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New albums: Father John Misty, LUMP (Laura Marling / Mike Lindsay), Bodega, Neko Case, Warmduscher, Natalie Prass, Sam Evian, Morcheeba

June 1, 2018 Peter Kimpton
LUMP: Laura Marling and Mike Lindsay, inspired by the hairy one

LUMP: Laura Marling and Mike Lindsay, inspired by the hairy one

This week we lavish you with a bumper crop of top-quality LPs: ethereal beauty in a Laura Marling collaboration, Father John Misty parodying narcissism, brilliant Brooklyn punk band Bodega, blues funk from Warmduscher, and superb solo female work by Neko Case and Natalie Prass

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In albums, blues, country, dance music, electronica, folk, funk, garage, hip hop, indie, jazz, pop, post-punk, punk, rock, soul, trip-hop Tags Father John Misty, Josh Tillman, Laura Marling, Mike Lindsay, Tunng, new releases, albums, Bodega, Brooklyn, internet, Warmduscher, Saul Adamczewski, Lias Kaci Saoudi, The Moonlandingz, Insecure Men, Natalie Prass, Neko Case, Matthew E. White, Laura Veirs, Beth Ditto, Peter Bjorn and John, Sam Evian, Morcheeba, Root Manuva, Dead Oceans, Bella Union, What's Your Rupture?, The Leaf Label, ATO Records, ANTI Records, Saddle Creek Records, Fly Agaric Records
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New albums: Chvches, Tracyanne & Danny, Wooden Shjips, Lindi Ortega, A$AP Rocky, Agnes Obel & Various

May 29, 2018 Peter Kimpton
Heads up for Wooden Shjips

Heads up for Wooden Shjips

Synth-pop from the Scottish trio, a new collaboration featuring Camera Obscura’s singer, psych-rock from Wooden Shjips, filmic country from Lindi Ortega, braggadocio from Rocky A$AP, and a great new Late Night Tales

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In albums, country, dance music, electronica, folk, funk, hip hop, indie, pop, post-punk, rock, soul, jazz, soundtracks Tags songs, new releases, albums, Chvches, Lauren Mayberry, Glassnote Records, Virgin, Tracyanne & Danny, Tracyanne Campbell, Camera Obscura, Danny Coughlan, Crybaby, Edwyn Collins, Merge Records, Lindi Ortega, Quentin Tarantino, Wooden Shjips, Ripley Johnson, Thrill Jockey, A$AP Rocky, Skepta, Stormzy, Frank Ocean, Snoop Dogg, Moby, Agnes Obel, Ennio Morricone, Can, Yello, Ray Davies, Lee Hazlewood, Nora Dean, The Roger Webb Sound
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New albums: Courtney Barnett, ​​​​​​​Parquet Courts, Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks, Wax Chattels, Ryley Walker, Ray LaMontage, TT, Mary Lattimore, James Bay

May 18, 2018 Peter Kimpton
Courtney Barnett

Courtney Barnett

A bumper crop this week includes sharp lyricists Courtney Barnett and Stephen Malkmus, postpunk greats Parquet Courts, jazz indie from kiwis Wax Chattels, and a solo album by Warpaint’s singer and a lovely harp album

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In albums, classical, country, dance music, electronica, folk, funk, garage, hip hop, indie, jazz, pop, post-punk, punk, rock, soul Tags albums, new releases, Courtney Barnett, Parquet Courts, Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks, Pavement, Silver Jews, Wax Chattels, Ryley Walker, Ray LaMontagne, TT, Theresa Wayman, Warpaint, Mary Lattimore, James Bay
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New albums: Drinks (Cate Le Bon), Alexis Taylor (Hot Chip), Jeffrey Lewis, Gurrumul, Sting & Shaggy, Perel

April 24, 2018 Peter Kimpton
A unique and beautiful voice: Geoffrey Gurrumul

A unique and beautiful voice: Geoffrey Gurrumul

This week’s selection includes a farewell from great blind Aboriginal singer, plus Kate Le Bon’s new collaboration, the Hot Chip singer, East Berliner Perel, a Jeffrey Lewis tribute to counterculture, and a strange joint album between Sting and Shaggy

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In albums, classical, electronica, folk, dance music, funk, garage, hip hop, indie, jazz, pop, post-punk, rock, soul, trip-hop, reggae Tags new releases, albums, Drinks, Cate Le Bon, Tim Presley, Alexis Taylor, Hot Chip, Jeffrey Lewis, Tuli Kupferberg, The Fugs, Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu, Perel, Sting, Shaggy, Annegret Fiedler
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New albums: Yo La Tengo, Cut Chemist, Creep Show (John Grant/Wrangler), The Decemberists, plus Thundercat remix

March 13, 2018 Peter Kimpton
Creep Show, a collaboration between John Grant and Stephen Mallinder (ex-Cabaret Voltaire, now with Wrangler)

Creep Show, a collaboration between John Grant and Stephen Mallinder (ex-Cabaret Voltaire, now with Wrangler)

On this week's new selection, John Grant joins forces with ex-Cabaret Voltaire's Stephen Mallinder, now with Wrangler, along with Yo La Tengo, fresh raps with Coldcut, The Decemberists and a remix of Thundercat's already classic album Drunk

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In albums, dance music, electronica, funk, hip hop, indie, jazz, pop, post-punk, rock, soul, trip-hop Tags albums, new releases, Yo La Tengo, Cut Chemist, Creep Show, John Grant, Wrangler, Stephen Mallinder, Cabaret Voltaire, DJ Shadow, Deantoni Parks, The Mars Volta, Biz Markie, tUnE-yArDs, Farmer Dave Scher, Dexter Story, Chali 2na, Hymnal, The Decemberists, Thundercat, OG Ron C, The Chopstars
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New albums and more: Wild Beasts, Björk, Belle & Sebastian, Laurie Anderson & Kronos Quartet, Anne Briggs, Whyte Horses, Car Seat Headrest

February 13, 2018 Peter Kimpton
Laurie Anderson

Laurie Anderson

A cornucopia of classical, electronica, rock, pop and alt-indie decorates this week's selection

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In albums, classical, electronica, folk, funk, indie, jazz, pop, post-punk, rock, soul Tags new releases, albums, Wild Beasts, Björk, Belle & Sebastian, Laurie Anderson, Kronos Quartet, Anne Briggs, Whyte Horses, Car Seat Headrest
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New releases: Shame, Jack White, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Kyle Dixon & Michael Stein, Panda Bear

January 12, 2018 Peter Kimpton
Farm hands. A moment of calm captured Shame's debut album cover

Farm hands. A moment of calm captured Shame's debut album cover

Anger, irony and eeriness appear across these new releases, including the young London punk band, Jack White's new single, music from the TV series Stranger Things, and Black Rebel Motorcycle Club

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In albums, blues, indie, pop, rock, post-punk, jazz Tags new releases, albums, Shame, Charlie Steen, Kyle Dixon, Michael Stein, Stranger Things, tv soundtracks, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Jack White, Panda Bear, Noah Lennox, Animal Collective
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Sexuality, seduction and salutations: favourite albums of 2017 – part 2

December 31, 2017 Peter Kimpton
No swan song ... St Vincent

No swan song ... St Vincent

St Vincent to Queens of the Stone Age, Marika Hackman to Laura Marling, Fleet Foxes to the Mountain Goats, this second part of our readers' favourite albums throws up lots of questions over the self and others

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In albums, blues, classical, country, dance music, electronica, folk, funk, garage, hip hop, indie, metal, pop, punk, rock, soul, trip-hop, jazz Tags albums, new releases, Stormzy, Cigarettes After Sex, Sampha, Courtney Barnett, Kurt Vile, St Vincent, Marika Hackman, The Moonlandingz, Oh Sees, Thee Oh Sees, Jens Lekman, Laura Marling, Chilly Gonzalez, Jarvis Cocker, Conor Oberst, Kendrick Lamar, Thurston Moore, The Mountain Goats, Fleet Foxes, The Duke Spirit, Queens of the Stone Age, Benjamin Clementine, The Surfing Magazines, The Wave Pictures, Slow Club, Beck, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Morrissey, Kamasi Washington, Baxter Dury, Lost Horizons, Shed Seven, Ian Svenonius, Bdy_Prts, Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings, DJ Format, Abdominal, Miraculous Mule, Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds, Noel Gallagher, Mammut, Slowdive, Solveig Heilo, United Bottles, The Whiskey Rebellion, London Grammar, Jason Isabell and the 400 Unit, Hunter and the Bear, The Weeks, Martin Harley, Daniel Kimbro, Chris Stapleton, Samantha Fish, Bad Sam, Not Waving, Rag'n'Bone Man, Gorillaz, Bedouine, Arcade Fire, Sparks, Flat Worms, Will Ivy, Justin Sulllivan, Tim Hellman, Ron Mael
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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
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
SILK SCARF by Tiga & Fcukers.jpg
Dec 6, 2025
Song of the Day: Tiga (featuring Fcukers) - Silk Scarf
Dec 6, 2025

Song of the Day: A fun, sensual, quirkily oddball electronica dance single with a slick, fetish-flirtatious ode to a favourite smooth material by the Montreal musician (Tiga James Sontag) joined here with vocals by the New York band (Shanny Wise and Jackson Walker Lewis), and heralding Tiga’s upcoming album Hotlife, out in April on Secret City Records

Dec 6, 2025
Flea - A Plea.jpeg
Dec 5, 2025
Song of the Day: Flea - A Plea
Dec 5, 2025

Song of the Day: A striking, powerful new single by the Red Hot Chilli Peppers bassist (aka Michael Balzary), who brings a fusion of jazz and spoken word with a fabulous band on an impassioned number about the state of the US in a culture of hatred, social and political tensions, out now on Nonesuch Records

Dec 5, 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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