Album Reviews
Album Review: Hannah Cohen – Earthstarr Mountain; An effortlessly cool and melodic journey
Hannah Cohen’s latest album, Earthstar Mountain, is a deeply personal and beautifully crafted collection of songs that feels both weightless and rooted, delicate yet assured. Inspired by her life in the Catskills and shaped by years of quiet reflection, the record captures the quiet beauty of change—both the kind that happens around us and the …
Album Review: End Scene declare ‘I Will Not Live Safe, I Will Live True’ in an album filled with beauty, self reflection and passion.
End Scene highly impressed us with their debut album ‘All My Ghosts‘ way back in 2021 and they are back with the expansive journey that is ‘I Will Not Live Safe, I Will Live True’: a true declaration of intent that permeates every note. The album comes from the fevered imagination of James Jennings whose literary …
Album Review: Dean Wareham – That’s the price of loving me; beautiful addition to indie legends extensive canon
Dean Wareham’s latest album, That’s the Price of Loving Me, showcases his enduring talent for crafting melodic indie pop infused with psychedelic nuances. Reuniting with producer Kramer after 34 years, this collaboration rekindles the synergy that marked Wareham’s earlier works, resulting in a collection that feels both nostalgic and fresh. The album opens with “You …
Album Review: Snapped Ankles – Hard Times Furious Dancing: primal yet relentlessly danceable
With Hard Times Furious Dancing, Snapped Ankles take the chaos of modern life and distill it into something primal, absurd, and relentlessly danceable. The masked woodwose collective have always thrived on fusing industrial menace with kinetic energy, but here, they push their sound to new extremes, capturing the full-throttle intensity of their live shows. This …
EP Review: DVRKWorld’s self-titled debut EP is a delicious southern gothic blast of dark pop delight.
Fronted by Mary Shannon of Meres, Launceston band Dvrkworld deliver an icy, glacial form of shoegaze that seems intrinsically linked to the wild terrain and the weather in the southern isle at the very edge of the world. Formed in early 2023 by Mary Shannon and Drew Farrant-Jayet and later joined by Shawn Arnold and Ryan …
Album Review: Nick Storring – ‘Mirante’: A unique percussive and orchestral panorama from the Canadian multi-instrumentalist.
Delving into the musical potential of the humbucker pick-up and other electro-mechanical instruments, getting inspired by ghost towns in Ontario, recording a whole album from a pedestrian bridge near to his home and composing for a new instrument, the halldorophone, Nick Storring is the archetypal, restless experimenter. He’s driven by the ‘what if’ and the …
Album Review: Sacred Paws – Jump Into Life; Vibrant, melodic, and effortlessly uplifting
After a five-year hiatus, Glasgow/London duo Sacred Paws return with Jump Into Life, a record that feels like both a continuation and a renewal of their signature sound. Since their debut Strike a Match burst onto the scene with its infectious rhythms and Afrobeat-inflected indie pop, Ray Aggs and Eilidh Rodgers have honed a style …
Album Review: 45ACIDBABIES – ‘Paint The World Pink’
Words by: Philip Efthimiou The album opens with a high-energy, matter-of-fact, low-spoken initiation into the world 45ACIDBABIES invite us into. A thumping bassline leads the way, and there’s nothing like the strained shout of “everything is fine!” to convince you that, right from the opener, everything in the playfully chaotic Paint The World Pink universe …
Album Reivew: Neev – How Things Tie in Knots; Indie-folk storytelling with heart.
Glaswegian singer-songwriter Neev returns with How Things Tie in Knots, a stunning collection of folk-inflected indie-pop songs that explore the tension of growing into adulthood. Building on the intricate storytelling of her debut Katherine, this album expands her sound with sweeping arrangements, raw emotion, and melodies that linger long after the music fades. From the …
Album Review: Ebba Åsman – When You Know; Soulful jazz with a modern edge.
Swedish jazz virtuoso Ebba Åsman returns with When You Know, her third full-length album and arguably her most personal statement to date. Known for her remarkable skills as a trombonist, Åsman takes a bold step forward by putting her voice front and center for the first time. The result is a smoky, melancholic blend of …