Music’s favourite intense bromance is back after eight long-awaited years. The Last Shadow Puppets’ widely acclaimed 2008 debut album The Age Of The Understatement showcased Miles Kane as an indie rock playboy with his own fan base and Alex Turner’s ability to ditch the smart indie disco hits about teenage life in Sheffield for string-laden ballads and melodramatic ‘60s pop, leaving fans wanting more from the dashing duo.
by Ed Biggs As the former lead singer of The Beta Band, Steve Mason has forged a strange path that has kept him running parallel to, yet separated from, the evolution of British indie over the last two decades. The band he founded with Gordon Anderson in the mid ‘90s produced one of the most criminally overlooked back catalogues of the latter-day Britpop era. Imagine if Pink Floyd had disbanded upon
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by John Tindale In case you weren’t already aware, Animal Collective are a bit of an odd case. Featuring an ever-changing line-up and an alternative approach to electronics, their only consistent characteristic is their ability to command the listener’s attention, it is no wonder that tenth studio album Painting With was so highly anticipated by the masses, after the slight disappointment that was Centipede Hz in 2012.
by Ed Biggs The vast majority of albums need a sort of cooling-off period before being considered as a classic, but for Arctic Monkeys’ debut that status was conferred instantly, and with good justification. Not since Definitely Maybe had so many breathless superlatives been uttered about a British guitar debut album, and neither had such massive sales figures been delivered on the back of such hype. This was a band that
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 Philadelphia songwriter Alexander Giannascoli, recording under the name Alex G, released six albums of self-recorded, bedroom-spun indie in five years, beginning in 2010 with RACE and ending in the impressive but occasionally messy DSU 16 months ago. That quiet, consistent effort and its charmingly self-effacing results have brought him to the attention of Domino, one of the biggest and most prestigious indies in the game, giving him the
by Matthew Langham Singer, songwriter and producer Matthew E White is back with his second record following on from his successful and critically acclaimed debut Big Inner. His big beard and long hair, as well as his distinctive soulful psychedelic melodies, have developed in Fresh Blood with a more playful style, unlike his debut which was heavier and less sensitive. ‘Rock and Roll Is Cold’ is a simplistic kick-back song,
