new music reviews, news & interviews
Thomas H. Green |
I didn’t want to review Shania Twain. My sense of her is of ancient mega-selling hits I can’t stand. I didn’t even go to her Sunday afternoon set at Glastonbury 2024. But it’s difficult to get most music writers to cover the biggest pop stars of our era.
Liz Thomson |
What an extraordinary band are The Punch Brothers, a bunch of conspicuously talented musicians whose six albums never fail to delight and stimulate as they push the boundaries of acoustic music to what you think would be beyond breaking point. It’s been said that they’ve taken “bluegrass to its next evolutionary stage, drawing equal inspiration from the brain and the heart.”
Joe Muggs
There’s a long and rich tradition of scabrous indie rock lyricism from Yorkshire. Sheffield’s Jarvis Cocker and Alex Turner tend to get the plaudits…
Kathryn Reilly
In a similar vein to 2024’s Mercury-nominated album Silence is Loud, Nia Archives' latest offering is an appealing blend of jungle and pop. It’s a…
Jonathan Geddes
It is never a great sign when a local authority is forced to comment on a music festival. The opening night of the In The Park series of shows at…
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Ibrahim Maalouf
The Lebanese-French musician's father was behind a unique musical innovation
Ellie Roberts
The Philadelphia punk rockers continue to impress
Kieron Tyler
A partial account of how Brit-punk absorbed an aspect of reggae
Peter Culshaw
The Fez Festival Of World Sacred Music and the Fes Gathering bring the world together
Mark Kidel
Enchanted sounds from a haunted man
Thomas H. Green
Bristol band aren't happy but offer up the occasional sing-along
Guy Oddy
A new album is unveiled and old tunes are played for the last time
Joe Muggs
Decades of psychedelia and wonder packed into a puzzling construction
Kieron Tyler
The sound of detachment
Guy Oddy
Neo-folk songs that are woozy and atmospheric but thoroughly engaging
Kieron Tyler
First-rate salute to a creative colossus
Guy Oddy
An eardrum damaging evening spent with Birmingham’s Sunn O))) worshippers
Sebastian Scotney
Trio with Gene Calderazzo and Alec Dankworth is a jewel of British jazz
Thomas H. Green
Madonna and Stuart Price concoct a set that's bangin' and occasionally affecting
Joe Muggs
Boundaries not broken, but extraordinary interlocked playing, on the quintet's fourth album
Tim Cumming
The follow-up to comeback album 'Hackney Diamonds' is a raucous, joyful late-period classic
Guy Oddy
US freak-rockers exhume their final album of supreme bizarreness
Thomas H. Green
The hugest regular record reviews in the universe
Thomas H. Green
An entertaining second album full of feminist fun and lethal put-downs
Kieron Tyler
Making the case for wading through a hotchpotch of archive releases
Joe Muggs
Big disco balls and explosive affirmation make the stadium trio more ludicrous than ever
caspar.gomez
With no Glastonbury Festival 2026, our intrepid reporter offers us mementos and tall tales
Cathi Unsworth
As her collection of music by goth divas appears, the writer reveals the appeal of the dark side
Kieron Tyler
Intriguing second album from Los Angeles musical auteur
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