Music
News: The Lathums release their full set from last month’s Sefton Park gig – hear the version of ‘Fight On’ from that day; there’s plenty of dates to come, too
IT MUST’VE been pretty full-on cathartic and emotional to have been at the UK Government’s Covid-relaxation test gig in the green surrounds of Liverpool’s Sefton Park on the first Sunday in May. Real, actual, open-air live music. And on that bill was Wigan’s absolute cutest, The Lathums, who got to play a ten-song set to …
Track: Sydney’s Magnetic Heads unveil the gorgeous and graceful track ‘Time of Your Life’, and announce new album ‘Moral Outage’ for August
There is a sparse and melodic grace to the new single from Sydney band Magnetic Heads (the work of singer/songwriter Des Miller and producer/musician Liam Judson (Belles Will Ring, Lewis Goldmark)). Open, thrumming and celestial instrumentation provides a comforting bedrock for Miller’s elegant vocals, sometime soaring, sometimes speaking, always enigmatic and posed, replete with backing …
Track: Manic Street Preachers Announce New Album And Share New Track ‘Orwellian’
Manic Street Preachers return with their 14 studio album entitled, ‘The Ultra Vivid Lament’ on 3rd September via Columbia/Sony and have announced a tour for this autumn. ‘Orwellian’ is the first track to be released and is classic Manic Street Preachers, dissecting the misuse of words against cascading, glacial melody. Manic Street Preachers on Orwellian: “The track is about the battle to claim meaning, the …
See: The astonishing audio-visual experience that is Llyr’s ‘Winged Chamber Music’: jaw-dropping creativity from what’s looking to be IDM album of the year
YOU KNOW that if no less a renaissance man than Max Cooper is taking enough of an interest in what you’re sculpting in sound to sign you up for his label, Mesh, then you must be doing something not only very right, but also very interesting; Max really these days being at the forefront of …
Track: Harkness – ‘The Occasion’: a cloak, a mask and a grand line in orchestral baroque pop from the mysterious Canadian
THE MYSTERIOUS, cloaked and visored figure you see is Harkness; as with Bob Log III, we know not who sits behind the guise. Best then to turn to what we do know; that he comes from Canada (or indeed, beyond), bearing a very special brand of baroque psychedelia, shifting through the moods and time signatures …
Track: KINDER – ‘Call Out’: an emotionally thrilling voice that seizes your heart
LEO WYATT comes to us from the heart of the capital with a luxurious and haunting line in expansive, (semi-) acoustic songcraft, and boy, that voice; betcha your bottom dollar that you haven’t heard anyone roll out a song so hauntingly since you first clapped ears on OK Computer. “Call Out” is his second single, …
Album review: Tijuana Cartel give a delectable dose of hazily psychedelic escapism on new album ‘Acid Pony’ – out this Friday
Australian electro-dance group Tijuana Cartel are preparing for the release of their highly-anticipated new album ‘Acid Pony’ this Friday, 4 June. The captivating record comprises a perfectly eclectic assemblage of seven tracks, produced by Gold Coast band members Carey O’Sullivan and Paul George. Featuring a myriad of mind-altering musical elements ‘Acid Pony’ defines the group’s ability …
Track: The Novus get all psychedelic on us with the brilliant single ‘Castaway’, and announce tour news
Last time we heard from The Novus, they ripped up the tarmac with a blistering, angry blast of ‘I Serve Not’ (see my review here). Now, in advance of the release of their EP entitled ‘Thaleia Standing’ on 18 June 2021, The Novus have maintained the rage but in a much more restrained and very …
News: New Zealand’s Womb announce EP ‘Holding a Flame’, out through Flying Nun Records, and tour dates
Shoegaze/dream pop exponents extraordinaire, Womb, from Pōneke (Wellington) have just announced the release of a new EP – ‘Holding a Flame’ – on 23 June 2021 through the inestimable and legendary Flying Nun Records. What a powerful combination. To launch this event, Womb will be embarking on a Aotearoa/New Zealand-wide tour. ‘Holding a Flame’ is a …
Album Review: Steve Kilbey & the Winged Heels soar into another celestial sphere with double album ‘The Hall of Counterfeits’, plus tour news
It is difficult to comprehend that in the space of a little over twelve months, Steve Kilbey has released three monumental albums under various guises (read my reviews of ‘Chryse Planitia‘ with Gareth Koch, ‘Jupiter 13‘ with Martin Kennedy, ‘Eleven Women‘ as a solo effort). And now Kilbey gifts us the monumental double album ‘The …