New album: Perfect for long, dark, wintry nights, a beguilingly beautiful mix of medieval, folk, ghostly tales and fables mixed with the modern by Katharine Blake of Mediaeval Baebes and Miranda Sex Garden, collaborating with multi-instrumentalist Michael J York
Read moreNathaniel Rateliff and The Night Sweats: The Future
The full Sweats with Nathaniel (centre)
New album: Emotionally powerful, muscular rock-country-soul by the Denver singer-songwriter and band has strong echoes of Hurricane-era, Dylan, northern soul, early Van Morrison, as well as with oodles of swagger, sweat, grit, slide guitar, meaty brass, screams and sorrow
Read moreSnail Mail: Valentine
Snail Mail’s Valentine
New album: Second LP by Lindsey Jordan, following 2018’s debut, Lush, broadens her folk-indie-rock brush with a bigger range of sounds and synths, as well as heartbreak, exchanging some of her initial musical intimacy perhaps to reach a broader commercial appeal
Read moreAfflecks Palace: What Do You Mean It's Not Raining
Afflecks Palace: Spirit of ‘89
New album: Spirited, uplifting debut by the Manchester indie quartet named after the legendary market stall building with a style very much echoing the heydays of baggy ‘89 Stone Roses, complete with jangling guitars, stop-start sections and wistful, upbeat harmonised vocals
Read morePenelope Isles: Which Way To Happy
Something to cling to: Penelope Isles’ second album Which Way To Happy
New album: A bright, sparkly blend of wistful, ethereal dream pop, space rock, some French disco and electronica by Brighton’s core of siblings Jack and Lily Wolter and a fine follow-up to the 2019 debut LP Until the Tide Creeps In
Read moreJoan As Police Woman, Tony Allen and Dave Okumu: The Solution Is Restless
The Solution is Restless
New album: Joan Wasser and her long-time collaborator’s brilliant, beautiful, dark, and perfectly paced blend of funk-afro-jazz with vocals, bass, piano, strings, horns, and stored sessions from the great departed afrobeat drum pioneer
Read moreNation of Language: A Way Forward
Going back to go forward: Nation of Language
New album: The follow-up to Introduction, Presence (2020), the Brooklyn trio continue in very likeable new wave synth vein, but dipping more into style of the 70s pioneers such as Kraftwerk and Neu! as well as early Human League and OMD
Read moreMarta Del Grandi: Until We Fossilize
Marta Del Grandi’s debut album Until We Fossilize
New album: This delicate, beautiful debut by the Italian singer from Milan with a jazz background infuses her songs with folk and classical and eastern elements in an LP inspired by the Greek myth of Amethyst who defies the patriarchy
Read moreAimee Mann: Queens of the Summer Hotel
Queens of the Summer Hotel is Aimee Mann’s 10th studio album
New album: Filled with grace, charm, sharp lyrics and killer, heartbreaking melancholy, these beautiful songs by the American artist were inspired Girl, Interrupted, the 1993 memoir by Susanna Kaysen about experiences in a 1960s psychiatric hospital
Read moreCurtis Harding: If Words Were Flowers
Curtis Harding’s third solo LP, If Words Were Flowers
New album: Classic high-quality 70s-style soul and gospel by the Atlanta singer on his third solo album, filled with beautiful instrumentation and packed with vocally strong emotions that seek the positive through dark times
Read moreGeese: Projector
Geese’s debut album Projector
New album: Dynamic and brilliantly experimental debut LP by the very promising young post-punk Brooklyn band brimming with intricate guitars, changes of pace, vaulting from the abstract to the intimate
Read moreEris Drew: Quivering in Time
Eris Drew’s Quivering In Time
New album: Engaging, inventive, wonderfully odd and at times insanely catchy, this album by the Chicago-based DJ and producer channels her self-described Motherbeat with this clever selection of nine dance tracks
Read moreMarissa Nadler: The Path of The Clouds
Marissa Nadler
New album: This ninth album by the Boston-based American singer-songwriter is a beautiful selection of slow, acoustic numbers rich in stories about individuals and inspired by the long-running TV documentary series Unsolved Mysteries
Read moreSam Evian: Time To Melt
Sam Evian’s third album, Time To Melt
New album: Warm, woozy and fluid, an appropriate title for this super smooth third album by Sam Griffin Owens, the Brooklyn based artist, decorated with light funk, 70s psychedelic soul and lush, orchestral instrumentation
Read moreTori Amos: Ocean to Ocean
New album: Rich in textures orchestral and piano with that distinctive, articulate voice, the American artist’s new album is suffused with nature’s inspiration via a long Covid lockdown on the Cornish Coast, and by stages of grief for her mother
Read moreHand Habits: Fun House
Mysterious beauty: Fun House by Hand Habits
New album: New York-born Los Angeles-based artist Meg Duffy returns with her own distinctive form of electro-pop and Americana folk with very refined, dreamily sung songs that build on her excellent single Aquamarine
Read moreThe Surfing Magazines: Badgers of Wymeswold
A collage of dreams: the new album by The Surfing Magazines
New album: A welcome regrouping of two of The Wave Pictures, Charles Watson from Slow Club and Dominic Brider on drums in a 16-song mix of catchy surf guitar, folk rock, blues, indie, vintage rock’n’roll, bluegrass and no shortage of humour
Read moreLa Luz: La Luz
La Luz, self-titled, is the band’s fourth studio album
New album: LA’s Shana Cleveland and co return with a fourth, self-titled LP of wonderful, atmospheric numbers of gentle, surf-noir folk-psychedelia of tremendous melody, rich vocal harmony, and guitar and sitar-pedal sheen
Read moreSufjan Stevens and Angelo De Augustine: A Beginner's Mind
The album cover, one of several paintings by Ghanaian movie poster artist Daniel Anum Jasper
New album: Stevens’ new collaborative album with fellow songwriter brings two complementary voices and talents together with light, melancholy and beautiful numbers that are all inspired by a diverse set of feature films
Read moreLana Del Rey: Blue Banisters
Blue Banister’s is Lana Del Rey’s eighth studio album in 11 years
New album: The American singer-songwriter returns with her eighth LP and second LP of the year with further slow, cinematic piano-based numbers filled with her soaring voice and vivid, heartbreak stories and images
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