Alan Sparhawk has always been a prolific, protean musician: a restless soul eager to explore unfamiliar sonic and psychic terrain. Though he’s obviously (and justifiably) best-known for his thirty years as frontman of the legendary band Low, a look at Sparhawk’s many side projects across that same span of time shows him experimenting with everything…
The Last Flight is Public Service Broadcasting’s version of the story of pioneer aviator Amelia Earhart’s final, ill-fated journey in 1937. Rather than focus exclusively on the flight itself, the record examinates Earhart’s remarkable character: a rare blend of grace, composure, technical aptitude and a fortitude that the rest of us mere mortals can barely…
British folk-rock, post-punk duo The Waeve return with their latest guitar-driven romp, City Lights. Graham Coxon of Blur and Rose Elinor Dougall’s follow-up to last year’s acclaimed eponymous debut features both artists on vocal duties in addition to playing a host of instruments including saxophone, keyboards and drums. The Waeve have established themselves as a…
Five Dice, All Threes is a record of uncommon intensity and tenderness, communal exorcism and personal excavation. These are, of course, qualities that fans have come to expect from Bright Eyes, nearly three decades into their career. The tight-knit band of Conor Oberst, Mike Mogis and Nate Walcott tends to operate in distinct sweeping movements:…
Dance, No One’s Watching is an ode to the sacred yet joyous act of dancing. It’s an album that musically guides you through a night out in the city, from the opening of possibilities as a new evening spans out ahead, to dawn’s final hours as the night comes to a close. Written during a…
In taking charge of her own life and her own sound, Lady Blackbird walks a new path, making each note on Slang Spirituals a step in a radically different direction. Across 11 tracks Lady Blackbird puts her sweeping, cinematic vocal power to use on everything from the soulful orchestral fanfares of ‘Let Not (Your Heart…
Following 2020’s Return and 2022’s Sound of the Morning, Katy J Pearson’s signature acoustic-led, sweetly-voiced singer-songwriter fare is transmuted on Someday, Now through the desk of electronic producer Nathan Jenkins aka Bullion. After a period of burnout, self-enforced exile from music-making, and solo travel, Pearson came back to her practice with clarity of mind and…
The The release their first studio album of new songs in a quarter of a century! The 12 songs on Ensoulment encompasses characteristic topics ranging from love and sex, war and politics, life and death, to the meaning of what it is to be human in the 21st century. Singer-songwriter Matt Johnson is joined by…
Chart-topping British blues-rocker Joanne Shaw Taylor returns with her eagerly anticipated 9th studio album, Heavy Soul. Following 2022’s universally praised Nobody’s Fool, Joanne yet again effortlessly demonstrates her blues rock wizardry as well her ever-evolving skills as a singer-songwriter. Heavy Soul highlights Joanne’s guitar prowess and instantly recognisable, smokey-yet-sultry vocals across seven brand-new original tracks…
By turns devotional, empowering and nurturing, Jon Hopkins’ forthcoming Ritual is a 41-minute electronic symphony built from cavernous subs, hypnotic drumming and transcendent melodic interplay. Tense, immersive and ultimately triumphant, it is a culmination of themes explored throughout his 22-year career, and acts as the kinetic counterpart to 2021’s Music for Psychedelic Therapy. A single…