by John Tindale Throughout Rufus Wainwright’s career he has long been able to combine mesmerising piano performances and an emotive vocal that could match many. But for the past decade he has more or less completely immersed himself (barring the oddly out-of-place Out Of The Game in 2012) in the art of classical music – in Take All My Love: 9 Shakespeare Sonnets we see Wainwright take on another expansive step
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by John Tindale & Hannah Binns The annual Live At Leeds indie and pop marathon is due to celebrate its tenth instalment. Named in honour of The Who’s seminal live album of the same name, recorded in the unlikely environment of what is now the Leeds University refectory, for the past decade the city-wide event has dedicated itself to showcasing the best up-and-coming acts in the British music scene and beyond.
by John Tindale The latest offering from Cardiff’s post-hardcore heroes Future Of The Left has been a comparatively long time in the making, following the release of the excellent How To Stop Your Brain In An Accident in 2013 – a record which featured themes of aggression and absurdity in equal quantities and punched ideals so far down one’s throat that it was impossible not to abide to the law of
by John Tindale It has been three years since the last Frightened Rabbit record Pedestrian Verse, and during that time the Scottish five-piece have toured to the brink of exhaustion, almost broken-up and, most importantly, frontman Scott Hutchison moved to Los Angeles. Hutchinson’s turbulent time in L.A. is a clear commonality running through the music of this eventual fifth album Painting Of A Panic Attack, and it is the subsequent doom
by John Tindale It’s been four years since the release of Yeasayer’s last album Fragrant World, a wonderfully eclectic album which balanced experimental electronics with a pop sound to dazzling effect. But, much like in Yeasayer’s other work, there was always that feeling of more to come, another gear to go through – unfortunately for Amen & Goodbye, the group’s fourth, this is a feeling that will remain for at least
by John Tindale iLoveMakonnen, aka Makonnen Sheran, has long been on the attention of the masses without ever releasing an album and while Drink More Water 6 may not be a debut record, instead the latest instalment in a line of mixtape releases, it feels like the closest thing we’ve gotten from the Atlanta based star. After shooting to fame with ‘Tuesday’ (an R&B styled pop song that got over 100
by John Tindale Two years ago Låpsley, aka Holly Låpsley Fletcher, released the Monday EP – a four song introduction to what was clearly a very promising career. After a major label scramble and bidding war, Låpsley eventually signed for indie record label XL. Though it operates to all intents and purposes as a major, XL is notably home to Adele, the biggest sensation the music industry has known in a
by John Tindale Kendrick Lamar may already have registered himself as one of the greats before the age of 30; having released the classic good kid, m.A.A.d city in 2012, he went on to better himself with what will certainly be regarded as one of the very best records of the decade, To Pimp A Butterfly, last year, so the surprising news that we are now getting some extracts from the
by John Tindale It’s been four years since Santi White, aka Santigold, provided us with the soundtrack to the summer of 2012 in ‘Disparate Youth’ from sophomore effort Master Of My Make Believe. Since then White has had a baby, taken on some acting jobs and, more importantly on the music front, ditched cynicism in favour of a more pastiche pop sound. What becomes clear over the course of 99¢’s 45
by John Tindale When The 1975 released their eponymous debut LP, they set themselves on a fast track to the mainstream; here was a band releasing catchy, if earnest, indie-pop that resonated with the masses. However with all the successes there were a fair few people (myself included) who questioned whether they had earned it. For all the singles and hype there was no back-bone to support it over an agonising
