RIVAL SONS LIGHTBRINGER ATLANTIC RECORDS For their second album of the year, Rival Sons have released Lightbringer, the companion to Darkfighter, released in June. Following an intensive year of touring – as both headliners and in support of The [...]
FRÄNDER FRÄNDER II NORDIC NOTES Fränder is an acoustic family band from Sweden and Estonia, who play traditionally-inspired songs in a modern context. Formed in 2015, they released their first album (Fränder) in 2019. That album introduced the [...]
SOFT CELL NON-STOP EROTIC CABARET (SUPER DELUXE EDITION) MERCURY/UNIVERSAL Soft Cell formed in 1978 when Dave Ball and Marc Almond met at Leeds Polytechnic in 1977. In 1980, Dave Ball’s mother fronted the duo 2000 pounds to record their debut [...]
MARE BERGER DREAMING BLUE INDEPENDENT PR people often plug their artists’ new releases by comparing them to some big or well-known names, for those artists only to fall a bit, or a bit shorter to those they are compared with. Now, Mare [...]
BOMBAY BICYCLE CLUB MY BIG DAY ARTS & CRAFTS My Big Day, the latest release from Bombay Bicycle Club, is another fabulous record by the indie rockers, with its relaxing and warm vocals, expressive songwriting, and instrumentation ranging [...]
THE ROLLING STONES HACKNEY DIAMONDS UNIVERSAL MUSIC The peak that The Rolling Stones summitted in the early ‘70s remains unparalleled; something that should be coveted as among the greatest eras of not only rock ‘n’ roll, but popular music as a [...]
CORDELIA STEPHENS THE PROTEST SONGS INDEPENDENT Cordelia Stephens grew up in England and in the early 2000s moved to New York City, a place she now calls home. She then wrote and recorded two full-length albums. She has just released a new EP, [...]
TERRA LIGHTFOOT HEALING POWER SONIC UNYON Is there anything wrong with some high energy, guitar-driven pop-rock, with or without other embellishments? Surely not, if it has a lot of good melodic hooks, and some strong vocals, it this case, as [...]
RINGO STARR REWIND FORWARD UME/UNIVERSAL MUSIC A couple of years ago Ringo Starr made the bold declaration that he was not releasing any further albums, but rather focusing on EPs. Rewind Forward is his fourth, and his best yet. Starr has called [...]
JOHNNY CASH JOHNNY CASH SINGS THE SONGS THAT MADE HIM FAMOUS VIRGIN MUSIC GROUP In the annals of music history, few artists command the reverence and influence ascribed to Johnny Cash, America’s foremost singing storyteller. His indelible [...]
ANDREW BIRD’S BOWL OF FIRE THRILLS/OH! THE GRANDEUR (25th ANNIVERSARY REISSUES) ORG MUSIC For those who need reminding of a little bit of history, Andrew Bird might not be the freshest face on the scene, but his musical development took a [...]
JENN CHAMPION LAST NIGHT OF SADNESS GAY FOREVER They used to call it gloomcore and one of the most prominent purveyors of such a sub-genre was Carissa’s Wierd, still ringing in the ears of that band’s fans. Now, Jenn Champion, their [...]
††† (CROSSES) GOODNIGHT, GOD BLESS, I LOVE U, DELETE. WARNER RECORDS By all means, Crosses should be considered more than a simple offshoot for Deftones’ vocalist, Chino Moreno’s creativity. Having formed in 2014 with their debut, eponymous [...]
SARAH MORRISON ATTACHMENT FIGURE RAMP LOCAL Tallahassee-based singer songwriter Sarah Morrison might not care much about social media (try finding her socials), but she sure cares about her music. Just take an even cursory listen to her latest [...]
SAGITTAIRE LUCIAN & CAROLINE INDEPENDENT Behind the Sagittaire moniker is one Ivan Mairesse, LA musician who, judging by his latest album Lucian & Caroline, has some deep and wide artistic interest that stretches beyond music. Mairesse [...]
boygenius the rest Interscope Earlier this year, supergroup boygenius, which consists of Julien Baker, Phoebe Bridgers, and Lucy Dacus, released their debut album, the record. Everything about the album was spectacular. The production and [...]
THE VACANT LOTS INTERIORS FUZZ CLUB RECORDS Brooklyn synth-tronic band, The Vacant Lots, have released their fifth studio album, Interiors, a collection of eight ominous thumpers with stony vocals and titles like “Amnesia”, “Ashes”, [...]
THE CRANBERRIES TO THE FAITHFUL DEPARTED (DELUXE EDITION) ISLAND/UMe In a time when deep connections are more important than ever, The Cranberries To The Faithful Departed offers a powerful musical experience that resonates with the listener. [...]
PHIL MANZANERA & ANDY MACKAY AM.PM BFD/THE ORCHARD In 2018 when Andy MacKay released 3Psalms, he made the statement that he would have to retire from music due to health concerns. Thankfully, and miraculously, MacKay not only got better but [...]
BEARTOOTH THE SURFACE RED BULL RECORDS Beartooth is known for their dark songs about depression and self-loathing. But a new chapter has opened in Beartooth’s story. Their upcoming fifth album, The Surface, is the story of frontman and [...]
Yukon Blonde Shuggie Dine Alone Records Canadian indie-pop band Yukon Blonde returns with Shuggie, their first full-length album since their 2020 release Vindicator. Shuggie has a fantastic start to it, but the instrumentation is not very [...]
DAN WAYNER LITTLE CROW INDEPENDENT Ottawa musician Dan Wayner does not put out music a great deal, but you can be assured that when he does, it will be something very special and original. Such is the case with Little Crow, a three-song EP with [...]
JOHN CARPENTER ANTHOLOGY II (MOVIE THEMES 1976-1988) SACRED BONES Following up on legendary cinema mastermind John Carpenter’s 2017 excellent album Anthology: Movie Themes 1974-1998, Carpenter brings us the aptly named soundtrack album Anthology [...]
THE DARKNESS PERMISSION TO LAND… AGAIN (20th ANNIVERSARY EDITION) WARNER MUSIC Why did the rock band break up? Because they took each other for granite… actually, it was alcohol and cocaine abuse, with The Darkness calling it quits in [...]
