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
Continue reading…
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 John Tindale Upon the release of Emotional Mugger, Ty Segall described the album as: “the over-communication relayed in cell based technology and content driven media further detaches passengers of our modern society from deep emotional understanding”, thus Emotional Mugger is debatably a concept album discussing the perils of the modern age and its relationship with the internet and it comes at a crossroads in the career of Segall.
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 Matthew Langham Over three years have passed since Mystery Jets released their Americana-influenced Radlands which featured the excellent ‘Hale Bop’. Now onto their fifth record in the first decade of their existence, their progressive fourth has certainly influenced their King Crimson / Pink Floyd soundscape on Curve Of The Earth. Released in the same week as the passing of David Bowie, it can’t help be noticed that this record takes
by John Tindale Not To Disappear, the sophomore release by London indie-folk band Daughter, comes two and a half years after the commercially successful If You Leave, an album which saw no less than six songs used for advertisements. In Not to Disappear, the three-piece now have the problem of having to address the successes of their past while also striving to create something which shows progression – unfortunately Not To
by Matthew Langham Hinds, or Deers as they were formerly known, have appeared on numerous “One To Watch” lists over the last two years. It’s been a busy a busy few years for the Madrid quartet after a legal battle forced their hand into changing name – a ‘hind’ is a female deer, fyi. Spurred on by the inconvenience, the all-female group have toured relentlessly throughout 2015 in anticipation of their
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 John Tindale Tell Me I’m Pretty, the fourth album release by Kentucky alt-rockers Cage The Elephant sees the band at a lull in their career. After their initial success with hits ‘Ain’t No Rest For The Wicked’ and ‘Shake Me Down’, the band now face the task of living up to the hype they had four years ago. Unfortunately, what they’ve come up with only serves as a reminder as
by Ed Biggs A Head Full Of Dreams arrives a mere 18 months after Coldplay’s last effort, no time at all in the grand scheme of major label acts’ recording, release and touring schedules. Posited as the yang to Ghost Stories’ yin, the bright, optimistic dawn of a new day following the dark night of the soul of its heartbroken predecessor, it’s also rumoured to be the band’s final album,
