Everything I Ever Saw continues The Menzingers’ tradition of heartfelt storytelling through their signature Americana punk rock style. It's an album built on consistency rather than reinvention, leaning heavily into the formula of impassioned vocals and steady rock riffs that has made the band so beloved. The use of Shin Noguchi’s street photography for the artwork immediately stamps the album with a recognisable personality, the same intriguing, sombre vulnerability that is present across most of their album covers is undeniable here. In fact, it is one of their strongest artwork Read more ...

What an extraordinary band are The Punch Brothers, a bunch of conspicuously talented musicians whose six albums never fail to delight and stimulate as they push the boundaries of acoustic music to what you think would be beyond breaking point. It’s been said that they’ve taken “bluegrass to its next evolutionary stage, drawing equal inspiration from the brain and the heart”.Virtuosos all, The Unsung Adventures of Punch Brothers marks the debut of fiddler Brittany Haas with the band which, in addition to Chris Thiele, includes Chris Eldridge on guitar, Paul Kowert on bass, and Noam Pikelny on Read more ...

There’s a long and rich tradition of scabrous indie rock lyricism from Yorkshire. Sheffield’s Jarvis Cocker and Alex Turner tend to get the plaudits, but the particular kind of gimlet-eyed social observation and pub philosopher’s knack for a toothsome phrase can be found from Hull (Paul Heaton) to Rotherham (Rebecca Lucy Taylor), and Todmorden (Sydney Minsky-Sargeant of Working Men’s Club). And Leeds has its whole own strain, starting with the screeds of The Mekons and Gang of Four, running through David Gedge and Ricky Wilson in his spikier moments to Lily Fontaine of English Teacher and, Read more ...

In a similar vein to 2024’s Mercury-nominated album Silence is Loud, Nia Archives' latest offering is an appealing blend of jungle and pop. It’s a strange concoction but a successful one. In case you don’t know, Dehaney Nia Lishahn Hunt is Yorkshire born DJ and singer-songwriter known for melding genres.Opening track “Feelingz Go Numb” sets the tone – that rousing jungle beat is something of a call to arms. One thing Nia Archives doesn’t struggle with is writing memorable tunes – she makes it seem a breeze. “Around the Bend” has a fantastic guitar hook and overall sound reminiscent of Read more ...

Ever since he crashed into the world with that eerie masterpiece, Maxinquaye (1995) – an album that has never aged – Bristol-born Tricky, once a maverick member of Massive Attack, has mined a vein of suffering and pain, extracting, disc after disc, the essence of his troubled shadow and ancestry. The new solo venture, hot on the heels of a rich diversity of collaborations, is no different. This is the music of a haunted man, whose wounds have nourished streams of musical consciousness that speak to all of us, and never feels like maudlin navel-gazing or confessional self-indulgence. Read more ...

Mould are a post-punk sounding trio from Bristol. The press release says that their debut album is “13 tracks that explore the horrors of the outside world and the internal minefield of the brain”. A nice description, and very post-COVID in aspect. Also correct. The lyrics are the best thing about Hoping as a Coping Mechanism, born of prosaic nihilism and boredom, with a seasoning of desperation.Musically, Mould’s angular energy makes up for what they lack in musical originality, and the whole thing is done in about 35 minutes so they don’t outstay their welcome. They veer from harsh Idles- Read more ...

Pyschedelic music has always encouraged intergenerational influence. Thus West Midlander Pete “Sonic Boom” Kember, in his 1980s Spacemen 3 days – with Jason Pierce of Spiritualized – channelled Krautrock, The Velvet Underground, The Silver Apples and The Stooges into his relentlessly narcotic jams, then moved sideways into representing the spirit of very early synthesiser experimenters. And Noah “Panda Bear” Lennox, solo and with peculiar Baltimore grouping Animal Collective, since 1999 has collided all kinds of freak folk, psyche-pop, and above all Smile-era Beach Boys. Together they brought Read more ...

The most up-front factor defining the 10 tracks of Sweet Thief’s 26 minutes is Zoë Randell’s voice. Figuratively, she does not – vocally, that is – break a sweat or get agitated. On “Wanna Get Free,” she sings “put down your weapon.” Yet there is no sense of experiencing imminent danger. The lyrics of “A Better Truth.” which musically evokes Leonard Cohen's "Susanne”, tell of “troubled men… anger, shame, building to cycles of misery and strife.” Again, there’s that distance, a cool, the sense that Randell is a detached though acutely aware observer.Luluc are the duo of Zoë Randell and Steve Read more ...

Playwright and novelist Rodolfo Usigli wasn’t impressed with Luis Buñuel’s 1955 film version of his novel Ensayo de un crimen, unhappy with the changes made by the director and his co-screenwriter Eduardo Ugarte. Especially the introduction of some nuns “who die in a tragic and entirely gratuitous way. There is a good Buñuel and a bad Buñuel. And I got the bad Buñuel.” The fourteenth of the 21 films which Buñuel directed between 1947 and 1962 in Mexico, The Criminal Life of Archibaldo de la Cruz (Buñuel’s own English title) is a disquieting mixture of black comedy and psychological Read more ...

Amelia Baker is a troubadour and storyteller of dark but enchanting tales. In the guise of Cinder Well, she brings these stories to life with woozy and intoxicating melodies that are somewhat reminiscent of Sixties underground folkie Karen Dalton but which have very much their own elegant sound.Her latest record, A Blooming Body is a beautifully atmospheric album but also one that is suitably lush and poetic, leaning into North American folk traditions with something of a Gothic vibe. Her shimmering sound suggests cinematic soundtrack music, exploring haunting vignettes that give tangential Read more ...

“Hull Suite” is an important work in the canon of British-Bengali pianist Zoe Rahman, because it evokes themes – voyage, migration and family – which resonate strongly with her. The composition was commissioned at short notice by the Hull Jazz Festival (as a work for solo piano) for World Piano Day in 2024.Rahman drew inspiration from two statues overlooking the water in Hull. “The Crossing” is a bronze statue depicting a migrating family, and honours over 2 million people from Northern and Eastern Europe  who passed through the port on their way to America between 1836 and 1914. The Read more ...

Confessions II arrives amid a welter of promotional spectacle and global corporate partnerships. At heart, though, it’s Madonna retreating from projects stuck in development hell, and working through bereavement, via the salve of making music in a low-key London situation with Stuart Price. He produced 2005’s Confessions on a Dance Floor, to which this is a sequel. The preceding singles did not bode well but Confessions II contains surprises and shows a superstar holding her own.Returning to the arena of clubland bangers, and presented as a continuous mix, it’s hampered by the fact that house Read more ...