This week’s ear-ticklers start with Public Service Broadcasting’s fourth album, Bright Magic, which is their most ambitious undertaking yet – an album in three parts (Building A City / Building A Myth / Bright Magic) that brings you to Europe’s heart and de facto capital, the cultural and political metropolis that is the ‘Haupstadt’ of…
What makes a protest song? The Specials should know. First time around, back when the 70s were lurching into the 80s, they sang of racism, war, unemployment and the rough edges of urban life, and never in the same way twice. As the multiracial flagship of the 2 Tone movement, they made a political statement…
We lead off this week’s recommended new releases with The Specials, one of the most electrifying, influential and important bands of all time, who release Encore, their first new music for 37 years. 2019 marks the 40th anniversary of the formation of The Specials and the legendary Two-Tone label in Coventry in 1979, and also…