Lives OutgrownAlbum by Beth GibbonsReleased 17 May 2024Chamber FolkLabel – DominoRating – 8/10 Bleakness and beauty combine to form a one-of-a-kind disposition. – A strained relationship with the concept of time finds itself at the heart of Beth Gibbons’ Lives Outgrown. Incited by the hopelessness associated with losing loved ones, the first album credited to […]
Something in the Room She MovesAlbum by Julia HolterReleased 22 March 2024Post-Minimalism / Art PopProduced by Holter & Kenny GilmoreRating – 8/10 A series of hypnotic meditations, unique even by Julia Holter’s standards. – Despite some admissions of piano pop, Julia Holter has always placed forthright emphasis on the ambient and post-minimalism qualities of her […]
Only God Was Above UsAlbum by Vampire WeekendReleased 5 April 2024Chamber Pop / Art PopLabel – ColumbiaRating – 9/10 The history of Vampire Weekend summed up lovingly. – Vampire Weekend’s legacy speaks for itself, but that doesn’t stop Only God Was Above Us from speaking for its legacy. The band’s fifth album connects the essentials […]
My Back Was a Bridge for You to CrossAlbum by Anohni and the JohnsonsReleased 7 July 2023Soul / Chamber PopLabel – Secretly CanadianRating – 8/10 Anohni delivers her most heroic message. – Archival live album, You’ve Got to Learn, captures Nina Simone’s moving performance at the 1966 Newport Jazz Festival. Consisting of standards, patient jazz […]
First Two Pages of FrankensteinAlbum by The NationalReleased 28 April 2023Chamber Pop / Indie FolkLabel – 4ADRating – 5/10 The National’s ninth album is more concerned with being professional than interesting. – The National’s contributions to post-punk revivalism are some of the most poetic. A pivotal run of albums – Alligator, Boxer, High Violet – […]
Live at Bush HallLive album by Black Country, New RoadReleased 24 March 2023Art Rock / Chamber PopLabel – Ninja TuneRating – 8.5/10 A toast to friendship that will break hearts as much as it will warm them. – Shortly after the release of 2022’s Ants From Up There, Black Country, New Road announced the departure […]
NormAlbum by Andy ShaufReleased 10 February 2023Singer-SongwriterLabel – Anti-Rating – 6/10 Andy Shauf’s latest singer-songwriter novella. Many great singer moments, fewer great songwriter moments. – Andy Shauf sings the way that others play guitar solos, bending and fluttering his notes as if plucked by an supple wrist. His words conclude with natural delay, like he […]
Being Funny in a Foreign LanguageAlbum by The 1975Released 14 October 2022Indie Pop / Pop RockLabel – Dirty HitRating – 7/10 Matt Healy finds new ways to open up. – It must be difficult to be funny in a foreign language; there’s a chance of having no idea if you’re hitting the right notes, inflecting […]
The CarAlbum by Arctic MonkeysReleased 21 October 2022Chamber Pop / Lounge PopProduced by James FordRating – 5/10 They’re staying in that hotel + casino indefinitely… – Alex Turner loves words like they’re a friend he made during his military service. While the classification of Arctic Monkeys’ sound as an expansion is up for debate (what […]
FossoraAlbum by BjörkReleased 30 September 2022Avant-popProduced by BjörkRating – 7/10 Where the future meets the present meets the past. – Whilst difficult to unpack, each Björk album defines itself uniquely; an alarming acuteness to the obtuse. Whether obtained via her electronically-motivated crotchets (Homogenic) or those that swelter and soak with natural, musical anangeon (Vulnicura), entries […]
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