Album Reviews
Album Review: Glass Caves – Back To Earth
Glass Caves release the radiant new album Back To Earth via Scruff of the Neck Records A decade on from their formation, Glass Caves deliver their most anthemic work to date with Back To Earth. Produced by Andy Gannon at Manchester’s House of Chella, the 12-track release shimmers with clarity and tight musicality, showcasing just how refined the …
Review: Prima Queen – The Prize; Melancholy, melody, and indie magic.
Every album needs a portal. The Prize, the radiant debut from Prima Queen, opens with “Clickbait”—a shimmering 40 seconds of ambient fog, like the band’s way of saying: “Give us a moment, we’re about to turn on the lights.” What follows is something both starry-eyed and deeply grounded: a collection of songs that walk hand …
Album Review : Sami Galbi –‘Ylh Bye Bye’ : fresh and feisty electro-pop from a new voice on the world fusion airwaves.
Genevan label Bongo Joe has been sneaking out singles by Swiss/Moroccan electronic artist Sami Galbi since March last year but now the teasing is over. The full whammy, his debut album ‘Ylh Bye Bye’ has landed on the shelves and should soon be flying off them at speed, it’s that strong. Galbi really is a …
Album Review: Heligoland’s Karen Vogt releases the shimmering, ambient solo album ‘Haunted Woodland, Volume 5’.
Australian-born Karen Vogt plays in the Melbourne dream pop shoegaze band Heligoland – who a few years back toured Europe and forgot to return home, ending up based in Paris. And while Heligoland have been relatively quite (although there is movement on the horizon), Vogt has continued to explore the world of atmospheric, ambient dreamy …
Album Review: Emma-Jean Thackray – Weirdo; Grief grooves with funk-fueled resilience.
Emma-Jean Thackray’s new album Weirdo is a bold, technicolour triumph — deeply personal, fiercely original, and bursting at the seams with groove-laden jazz funk. Self-produced, self-performed, and self-mixed in the solitude of her South London flat, it’s the work of a visionary artist refusing to compromise. Across 17 tracks, Weirdo is a kaleidoscopic journey through …
Album Review: Manuel Pasquinelli – ‘Heartbeat Drumming/ Bellmund Session’: Beyond an experiment, a jazz-rock drummer’s statement from the heart.
And now for something (well almost) completely different- Bern based jazz rock drummer Manuel Pasquinelli is venturing into the world of bio-music on his new album ‘Heartbeat Drumming’. Of course others have explored the human body’s musicality before. The great Ron Geesin, Floyd collaborator, possibly kicked things off in the pop arena with his seventies …
Album Review: Christopher Coleman & the Soft Knees Band release the gorgeous ‘Live At The Chapel’.
The poet laureate of the southern hemisphere Christopher Coleman & the Soft Knees Band collectively dispense heart rending lyricism over the most ethereal instrumentation in their new album ‘Live at the Chapel’, just released through Coleman’s label Oscar Treehouse Records. The combination of Coleman’s silken, yearning, aching vocals with the delicacy of the music and his …
Album Review: Party Crashers’ self titled debut album is a glorious indie pop delight.
Party Crashers features singer songwriter Robert F. Cranny who has a long history in the industry as one of the main architects of Sarah Blasko’s debut album ‘The Overture And The Underscore’, and its follow-up ‘What The Sea Wants, The Sea Will Have’. Cranny co-wrote and co-produced both albums, the latter winning the ARIA award …
Album Review: Cam Butler (Ron S Peno and the Superstitions) releases new solo album, the ethereal ‘Spirits Flying Home’, ahead of launch gig.
Cam Butler is a multi instrumentalist and producer who was also the co-writer of songs with the late and legendary Ron S Peno (Died Pretty) in the fabulous Ron S Peno and the Superstitions which he co-founded. Their album ‘Do The Understanding’ was one of my albums of the year in 2023. In addition, Butler is also a rather …
Album Review: Lutruwita’s Meres unveil the excoriating and blistering sonic tornado of debut ‘WORRIED SICK’
Meres, fronted by the enigmatic and creative force of Mary Shannon (also in the magnificent Dvrkworld) have just released their debut album ‘WORRIED SICK’ and it has the sonic effect of a tornado with its scything guitars and explosive delivery. It is a far stretch from the more languid shoegaze approach of Dvrkworld, filled with …