Album: Lauren Mayberry - Vicious Creature

The CHVRCHES singer goes solo with a sally into pop that doesn't quite hit the target

Amid the electro-rock crunch of “Sorry, Etc”, Lauren Mayberry spits out, “I killed myself to be one of the boys/I lost my head to be one of the boys/I bit my tongue to be one of the boys/I sold my soul to be one of the boys”. The singer for successful Scottish indie-tronic trio CHVRCHES says her debut solo album explicitly expresses her feminine/feminist aspect, while also embracing pop.

Album: Alice Ivy - Do What Makes You Happy

Aussie producer's third is half gems and half pap

What’s to be said about an album that’s half well-executed body-moving, dancefloor pop and half sickly, slick schmaltz? It’s as if the creator is covering off all possible fanbases, those with taste and those lacking it.

Album: Bastille - &

Dan Smith attempts to pare back to less bombast but doesn't always succeed

Grandiloquent indie-synth-pop outfit Bastille have been around for over a decade. Three of their four albums have been chart-toppers (the other one still made Top 5 and went Gold). They are no flash in the pan.

Isabel LaRosa, Saint Luke's and the Winged Ox, Glasgow review - TikTok pop and a school disco atmosphere

The up-and-coming pop star was lively but one-dimensional

The bar staff at Saint Luke’s will rarely have had an easier night than this one. Such was the youthful nature of the crowd for Isabel LaRosa that there was little for them to do, beyond handing over occasional cans of Coke.

The atmosphere felt like a school disco, from constant sing-a-longs to whatever was blaring out over the PA (and a mass dance routine when Chappell Roan’s "Hot to Go" kicked in) to gaggles of arm-locked girls hurrying back and forth across the floor ahead of the main event.

Music Reissues Weekly: Peter Baumann - Phase by Phase: The Virgin Albums

The surprising solo adventures of a core member of Tangerine Dream

When the first solo album by Tangerines Dream’s Peter Baumann was released in the US in 1977, its promotion was striking. Press advertising (pictured below left) said “he possesses the infinite vision that has made his group one of the most important contributors to mystagogic lore.”

Album: Hi Fi Sean & David McAlmont - Daylight

★★★★ HI FI SEAN & DAVID MCALMONT - DAYLIGHT Guitar pop veterans offer dance pop grooves

Guitar pop veterans lay down some fine dance pop grooves

Those with long memories will remember Sean Dickson (as Hi FI Sean is known to his Mum) as the vocalist and driving force of 80s indie guitar types the Soup Dragons, and David McAlmont from his Brit Pop era hit with Bernard Buttler, “Yes”. That all happened a long time ago but, unlike many of their contemporaries, neither of these two can be accused of being stuck in a creative rut since their glory days.

Album: Joe Goddard - Harmonics

★★★ JOE GODDARD - HARMONICS The Hot Chip mainstay serves up a feast - but are there too many cuisines at once?

The Hot Chip mainstay serves up a feast - but are there too many cuisines at once?

Joe Goddard’s torrent of creativity rarely fails to amaze. As well as eight albums as a crucial part of Hot Chip, he has made two in the 2 Bears duo with Raf Rundell, one as Hard Feelings with Amy Douglas, and there’s been various other collaborations besides (A Pulse Train, Extra Credit, Greco-Roman Soundsystem, Lightbox Of Magic Unknowledge), not to mention dozens of remixes and a none too shabby DJ career too.

Album: Kasabian - Happenings

★★ KASABIAN - HAPPENINGS Eighth album from Leicester electro-rockers lacks heft

Eighth album from Leicester electro-rockers lacks heft

Great bands’ output can, famously, be predicated by the intense interaction between members, often between a central creative pairing. This can be a harmonious mutuality but, more often, music is built from tension, from difference, from the frisson between two individuals.

Girls Aloud, OVO Hydro, Glasgow review - pop queens return with poignant hit parade

★★★★ GIRLS ALOUD, OVO HYDRO Pop queens return with poignant hit parade

The girl group's reunion showed their songs remain gloriously euphoric

There was a point in this pop revival jaunt where you could feel members of the crowd wince. Not for the performance, but because Nicola Roberts introduced a song by mentioning it was from “the Chemistry album, which came out 19 years ago”. You could almost feel some in the crowd recoil, as if expecting to crumble to dust at that confirmation of the passing of time.

Album: Charli XCX - Brat

★★★ CHARLIE XCX - BRAT One of Britain's most compelling pop stars fires out an intriguingly personal curveball

One of Britain's most compelling pop stars fires out an intriguingly personal curveball

Charli XCX has been making scrambled eggs of pop for a decade. She’s written songs for/with artists including, but far from limited to, Lady Gaga, Iggy Azalea, Giorgio Moroder, Selina Gomez, BTS, David Guetta, Ty Dolla $ign, Blondie, Gwen Stefani, Raye, BTS, Camila Cabello, Benga, Caroline Polachek, Haim, and James Blunt. And then there’s her own albums. Six of them, including this one. But she’s not yet a full star. At least that’s what she reckons. And that’s what her enjoyably abrasive new album is about.