wed 27/08/2025

New releases on CD & DVD

Album: Benedicte Maurseth - Mirra

Kieron Tyler

During the opening seconds of Mirra, an unusual sound leaps out – a grunting. It’s integral to a shifting aural pallete which also features a bowed violin and chiming percussion along with a recurring grind like that of a rotating waterwheel. The mood is chilly, suggesting an environment where unalloyed nature has the upper hand, a place where the seasons define what comes to pass.

Blu-ray: Finis Terrae

Graham Rickson

British audiences of a certain age will note Finis Terrae’s similarity to Finisterre, one of the 31 sea areas listed in the BBC’s Shipping Forecast. Or previously listed – it was renamed Fitzroy in 2002 to avoid confusion with another Finisterre off the coast of Spain.

Album: Nova Twins - Parasites & Butterflies

Tom Carr

For Nova Twins, the alternative rock/metal duo of Amy Love and Georgia South, the years since 2020 have been a non-stop journey of evolution....

Album: Blood Orange - Essex Honey

Joe Muggs

The more time goes by, the more it seems like Dev Hynes might be the antidote to what Guy Debord called “the society of the spectacle”. As is...

Album: Wolf Alice - Clearing

Joe Muggs

Wolf Alice are a band who consistently over-deliver. Their presentation is so staid, their cited influences so safe (The Beatles! Blur!), their...

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Album: Deftones - Private Music

Ibi Keita

Deftones give us a glimmer of hope, but that's all...

Album: Eve Adams - American Dust

Kieron Tyler

Taking inspiration from the Californian desert

Blu-ray: Who Wants to Kill Jessie?

Graham Rickson

Fast-paced and visually inventive Czech comedy

Album: Adrian Sherwood - The Collapse of Everything

Guy Oddy

The dub maestro stretches out and chills

Album: Dinosaur Pile-Up - I've Felt Better

Thomas H Green

Heavy rock power pop trio return after an unwanted lengthy break

Album: Tom Grennan - Everywhere I Went Led Me To Where I Didn't Want To Be

Thomas H Green

British pop star's fourth exhibits ultra-pop oomph with mixed results

Album: Emma Smith - Bitter Orange

Tim Cumming

The award-winning jazz singer brings new life to some classic standards

Album: Marissa Nadler - New Radiations

Kieron Tyler

The Nashville-based singer-songwriter explores disconnection

Album: Rise Against - Ricochet

Guy Oddy

Have the US punk veterans finally run out of road?

Album: Alison Goldfrapp - Flux

Joe Muggs

The synth diva in her comfort zone - maybe getting a little too comfortable, though

Album: The Black Keys - No Rain, No Flowers

Tom Carr

Ohio rockers' 13th album improves on recent material, but still below mainstream peak

Album: Ethel Cain - Willoughby Tucker, I'll Always Love You

Joe Muggs

Relatively straightforward songs from the Southern Gothic star - with the emphasis on 'relatively'

Album: Black Honey - Soak

Thomas H Green

South Coast band return with another set of catchy, confident indie-rockin'

Blu-ray: Two Way Stretch / Heavens Above!

Graham Rickson

'Peak Sellers': two gems from a great comic actor in his prime

Album: Molly Tuttle - So Long Little Miss Sunshine

Thomas H Green

The US bluegrass queen makes a sally into Swift-tinted pop-country stylings

Album: Mansur Brown - Rihla

Joe Muggs

Jazz-prog scifi mind movies and personal discipline provide a... complex experience

Album: Reneé Rapp - Bite Me

Thomas H Green

Second album from a rising US star is a feast of varied, fruity, forthright pop

Album: Cian Ducrot - Little Dreaming

James Mellen

Second album for the Irish singer aims for mega mainstream, ends up confused

Album: Bonniesongs - Strangest Feeling

Kieron Tyler

Intriguing blend of the abstract, folkiness, grunge and shoegazing from Sydney

Album: Debby Friday - The Starrr of the Queen of Life

Thomas H Green

Second from Canadian electronic artist and singer offers likeable, varied EDM

Album: Indigo de Souza - Precipice

Thomas H Green

US singer's fourth ups the pop ante but doesn't sacrifice lyrical substance

Album: Mádé Kuti - Chapter 1: Where Does Happiness Come From?

Thomas H Green

Lively new album from the third generation of Nigeria's first musical family

Album: Alice Cooper - The Revenge of Alice Cooper

Guy Oddy

The original Alice Cooper band are back to fly the flag for all the weirdos

Album: Paul Weller - Find El Dorado

Joe Muggs

Inspiring curation of some pretty great covers, and hints of majesty

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