Album: Billy Nomates - Metalhorse

A rare lively and upbeat moment in a generally morbid and hardly chirpy album

East Midlands post-punker tries on some yacht rock

Metalhorse is a concept album that uses visions of a dilapidated funfair as a metaphor for life’s various ups and downs. It especially seems to concentrate on the downs though, especially when it employs opening lines like “My best friend’s dying” on “Nothin Worth Winnin”.

Album: MØ - Plæygirl

Scandinavian singer injects a dash of outsider melancholy into her fizzing electro-pop

Danish singer MØ is a paradox. Initially she appeared to be another Scandi electro-pop princess of the bangers. The monster 2015 hit “Lean On” with Major Lazer jacked her profile, briefly, through the roof, but, while she’s worked with everyone from Iggy Azalea to DJ Benny Benassi, she seemed to step sideways from pure pop, tempering it with something more Nordic and melancholy. Her fourth album persuasively continues in this direction.

PUP, SWG3, Glasgow review - controlled chaos from Canadian punks

★★★★ PUP, SWG3, GLASGOW Controlled chaos from Canadian punks

A no-frills set demonstrated the Toronto quartet's skill with a chorus and a mosh pit

According to PUP lead singer Stefan Babcock, the Toronto foursome practiced together a grand total of twice before embarking on their current UK and European tour.

Given the band’s well-known habit for disagreements and teetering on the edge of imploding, that might have been a wise decision. It didn’t affect the show itself, for while the group’s history is littered with chaos, this was a lively but controlled display. 

Music Reissues Weekly: Roots Rocking Zimbabwe

ROOTS ROCKING ZIMBABWE Exhaustive guide to how and why a music scene evolved

Exhaustive guide to how and why a music scene evolved

“Soul Scene,” by Echoes Limited, is built from elements of the James Brown sound. But it’s put together in such a way that the result is unfamiliar. The angular drum groove edges towards a 5/8 shuffle. The circularity of the guitar suggests Congolese rumba. Funk, but outside recognised templates.

Then there’s “Anoshereketa” by Oliver & The Black Spirits. The swirling township structure is recognisable but the drums and the nature of the guitar playing – clipped and spindly, respectively – give an edge. This music is hard to place aesthetically and geographically.

Supergrass, Barrowland, Glasgow review - nostalgia played with youthful energy

★★★★★ SUPERGRASS, BARROWLAND, GLASGOW The Oxford group's revival of their debut album fizzed with excitement

The Oxford group's revival of their debut album fizzed with excitement

It is a family affair at Supergrass shows these days. There were plenty of parents and offspring filing onto the Barrowland’s famous old dancefloor, and during the encore a pair of excitable, bouncing teenagers turned around and started bellowing for their dad, off on the sidelines, to join in pogoing. He declined, but was singing along with vigour nonetheless.

Louis Cole, Roundhouse review - nothing is everything

★★★★★ LOUIS COLE, ROUNDHOUSE Telepathic grooves and Mahlerian beauty collide in Camden

Telepathic grooves and Mahlerian beauty collide in Camden

London's iconic Roundhouse, packed to the rafters, provided the perfect setting for the UK premiere of Louis Cole's groundbreaking album nothing – his fifth album and third on Brainfeeder. This one-night-only performance, featuring Cole on drums and keys with an orchestra conducted by Jules Buckley, delivered electrifying musicianship, fascinating stylistic mash-ups, and melodies that imprinted themselves on your consciousness.

'Classic-era prog’s Olympian pinnacle': Pink Floyd's 'Echoes' returns in their restored Pompeii concert film and as Nick Mason's band's vinyl hit

CLASSIC-ERA PROG'S OLYMPIAN PINNACLE Pink Floyd's 'Echoes' returns

The band's legendary track from 1971 resurfaces not once, but twice

Pink Floyd’s “Echoes”, the ineffable progressive rock epic that occupies side two of 1971’s Meddle, is having a moment. Nick Mason’s Saucerful of Secrets released a sensational one-sided 12-inch vinyl version of the track on Record Store Day, April 12. Recorded at the Centennial Hall in Frankfurt last August, the 23.04-minutes single – which plays from the centre outwards – reached number six in the vinyl chart, dropped, and is rising again.

Album: Sleep Token - Even In Arcadia

★★★ SLEEP TOKEN - EVEN IN ARCADIA Breathlessly inventive and demonstrates well-earned reputation

The anonymous UK metallers' fourth album is breathlessly inventive and emotive

It has never been an exact science understanding when something will capture lightning in a bottle and go viral. Even less expected is for an anonymous metal band to become a social media sensation, but in early 2023 that's exactly what happened for Sleep Token.