New music
Madonna, Celebration Tour, O2 review - spectacular, ambitious and occasionally bemusingTuesday, 17 October 2023
Exactly 40 years since Madonna’s first UK hit, “Holiday”, was skittering about the Top Five, she launches her global Celebration Tour at the O2.It is spectacle on the very grandest scale. In the latter half, following a video montage of tabloid... Read more... |
Album: The Rolling Stones - Hackney DiamondsMonday, 16 October 2023
It’s been a while since Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood sat down together at the Hackney Empire to introduce their first album of new songs in 18 years, and their single, “Angry”, is now approaching 20 million views on YouTube.The album... Read more... |
Music Reissues Weekly: Ibrahim Hesnawi - The Father of Libyan ReggaeSunday, 15 October 2023
Initially, it doesn’t sound so unusual. The collection’s first song is titled “Never Understand.” Sung in English, it’s poppy reggae with a light feel, twinkling keyboard lines and a lengthy, rock-oriented guitar solo. The singer appears to be a fan... Read more... |
Album: Agnetha Fältskog - A+Sunday, 15 October 2023
When ABBA split in 1982, Agnetha Fältskog went on to a solo career that was mostly overshadowed by the titanic popularity of her former band. By the 21st century ABBA’s status in pop, especially with the Mamma Mia phenomenon, had become iconic.They... Read more... |
Thea Gilmore, Union Chapel review - after Afterlight, a challengeSaturday, 14 October 2023
Recently recovered from her fifth bout of Covid, Thea Gilmore last night made a return to London’s Union Chapel, a wonderfully atmospheric venue where the price to pay for a concert is a numb bum (unless you remember to hire a cushion). For the... Read more... |
Album: Nitin Sawhney - IdentityFriday, 13 October 2023
Nitin Sawhney never fails to produce albums that draw on the talent of his brilliant friends, touch on issues of current urgency, and bridge musical styles with great deftness and in a way that avoids the frequent artifice of fusion.Perhaps more... Read more... |
Album: The Streets - The Darker The Shadow The Brighter The LightThursday, 12 October 2023
You may have heard that Mike Skinner’s made a film. He’s certainly done the rounds, press-wise, so you’d be hard pushed to have missed it. You have to admire the man’s tenacity. When the money to make a feature film didn’t surface, he decided to... Read more... |
The Last Dinner Party, SWG3, Glasgow review - affection and adulation for rising starsWednesday, 11 October 2023
The first declaration of love for the Last Dinner Party arrived approximately one song into their set. “I love you too,” declared a delighted looking Abigail Morris, the band’s pirouetting frontwoman, in response, and the ensuing hour suggested... Read more... |
Album: Melanie De Biasio - Il ViaggioWednesday, 11 October 2023
Il Viaggio is a form of soundtrack. Its lyrics, music and soundscapes are created in response to the journey referenced in the title. Though born and raised in Belgium, Melanie De Biasio’s paternal grandfather was Italian. After the Europalia arts... Read more... |
Album: Thea GilmoreMonday, 09 October 2023
The artist formerly known as Afterlight returns with her first self-titled album, a collection of songs which “delves into the cracks between the paving slabs of life's big themes” and which explores “the understanding that comes with experience”."... Read more... |
Music Reissues Weekly: Pale Saints - In RibbonsSunday, 08 October 2023
In an interview following the release of Pale Saints’ March 1992 second album In Ribbons, the band’s Ian Masters expressed his admiration for Eyeless in Gaza, Laura Nyro and Television. He told Option magazine “I find it incredible how much I am... Read more... |
New Order, OVO Hydro, Glasgow review - a nostalgia trip with a modern feelSaturday, 07 October 2023
Early on in this arena gig by New Order, a youthful, enthusiastic voice could be heard to say gleefully, “They’re just so 80s!”. That statement was both accurate and yet also misleading, for as this near two-hour performance showcased New Order’s... Read more... |
