This week’s six scorchers start with Special Powers, the fifth studio album from North Sea Radio Orchestra (NSRO), which features a mix of songs and instrumentals both large and small from the psych/chamber/folk/pop world that bandleader Craig Fortnam has lived in for a while now. There is a strong emphasis on melody and chord combined…
The first of this week’s sparklers is Gravity Stairs, the eighth album from Crowded House, on which the band’s current incarnation – Neil Finn, Nick Seymour, Mitchell Froom, and Finn’s sons Elroy and Liam – prove to be as sharp as ever, feeling musically adventurous and still capable of reaching the staggering highs that have…
In This City They Call You Love features 12 outstanding songs, including some of the finest ballads Richard Hawley has ever written, which can be described as ‘vintage Hawley’. Gorgeous melodies and arrangements are accompanied by Hawley’s emotive and sonorous voice, which sounds better than ever, making this a crowning moment in a hugely successful…
We kick off this week’s set of smashers with an unexpected delight: a whole album of obscure, rare and unreleased tracks by Rory Gallagher. This collection of recordings of Rory playing his favourite blues material has been unearthed from the vaults of the Gallagher family’s tape archive. The material ranges from never-heard-before tracks to special…
Please note: the release date of this album has been brought forward to 31 May. Further is the eighth studio album from Sheffield-born singer-songwriter Richard Hawley, who has said of the album: “I really wanted to challenge myself to try to keep things relatively up-tempo and keep the songs to about three minutes long. I…
11 September sees some fine efforts with the return of 80s pop gods Duran Duran, brand-new studio albums by The Stereophonics, Ben Folds and Craig Finn, a really fine album by Patty Griffin and the aptly titled Repentless by Slayer. In addition, Bring Me The Horizon’s fifth album heralds a brave new direction for the…