Album: Witch Fever - Congregation

★★★ WITCH FEVER - CONGREGATION An energised two-pronged punk-metal assault

An energised two-pronged punk-metal assault on Christianity and the patriarchy

Witch Fever are a seething punk outfit from Manchester whose debut album rampages at the patriarchy with unbridled fury. The tone throughout is summed up in “Sour”, wherein grimy, gloomy riffin’ is accompanied by oblique references to Christianity, before the whole slams into a chorus of shrieked outrage, “They won’t take no for an answer/As if they ever fucking ask/Yeah, we incite this violence/Nothing ever changed in silence.”

Angeline Morrison, Cecil Sharp House - a ballad-maker for our time

★★★★ ANGELINE MORRISON, CECIL SHARP HOUSE Exploring black British history in song

Exploring black British history in song

Among those making her Cambridge Folk Festival on the diminutive Club Stage back in the summer was Angeline Morrison, a Birmingham-born singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist who these days makes her home in Cornwall, drawn at least in part by its folk music. Her short solo performance was noteworthy, and earlier this month it was announced that Morrison has been awarded the Christian Raphael Prize 2022, presented in association with the Festival.

Bonfire Radicals, Hare & Hounds, Birmingham review - un-traditional folkies unveil their new album

★★★★ BONFIRE RADICALS, HARE & HOUNDS, BIRMINGHAM Un-traditional folkies unveil their new album

Klezmer tunes, a murder ballad and appreciations of Spaghetti Junction and Surbiton

Folk music? It’s all old blokes in shapeless clothes wailing on about ploughmen and fishermen, isn’t it?

Album: Loyle Carner - Hugo

★★★ LOYLE CARNER - HUGO Moving, absorbing, but perhaps not thrilling UK rap coming-of-age

A moving, absorbing, but perhaps not thrilling UK rap coming-of-age album

You’ll want to love Loyle Carner. There’s so much about what he gives and how he delivers it that’s disarming, charming, brilliant even. His lyrics across this album are very obviously from the heart and took real courage to hammer into shape. He talks about his sense of self as he’s struggled to form it in the battlegrounds of race, class, masculinity and nationality, in clear and direct language that leaves you in no doubt that he’s telling the truth.

Album: Simple Minds - Direction of the Heart

★★★ SIMPLE MINDS - DIRECTION OF THE HEART  Uneven, but still a cause for celebration 

The Scottish rock band's 18th album might be uneven, but it's still a cause for celebration

You’d be within your rights to imagine that Direction of the Heart, the follow-up to 2018’s patchy-but-decent Walk Between Worlds, would see the Simple Minds twin engine of Jim Kerr and Charlie Burchill pull on billowing white shirts and head for the nearest massive windswept stadium, filling it to the brim with widescreen synths, anthemic singalong choruses and a staggering extravagance of emotion.

Beabadoobee, Barrowland, Glasgow review - teenage kicks provide a familiar feeling

Bea Laus given an ecstatic reception on her biggest tour yet

Rarely will the bar staff at the Glasgow Barrowland have had an easier night. The crowd for Beabadoobee was so youthful that the vibe felt more like a school disco at times, right down to clusters of parents at the back and on the sidelines alternating between keeping a wary eye on proceedings and burying themselves in their phones. Their offspring, meanwhile, were racing to the front eagerly, leaving the usually busy bar areas deserted.

Album: Dry Cleaning - Stumpwork

★★★★ DRY CLEANING - STUMPWORK Strong follow-up from spoken-word-set-to-music foursome

A strong follow-up album from the spoken-word-set-to-music foursome

There are many reasons that I am obsessed with Florence Shaw. It's not just that as a long time sufferer of Resting-Bitch-Face I identify hard with her deadpan nonchalance, it's also pure props that she's brought spoken-word-set-to-music into the mainstream.

Music Reissues Weekly: Maha - Orkos

MAHA - ORKOS Terrific but previously little-known Egyptian gem from 1979 resurfaces

Terrific but previously little-known Egyptian gem from 1979 resurfaces

Orkos was originally released in 1979 on cassette. The only album by Egyptian singer Maha seems to have been little known. The liner notes for its first-ever reissue say “it was not a success when it was originally released. While nobody remembers the exact numbers, sales must have been very limited and the project was quickly forgotten about and no follow up release was produced.”

Album: Red Hot Chili Peppers - Return of the Dream Canteen

★★★★ RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS - RETURN OF THE DREAM CANTEEN Stadium rock old-timers summon up a feast of West Coast guitar pop

Stadium rock old-timers summon up a feast of West Coast guitar pop

Does the world need to hear more from Red Hot Chili Peppers? Outside the bouncin’ bro’ fanbase, a regular consensus is that, despite being one of the biggest bands in the world, doing their global stadium rock thing – with free added funk! – achieving the highest level of commercial success, they're not of actual interest.