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Modern Nature: Island of Noise

December 15, 2021 Peter Kimpton

Island of Noise cover

New album: Released only as a deluxe double vinyl box set with a 36-page booklet and second instrumental companion LP titled Island Of Silence, this fascinatingly experimental album by Jack Cooper is inspired by Shakespeare’s The Tempest

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In albums, experimental, jazz Tags Modern Nature, Jack Cooper, Bella Union, albums, new releases
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Will Varley: The Hole Around My Head

December 15, 2021 Peter Kimpton

Sparsely beautiful: Will Varley’s The Hole Around My Head

New album: The English folk and alt-country singer-songwriter’s enthralling new LP is about ‘overcoming entropy, and the will of human beings to push on and create order and patterns in the madness and chaos of our existence’

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In albums, folk, country Tags albums, new releases, Will Varley, Yellow Cake
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Aeon Station: Observatory

December 14, 2021 Peter Kimpton

New perspective: Aeon Station’s Observatory

New album: Beautiful debut full LP by the solo moniker of The Wrens' Kevin Whelan with contributions from his band mates, these lockdown-inspired, highly emotive songs take the long view, filled with recriminations, guilt, but also hope for the future

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In albums, folk, rock, indie Tags albums, new releases, Aeon Station, The Wrens, Kevin Whelan, Sub Pop
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Bill Callahan and Bonnie Prince Billy: Blind Date Party

December 13, 2021 Peter Kimpton

Blind Date Party album

New album: The brilliant veterans of darkly beautiful lo-fi and killer lyrics release a 2020-21 lockdown collaborative 19-song compilation of covers and reworked songs with just as many guests, including songs by Leonard Cohen, Yusuf Islam and Billie Eilish, as well as many Drag City labelmates

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In albums, Americana, folk, indie Tags albums, new releases, Bill Callahan, Bonnie Prince Billy, AZITA, Matt Sweeney, Silver Jews, Cassie Berman, Billie Eilish, Steely Dan, Cat Stevens (Yusuf Islam), Ty Segall, Dead Rider, The High Llamas
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Julie Doiron: I Thought of You

December 8, 2021 Peter Kimpton

Julie Doiron’s I Thought of You

New album: Cracking new LP by the influential 49-year-old Canadian indie singer-songwriter who has released multiple album under her own name, various other monikers, in French and Spanish, here with catchy, melancholy and moving songs

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In albums, Americana, blues, country, indie Tags albums, new releases, Julia Doiron, You've Changed Records
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Houeida Hedfi: Fleuves De L’Âme

December 8, 2021 Peter Kimpton

Houeida Hedfi’s debut album Fleuves De L’Âme

New album: A gorgeous, entrancing debut by the Tunisian percussionist joined by fellow violin player Radhi Chaouali and Palestinian bouzouk player Jalal Nader in a brilliant fusion of North African, Middle Eastern and western styles to evoke the voices of rivers

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In albums, African, electronica, experimental, jazz, traditional Tags albums, new releases, Houeida Hedfi, Radhi Chaouali, Jalal Nader, Africa, Tunisia, Planningtorock, Olof Dreijer, Phantasy Records, Phantasy Sound
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David Bowie: Toy

December 6, 2021 Peter Kimpton

New album: Previously unreleased due to label wrangles, and part of the Brilliant Adventure (1992-2001) huge boxset, this set of revisited 60s songs recorded in 2000, offers fine evidence of Bowie joyfully reworking his past a late-90s swagger

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In albums, pop, rock Tags David Bowie, albums, new releases, Earl Slick, Parlophone, Tintoretto Entertainment
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Ichiko Aoba: Windswept Adan

December 6, 2021 Peter Kimpton

Ichiko Aoba’s Windswept Adan is now available in a deluxe double LP edition

New album: A gorgeous album that received an initial release last year but now on a deluxe double LP, this is a conceptualised soundtrack album for an imaginary film by the Japanese singer-songwriter that floats and ripples with delicate instrumentation and her beautifully gentle voice

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In albums, experimental, soundtracks Tags Ichiko Aoba, albums, new releases, Taro Umebayashi, Japan, film soundtracks
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Arca: Kick ii, Kick iii, Kick iiii, Kick iiiii

December 5, 2021 Peter Kimpton

Arca’s Kick ii album, one of four visually arresting covers

After 2020’s Grammy-nominated KiCk i Venezuela-born, Barcelona-based cyber-looking trans electronic artist Alejandra Ghers doesn’t do things by halves – returning with a daunting but fascinating quadruple release of albums of various styles with 47 songs across 147 minutes

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In albums, ambient, electronica, experimental Tags albums, new releases, Arca, Sia, Shirley Manson, Ryuichi Sakamoto, XL Recordings
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Richard Dawson and Circle: Henki

December 4, 2021 Peter Kimpton

Richard Dawson and Circle’s collaborative album Henki

New album: An entrancing, uplifting, brilliantly crafted and epic-feel mix of folk, prog and krautrock through tales of seeds, botany, history and myth by the Newcastle artist in collaboration with the Finnish metal band in a fabulous album unlike any other in 2021

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In albums, experimental, folk, prog-rock, psychedelia, rock Tags Richard Dawson, Circle, Domino Records, Weird World
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Deap Vally: Marriage

November 24, 2021 Peter Kimpton

Deap Vally’s Lindsay Troy and Julie Edwards

New album: Full of feisty swagger, and rich, fuzzy guitar grit, the Los Angeles pair of Lindsay Troy and Julie Edwards return for a fourth album of rock-rich irony, fun, sweary sneering, sex-talk, anger and meaty riffs, and one of best yet

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In albums, indie, post-punk, rock Tags albums, new releases, Deap Vally, Cooking Vinyl
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Adele: 30

November 23, 2021 Peter Kimpton

New album: She’s back, with further heartbreak and all about her divorce, and while here we try to avoid the mega-selling LPs – this already set to be the biggest of 2021 – there’s no denying the honesty and talent of Tottenham’s finest, Adele Adkins

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In albums, pop, soul Tags Adele, albums, new releases, Columbia Records
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Silk Sonic: An Evening With Silk Sonic (Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak)

November 22, 2021 Peter Kimpton

Anderson .Paak and Bruno Mars

New album: Something of a perfect pairing – two superstars come together with a shared niche passion for 70s funk and soul, and with guests including bassists Thundercat and Bootsy Collins, this brings rich, scintillating results

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In albums, funk, soul Tags new releases, albums, Anderson Paak, Bruno Mars, Thundercat, Bootsy Collins, Dernst "D'Mile" Emile II, Atlantic Records, Aftermath Entertainment
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They Might Be Giants: BOOK

November 22, 2021 Peter Kimpton

They Might Be Giants’ John Flansburgh and John Linnell

New album: New York’s original alt-rockers John Flansburgh and John Linnell return with their 23rd studio album of clever, whimsical, absurd and amusing songs, part of a project with an 8-track tape, another EP, and a bumper book of lyrics set in concrete poetry

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In albums, experimental, pop, rock Tags albums, new releases, They Might Be Giants, John Flansburgh, John Linnell, Idlewild Recordings
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Robert Plant and Alison Krauss: Raise The Roof

November 22, 2021 Peter Kimpton

Raise the Roof continues the elevation of Plant and Krauss 2007 album Raising Sand

New album: Fourteen years after their award-winning album Raising Sand, the pair reunite with another very fine covers album, ably produced by T Bone Burnett, of blues, country, soul, but also now infusing English folk

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In albums, Americana, blues, folk, country, traditional Tags albums, new releases, Robert Plant, Alison Krauss, T Bone Burnett, Bert Jansch, Lucinda Williams, Anne Briggs
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Elbow: Flying Dream 1

November 21, 2021 Peter Kimpton

A gentle hit? Elbow’s Flying Dream 1

New album: Variously written by members isolated during lockdown, the Manchester band’s ninth LP is a study in gentle, minimalism, filled with beautiful lyrical images and tender moments after 2019’s angrier, edgier, proggy Giants of All Sizes

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In albums, pop, rock Tags albums, new releases, Elbow, Polydor
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The Bug Club: Pure Particles

November 17, 2021 Peter Kimpton

Vibrant joy: The Bug Club’s Pure Particles

New album: A fantastic, punchy short album of nine songs by the indie trio from South Wales with vibrant, fresh, Jonathan Richman-style panache, witty lyrics, dynamic guitar riffs and driving rhythm that is all infectiously toe-tapping

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In albums, indie, pop, rock Tags albums, new releases, The Bug Club, Bingo Records
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Radiohead: KID A MNESIA

November 17, 2021 Peter Kimpton

Radiohead’s KID A MNESIA

Reissue albums: An anniversary edition of two landmark albums, Kid A (2000) and Amnesiac (2001) combined, but with a difference, with added tracks and alternate versions, harking back when the band expanded from rock into more experimental, krautrock and electronica territory

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In albums, experimental, electronica, indie, psychedelia, rock Tags Radiohead, Thom Yorke, XL Recordings
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Courtney Barnett: Things Take Time, Take Time

November 16, 2021 Peter Kimpton

No rush: Courtney Barnett’s fourth LP

New album: There’s no rushing the Australian indie singer-songwriter in style or substance, and this attractively laid-back new LP is relaxed in pace, filled with gentle, sometimes melancholy lyrics, many of which seek reconciliation, healing and patience

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In albums, indie Tags Courtney Barnett, albums, new releases, Milk! Records, Mom + Pop Records, Marathon Artists
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Damon Albarn: The Nearer The Fountain, More Pure The Stream Flows

November 16, 2021 Peter Kimpton

Darkly beautiful: Damon Albarn’s new album

New album: The frontman of many bands from Blur to Gorillaz returns with a new solo album suffused with slow beautiful, tender melancholy, falling piano chord progressions, jazz elements, electronica, gentle beats and wistful images

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In albums, electronica, experimental, jazz, pop Tags albums, new releases, Damon Albarn, Blur, Gorillaz, Transgressive
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DRINK OF THE WEEK

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New Albums …

Featured
Favourite Albums of 2025 - Part 3.jpeg
Dec 18, 2025
Favourite albums of 2025 - Part Three
Dec 18, 2025

Welcome to the third and final part of Song Bar favourite albums of 2025. There is also Part One, and Part Two. There is no countdown nor describing these necessarily as “best” albums of the year, but they are chosen by their quality, originality and reader popularity

Dec 18, 2025
Favourite albums of 2025 - Part Two.jpeg
Dec 17, 2025
Favourite albums of 2025 - Part Two
Dec 17, 2025

Welcome to the second part of Song Bar favourite albums of 2025. There is also a first part and a third part this week. There is no countdown nor describing these necessarily as “best” albums of the year, but they are chosen by their quality, originality and reader popularity

Dec 17, 2025
Favourite albums of 2025 - Part 1 updated.jpg
Dec 16, 2025
Favourite albums of 2025 - Part One
Dec 16, 2025

Welcome to the first part of Song Bar favourite albums of 2025. There will also be a second and third part this week. There is no countdown nor describing these necessarily as “best” albums of the year, but they are chosen by their quality, originality and reader popularity

Dec 16, 2025
Juliana Hatfield.jpeg
Dec 16, 2025
Juliana Hatfield: Lightning Might Strike
Dec 16, 2025

New album: Personal upheaval, grief, powerlessness, trauma, sudden change inform the title and colour the lyrics of this latest LP by the seasoned Boston indie artist but her songs are packed with brutally honest, candid, concise reflections and warm, catchy, stirring riffs and melodies

Dec 16, 2025
Dove Ellis - Blizzard.jpeg
Dec 9, 2025
Dove Ellis: Blizzard
Dec 9, 2025

New album: An extraordinarily mature, passionate, poetic, and outstandingly powerful debut by the Manchester-based Galway-born singer-songwriter, whose soaring delivery has instant echoes of Jeff Buckley and lyrics that go above and beyond

Dec 9, 2025
Spíra by Ólöf Arnalds.jpeg
Dec 5, 2025
Ólöf Arnalds: Spíra
Dec 5, 2025

New album: A gorgeous, delicate, ethereal first release in a decade by the Icelandic singer-songwriter, acoustic instruments and her gentle, high, pure voice, all in her native language, caressing this listening experience like pure waters of some slowly trickling glacial stream

Dec 5, 2025
Melody's Echo Chamber - Unclouded.jpeg
Dec 5, 2025
Melody's Echo Chamber: Unclouded
Dec 5, 2025

New album: A fourth album, here full of delicious uplifting, dreamily chic, psychedelic soul pop by the French musician Melody Prochet, with bright, upbeat, optimistic numbers and a title lifted from a quote by the acclaimed Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki, about achieving equilibrium

Dec 5, 2025
Devotion & The Black Divine by anaiis.jpeg
Dec 2, 2025
anaiis: Devotion & The Black Divine
Dec 2, 2025

New album: Following a summer Song of the Day - Deus Deus, a review of the autumn release and third LP by the London-based French-Senegalese singer-songwriter of resonantly beautiful, dynamic, sensual soul, gospel, R&B and experimental and chamber pop, with themes of new motherhood, uncertainty, religion, self-love and acceptance

Dec 2, 2025
De La Soul - Cabin In The Sky.jpeg
Nov 26, 2025
De La Soul: Cabin In The Sky
Nov 26, 2025

New album: The hip-hop veterans return with their first without, yet including the voice of, and a tribute to, founding member Trugoy the Dove, AKA Dave Jolicoeur who passed away in 2023, alongside many hip-hop luminary guests, with trademark playful skits, and all themed around the afterlife

Nov 26, 2025
The Mountain Goats- Through This Fire Across From Peter Balkan.jpeg
Nov 26, 2025
The Mountain Goats: Through This Fire Across From Peter Balkan
Nov 26, 2025

New album: An evocative musical journey of a concept album by the indie-folk band from Claremont, California, fronted by singer-songwriter John Darnielle, based on a dream of his in 2023 about a voyage to a fictional island by the titular captain, charting adventure, wonder and tragedy

Nov 26, 2025
Allie X - Happiness Is Going To Get You.jpeg
Nov 26, 2025
Allie X: Happiness Is Going To Get You
Nov 26, 2025

New album: A hugely entertaining, witty, droll, inventive, chamber and synth-pop fourth LP with a goth twist by the charismatic and theatrical Canadian artist Alexandra Hughes, who brings paradox and dark themes through sounds that include string quartet, harpsichord, classical and pure pop piano with killer lyrics

Nov 26, 2025
Tortoise - Touch.jpeg
Nov 25, 2025
Tortoise: Touch
Nov 25, 2025

New album: A welcome return with a cinematic and mesmeric groove-filled first studio LP in nine years, and the eighth over all by the eclectic Chicago post-rock/jazz/krautrock multi-instrumentalists Dan Bitney, John Herndon, Douglas McCombs, John McEntire and Jeff Parker

Nov 25, 2025
What of Our Nature by Haley Heynderickx, Max García Conover.jpeg
Nov 24, 2025
Haley Heynderickx and Max García Conover: What of Our Nature
Nov 24, 2025

New album: Beautiful, precise, poignant and poetic new folk numbers inspired by the life and music style of Woody Guthrie as the Portland, Oregon and New Yorker, now Portland, Maine-based singer-songwriters bring a delicious duet album, alternating and sharing songs covering a variety of forever topical social issues

Nov 24, 2025
Tranquilizer by Oneohtrix Point Never.jpeg
Nov 24, 2025
Oneohtrix Point Never: Tranquilizer
Nov 24, 2025

New album: Ambient, otherworldly, cinematic, mesmeric, and at times very odd, the Brooklyn-based electronic artist and producer Daniel Lopatin returns with a new nostalgia-based concept – constructing tracks from lost-then-refound Y2K CDs of 1990s and early 2000s royalty-free sample electronic sounds

Nov 24, 2025

new songs …

Featured
Yumi Zouma - No Love Lost.jpeg
Dec 22, 2025
Song of the Day: Yumi Zouma - 95
Dec 22, 2025

Song of the Day: A beautiful, gentle, reflective new single by the New Zealand experimental indie-pop band referencing the US east coast Maine to Miami interstate road about homesickness and more, heralding the new album No Love Lost to Kindness, out on 30 January, out on Nettwerk Music

Dec 22, 2025
Deadletter - To The Brim.jpeg
Dec 19, 2025
Song of the Day: DEADLETTER - To The Brim
Dec 19, 2025

Song of the Day: A moody, mysterious minute-long intro with gentle bursts of brass and woodwind veils what becomes a punchy new lead single by the Leeds post-punk band heralding their second LP - Existence is Bliss out on 27 February via SO Recordings

Dec 19, 2025
Greentea Peng - Prisoners Round.jpeg
Dec 18, 2025
Song of the Day: Greentea Peng - Prisoners Round
Dec 18, 2025

Song of the Day: Following March 2025’s acclaimed album, Tell Dem It’s Sunny, the south-east London artist (aka Aria Wells) returns with another smoky, dark, track with hues of blues, dub and soul and Portishead-esque trip-hop, focusing on the trappings and challenges of modern life

Dec 18, 2025
Kaitlyn Aurela Smith - I Miss The Way You Swim.jpg
Dec 17, 2025
Song of the Day: Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith - I Miss the Way You Swim
Dec 17, 2025

Song of the Day: Beautiful modular synths and intermingling orchestral sounds ripple in this work by the American composer, performer and producer in a piece shaped by loss of someone loved, taken from an upcoming instrumental album Thoughts On The Future, out on Nettwerk Music

Dec 17, 2025
The Paper Kites - If You Go There.jpeg
Dec 16, 2025
Song of the Day: The Paper Kites - Change Of The Wind
Dec 16, 2025

Song of the Day: A beautiful, reflective number by the alternative folk-rock band from Melbourne fronted by Sam Bentley, heralding their seventh studio album If You Go There, I Hope You Find It, out on 23 January via Nettwerk Music Group

Dec 16, 2025
Courtney Marie Andrews - Valentine.jpeg
Dec 15, 2025
Song of the Day: Courtney Marie Andrews - Little Picture Of A Butterfly
Dec 15, 2025

Song of the Day: Beautiful, delicate, fluttering, eclectic, heartbreak folk and Americana by the singer-songwriter from Phoenix, Arizona, heralding her forthcoming new album, Valentine, out on 16 January via Loose Future

Dec 15, 2025
Peter Perrett - Proud To Be Self-Hating.jpeg
Dec 12, 2025
Song of the Day: Peter Perrett - PROUD TO BE SELF-HATING (irony and provocation)
Dec 12, 2025

Song of the Day: The veteran British artist, originally frontman of The Only Ones, and now with three solo albums, who actually has Jewish heritage, releases a gently powerful, nuanced, pro-Palestine acoustic number as a response to ongoing genocide by the Israeli government, out on Domino Records

Dec 12, 2025
Maddie Ashman - Jaded.jpeg
Dec 11, 2025
Song of the Day: Maddie Ashman - Jaded
Dec 11, 2025

Song of the Day: Magical, delicate, eclectic, intricate, experimental microtonal music by the London musician and singer, released alongside a longer track, In Autumn My Heart Breaks

Dec 11, 2025
Ye Vagabonds.jpeg
Dec 10, 2025
Song of the Day: Ye Vagabonds - The Flood
Dec 10, 2025

Song of the Day: Wonderfully warm, rich, lively fiddle-driven Irish folk by the award-winning band fronted by Carlow brothers Brían and Diarmuid Mac Gloinn with a heartbreaking number about the housing crisis, heralding their upcoming new album, All Tied Together, out on Rough Trade’s River Lea Recordings on 30 January

Dec 10, 2025
DBA! band.jpeg
Dec 9, 2025
Song of the Day: DBA! A Poet And A Clown
Dec 9, 2025

Song of the Day: Catchy fuzz-guitar indie rock with a swagger by the Liverpool-formed trio of Sam Warren, James Lindberg and Joshua Grant in a song described as “a confessional story of desire tangled with religious guilt”

Dec 9, 2025
Puma Blue - Croak Dream.jpeg
Dec 8, 2025
Song of the Day: Puma Blue - Croak Dream
Dec 8, 2025

Song of the Day: A dark, esoteric, mysterious and stylish title track with a hint of Radiohead and playing with the idea of knowing your future death, from the experimental indie/goth/ambient London artist Jacob Allen’s forthcoming album out on 6 February via Play It Again Sam

Dec 8, 2025
ELIZA - Anyone Else.jpeg
Dec 7, 2025
Song of the Day: ELIZA - Anyone Else
Dec 7, 2025

Song of the Day: Stripped-back, bluesy, fuzzy funk with slight echoes of Prince and alt-R&B are conjured up in this love song by the London-based singer-songwriter Eliza Caird, her first single for two years, now off the mainstream and out on Log Off Records

Dec 7, 2025

Word of the week

Featured
Hangover.jpeg
Dec 4, 2025
Word of the week: crapulence
Dec 4, 2025

Word of the week: A term that may apply regularly during Xmas party season, from the from the Latin crapula, in turn from the Greek kraipálē meaning "drunkenness" or "headache" pertains to sickness symptoms caused by excess in eating or drinking, or general intemperance and overindulgence

Dec 4, 2025
Running shoes and barefoot.jpeg
Nov 20, 2025
Word of the week: discalceate
Nov 20, 2025

Word of the week: A rarely used, but often practised verb, especially when arriving home, it means to take off your shoes, but is also a slightly more common adjective meaning barefoot or unshod, particularly for certain religious orders that wear sandals instead of shoes. But in what context does this come up in song?

Nov 20, 2025
autumn-red-leaves.jpeg
Nov 6, 2025
Word of the week: erythrophyll
Nov 6, 2025

Word of the week: A seasonally topical word relating to the the red pigment of tree leaves, fruits and flowers, that appears particularly when changing in autumn, as opposed to the green effect of chlorophyll, from the Greek erythros for red, and phyll for leaves. But what of songs about this?

Nov 6, 2025
Fennec fox 2.jpeg
Oct 22, 2025
Word of the week: fennec
Oct 22, 2025

Word of the week: It’s a small pale-fawn nocturnal fox with unusually large, highly sensitive ears, that inhabits from African and Arab deserts areas from Western Sahara and Mauritania to the Sinai Peninsula. But has it ever been seen in a song?

Oct 22, 2025
Narrowboat.jpeg
Oct 9, 2025
Word of the week: gongoozler
Oct 9, 2025

Word of the week: A fabulous old English slang term for someone who tends to stand or sit for long periods staring at the passing of boats on canals, sometimes with a derogatory or at least ironic use for someone who is useless or lazy. But what of songs about this activity and culture?

Oct 9, 2025

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