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 Ed Biggs Does Ty Segall actually sleep? Fans of the Californian crate-digger will know that he releases a solo album once a year, as well fitting in full-time membership of no fewer than seven other bands, one of which is the friends-only project Fuzz. Forming it alongside his long-time buddy Charles Mootheart (also a guitarist in the Ty Segall band) back in 2013, their self-titled debut was a hermetically-sealed time
Continue reading…
by Matthew Langham Also known as Chk-Chk-Chk (or, indeed, any noise repeated three times in a row), Californian dance-punk group !!! have long been known for taking neither themselves nor their sound too seriously. Their artwork for their sixth studio album As If is a reminder of a sense of humour from a band that have consistently released solid records, but never reached major commercial success.
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
by Ed Biggs Are You Alone? is the sixth album by the mainly studio-bound project Majical Cloudz, headed by the industrious Canadian songwriter Devon Welsh and his technological wizkid sidekick Matthew Otto. 2013’s excellent Impersonator, an unnervingly personal experience set to electronic minimalism, put them on the international indie radar, landing the duo a support slot on Lorde’s world tour, and was shortlisted for the prestigious Polaris Prize, making their new
by Ed Biggs American indie auteur Bradford Cox has recovered very quickly from a serious car crash in December 2014 to record and release his seventh album with Deerhunter. The accident gave him “perspective” and cause to ruminate on his own mortality, even more than he does so already (Cox suffers from Marfan syndrome, a condition where his mere physicality poses a threat to his life). Fading Frontier therefore has an
by Matthew Langham Manchester synthpop duo Hurts, consisting of Theo Hutchcraft and Adam Anderson, return with their third album Surrender, two years after Exile which charted at a rather disappointing Number 9 in the UK album charts. Back when they started, their singles including ‘Better Than Love’ and ‘Wonderful Life’ did particularly well in the UK and even better in Germany, so this slump in commercial fortunes was unexpected.
by Ed Biggs Those who confidently maintain that critics don’t make a blind bit of difference to an artist’s fortunes might want to consider the fate of The Enemy. Having found a modicum of success with their revivalist debut We’ll Live And Die In These Towns in 2007, their second album Music For The People was released two years later to some breathtakingly savage reviews (particularly the memorable pay-off line in
by Ed Biggs The impressive ascent of Wavves to major label status hasn’t sat particularly well with the group’s lead singer Nathan Williams. Their fourth album Afraid Of Heights, released in 2013, was a more expansive take on Wavves’ lo-fi, scuzzy aesthetics, but didn’t particularly satisfy anybody. Following which, Williams hooked up with Dylan Baldi’s post-hardcore-punk outfit Cloud Nothings for No Life For Me for some riotous, minimalist catharsis just a
