by Matthew Langham Savages’ focussed, demonic Silence Yourself was amongst one of the most critically acclaimed albums of 2013 with its confrontational approach to experimental rock and punk. With a Mercury Prize nomination in their back pocket, the all-female foursome return with the follow-up to their debut record, Adore Life. Aesthetically the band borrowed liberally from their post-punk influences, including Joy Division and Siouxsie & The Banshees, and they ran away
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by John Tindale After fading into obscurity, Chairlift are back, following up from hit-and-miss 2012 album Something, they took their time about releasing follow-up record Moth. One can’t help but feel sorry for the Brooklyn duo, with incredible songs like ‘Bruises’ being drowned out by the Mumford-induced folk epidemic and then mistiming their wonderful blend of ‘80s revivalism long before it began to gain success on both sides of the Atlantic,
by Ed Biggs As one of the many artists that made 2013 such an unusually strong year for good comeback records, Suede’s first album in 11 years, Bloodsports, at last provided the appropriate full stop to their legacy that their output in the ‘90s deserved, and which 2002’s dire A New Morning singularly failed to provide. Having cleansed our palates from that sour aftertaste, Brett Anderson and his gang must now
by Ed Biggs For nearly fifty years, David Bowie has made a career from leaving his past behind him and forging a path for the future, for music as well as himself, making some of the most forward-thinking and celebrated and varied pop in the history of the genre and inspiring countless hundreds of other innovative artists. Truly, his is one of the most totemic reputations in all of popular culture,
by Matthew Langham Released way back in September, Julia Holter’s fourth studio album has been merited as one of the most significant albums of 2015. While the L.A. musician may not have received much commercial attention from her three previous records, Holter is an artist who is continually shapeshifting through different soundscapes. Have You In My Wilderness sees Holter take on a seasonal soundscape; highlighting the light and dark between autumn
by Ed Biggs Venezuelan-born production wizkid Alejandro Ghersi dropped Xen, his much-hyped studio album as Arca, at almost exactly this point last year, and it was obvious immediately why the likes of Kanye West, Björk and FKA twigs had approached him to harness the fluid, futuristic post-R&B sound that has become his trademark. Here was somebody painting a startling, imaginative way forward for electronic music at a prodigiously young age, able
by John Tindale Claire Boucher, aka Grimes, has been going through a period of reflection over the three years since the release of last album Visions, a low-budget bedroom record of spectral synths that has had a seismic impact upon the sound of mainstream pop ever since. During this time, Boucher scrapped an album for being too “depressing”, but more importantly she wrote a song for Rihanna (‘Go’) that was subsequently
by John Tindale It’s been five years since Joanna Newsom released the critically acclaimed epic Have One On Me, but don’t take that to mean that she has been resting on her success; Divers is the culmination of five years of effort and it is a truly magnificent record for it. Newsom has it all, lyrical excellence to sonic brilliance: this is never more apparent than in lead single ‘Sopakanikan’.
by John Tindale Beach House have earned themselves a cult reputation over the last decade by releasing consistently brilliant dream pop. Commercial breakthrough album Bloom (2012) came 41st in our list of ‘The 100 Greatest Albums of the Decade So Far’, whilst critically acclaimed 2010 album Teen Dream ranked 7th. Yet you’d be forgiven for questioning whether or not Beach House could achieve such greatness again with sixth LP Thank Your
by Lauren James Five years is a long time – especially when you’re Jack White and have a dozen plates spinning from every knuckle and kneecap. Despite half a decade’s wait after 2010’s Sea Of Cowards, it came as a surprise to many that the prolific rocker had time to spare for his bluesy, moody supergroup The Dead Weather at all. In the two years since third album Dodge And Burn
