London
PREMIERE: Natalie Shay kicks off 2023 with emotive pop smash-in-waiting ‘The Edge’
North Londoner Natalie Shay‘s been putting in work. Perhaps too much – in a way, that’s what her new single’s about. More specifically, a painful friendship breakdown inspired ‘The Edge’, her first new track of 2023 and the successor of her second EP Milk, which landed in September. It arrived last week along with b-side …
Live Review: Wallows / May-a – Eventim Apollo, London 18.01.2023
By Henry Groves It took me 18 days into January to finally go to my first gig of the year. 2023’s opener was Los Angeles based Wallows. This was the ninth and final show of their UK tour and they have packed out the Eventim Apollo in Hammersmith. Their first London show in 3 years, …
Track/Video : Revered pianist/composer Neil Cowley previews ‘Ticker Tape’, a spirit raising burst from incoming album ‘Battery Life’.
From banging out hymns at his school assembly to playing Shostakovich (with Orchestra) on a South Bank Centre stage as a 10 year old to filling the keys’ seat through the nineties and noughties for the Brand New Heavies, Zero 7 and a bit later someone called Adele, Londoner Neil Cowley’s piano skills have taken …
Live Review: Paul Heaton / Billy Bragg – The O2, London 17.12.2022
Words by Adrian Peel Photos by Maria Escobedo Though this was the last date of a Paul Heaton and Jacqui Abbott nationwide tour, the first inkling I got that Jacqui might not be appearing was when Billy Bragg (the second support act after Leicester’s Uncle Frank) mentioned Paul Heaton on a couple of occasions, which made me wonder, “Why is he saying …
Say Psych: Track Review: Throw Down Bones – Loma
Milan/London experimental band Throw Down Bones have announced new album Three and sharing the new single and video ‘Loma’, their first new music in nearly five years. A towering body of work that feels both apocalyptic and jubilant, Three is Throw Down Bones’ eagerly-awaited return following 2018’s Two and the tragic passing of founding member …
Live Review: Placebo / Cruel Hearts Club – 02 Academy Brixton, London 26.11.2022
It’s been a long time in coming ‘Placebo’ finally on tour playing two dates at Brixton Academy. A venue that has had many iconic artists playing there over the last decades. The latest’s ‘Never Let Me Go’ Tour is a showcase for the latest album which was released in March this year and after extensive …
Album Review: Pie Eye Collective – ‘Tangential City’ : a fresh, forward thinking soundtrack for today’s metropolis.
The city of today inspires so much music. For many musicians it brings on the panoramic, where a wide-eyed trip over the urban landscape gets imagined in sweeping soundtracks. But some are less in in awe of the enormity; they zone in closer, moved by the meshed lives of the people, the crossing paths, the …
Live Review: TV Priest / Modern Woman / Fraulein – Scala, London 10.11.2022
By Henry Regan Having been on tour round Europe and the UK for the past two weeks, TV Priest were back in London, for a very special hometown show. Although there were tube strikes, this did not stop people coming in their masses to Scala. The King’s Cross venue known for hosting a number of …
Live Review: The Wannadies – Islington Assembly Hall, London 03.11.2022
The 1990s felt like the Swedish decade. Scandinavian style social democracy dominated politics whilst bands like The Cardigans and The Wannadies provided the songs for the CDs we so neatly stacked in all those IKEA shelf units. The Wannadies, led by cheeky, curly-haired scamp Pär Wiksten provided one of the ready assembled, rom-com songs of …
Album Review: Edrix Puzzle – ‘Coming Of The Moon Dogs’: Cosmic jazz that reaches further.
From Basement Jaxx to Sir Elton, Kano to Brian Ferry, Nathan ‘Tugg’ Curran defines the ‘go-to’ drummer but that’s only one dimension of this restless spirited musician. Beyond the world of an exemplary sticks-man, Curran has over the last couple of years used space to energise his own music, calling on his deep rooted jazz …