical acclaim, including widespread radio and streaming playlisting for lead single ‘How Does The Story Go?’ Back Catalogue marks the end of one vital, visceral chapter in the Sprints story and the beginning of the next, marked by the release of their debut album. Charting the rise of the band from their formation in 2019 to the present day, it takes listeners on a journey through the highs and lows of elation to anxiety at trademark breakneck speed.
Vertigo: that pit-of-your-stomach, up-is-down sense that the world is spinning faster than you can keep up with, and your own place in it has never felt less secure. It’s a journey of self-discovery that Griff has taken fans on in real time over the three volumes of her landmark project, weaving songs that resonated with the Vertigo arc into work that moves through melancholy and heartache into healing and joy. A coming-of-age album shaped for complex times, Vertigo witnesses Griff scaling new creative heights without compromising the hand-stitched, home-made magic that first marked her out as British pop’s most modern, exciting voice.
3-time Grammy-winning artist Olivia Rodrigo reissues Guts (Spilled) on extremely limited-edition deluxe vinyl housed in a gatefold jacket, featuring brand-new artwork and 5 extra tracks, including brand-new track ‘So American’. This special edition is the only pressing featuring the full collection of Guts songs. Guts was recorded with producer Daniel Nigro, who also collaborated with Olivia on Sour, her chart-topping, 4x platinum debut album. “For me, this album is about growing pains and about trying to figure out who I am at this point in my life and exactly what I want to say in my songs.”
English Teacher, who formed in Leeds in 2020, consist of vocalist Lily Fontaine, guitarist Lewis Whiting, drummer Douglas Frost and bassist Nicholas Eden. The band appeared on Later… with Jools Holland in November 2023. Their song ‘Nearly Daffodils’ was named one of the 10 best songs of 2023 by Time magazine, and their debut album This Could Be Texas is set to debut in the Top 10 of the UK Charts. The band’s first extended play, Polyawkward, was released 22 April 2022 and was listed in NME’s 100 best debut EPs, with the magazine describing it as a “playful yet polished” release that “sees fury and fun overlap”.
Duran Duran’s first five studio albums get a loving reissue on CD and LP: their self-titled 1981 debut, considered a significant album in the new-wave and synth-pop movements of the early ’80s; their 1982 smash hit, Rio; 1983’s Seven and the Ragged Tiger, 1986’s Notorious and 1988’s Big Thing.
Our release of the week is Alternative Live, a fourteen-song double live LP pulled from the super-deluxe reissue of Fleetwood Mac’s classic 1979 album Tusk, including seven songs from the Tusk tour, four from the 1977 Rumours tour and three from the 1982 Mirage tour. This special 2-LP is now available again following a very limited Record Store Day release in 2021.
Click on an image to order your copy.