Marianne Faithfull: Negative Capability review – staggering meditation on...
BMGIn 1964, Marianne Faithfull released her first single, the Jagger/Richards creation As Tears Go By. A maudlin rumination on the ageing process, it was a bizarre song for any 17-year-old to be...
View ArticleLil Peep: Come Over When You’re Sober Pt 2 review – accessible emo-rap from...
(Columbia)When Lil Peep died of an accidental drug overdose last November, he was already a cult hero in certain corners of the internet. Beloved by many for his dingy synthesis of emo and contemporary...
View ArticleArchitects: the British rock stars confronting the hell of grief
Just as they became arena-massive, the British metalcore band lost their founder songwriter Tom Searle – twin brother of drummer Dan – to cancer. They explain how the nightmare led to their new albumIn...
View ArticleMumford & Sons on Jordan Peterson, the Grenfell tragedy – and being hated
They’re a band that the British public love to sneer at, but they say it has long stopped bothering them. And, anyway, they have bigger fish to fryIn Mumford & Sons’ decade-long existence, the band...
View ArticleAnderson .Paak: Oxnard review – knotty rapper weaves grit and glee
(Aftermath Entertainment)Dr Dre’s 2015 album Compton lifted Anderson .Paak out of niche concern territory; the rap luminary signified his approval by sticking the 32-year-old on no fewer than six...
View ArticleLil Pump review – mindless, parent-resistant mumble rap
Brixton Academy, LondonFlorida rapper Gazzy Garcia’s corralling of a frenzied teenage audience is impressive, but he does so with grey, monotonous hitsThere’s been a fair amount of hand-wringing in...
View ArticleVessel: Queen of Golden Dogs review – a gloriously weird electro-odyssey
(TriAngle)The Bristolian musician Sebastian Gainsborough made their name with a strain of dance music that’s not really designed for the dancefloor. Their expansive, ambitious post-club compositions...
View Article‘It’s about a woman finding her voice’: Mrs Maisel star Rachel Brosnahan on...
The star of Amazon’s Emmy-winning comedy The Marvelous Mrs Maisel is political and opinionated – but hides it behind an exterior as perky as her character’sIt is a bright, windy day in Paris and a maze...
View ArticleClean Bandit: What Is Love? review – underwhelming chart catnip
(Atlantic)Clean Bandit began with an undeniable aura of nerdiness. They met at Cambridge, where two members of the original lineup led a string quartet; their first hit was called Mozart’s House and...
View ArticleWolf Alice review – sweetness and snarl from indie-rock revolutionaries
Brixton Academy, LondonCapping a banner year in which they won the Mercury prize, Wolf Alice swerve rock cliche with counter-intuitive songcraftWolf Alice open a duo of homecoming London shows with the...
View ArticleKali Uchis: Isolation review – head-in-the-clouds pop and savage reality
VirginAs is routine for budding popstars nowadays, Kali Uchis made her name by bequeathing her vocals to tracks by more famous artists – Major Lazer, Tyler, the Creator and Snoop Dogg among them. But...
View ArticleSharon Van Etten: Remind Me Tomorrow review – assured, gorgeous...
(Jagjaguwar)Like all of Sharon Van Etten’s previous albums, 2014’s Are We There was preoccupied by a prior toxic relationship – co-dependency couched in a sour combination of abuse and affection. Its...
View ArticleSigrid: Sucker Punch review – potential pop rebel plays safe
(Island Records) In 2017, Sigrid Raabe made instantaneous waves with her debut single, Don’t Kill My Vibe. A piece of precision-tooled Scandipop, it saw the Norwegian singer decry patronising male...
View ArticleThe Cinematic Orchestra: To Believe review – soundscape originators'...
(Ninja Tune)The sound of TCO’s tasteful electronica has become ubiquitous. This new album isn’t experimental or idiosyncratic enough to stand outEven if you believe yourself to be unaware of the...
View ArticleIbibio Sound Machine: Doko Mien review – borderless groove polymaths
(Merge Records)At a time when Korean boybands go global, Latin pop tops charts worldwide and Afrobeats pervades the UK rap scene, a London band which combines New York new wave and disco with Ghanaian...
View ArticleAnitta: Kisses review – Brazilian pop megastar knocks on global door
(Warner Music Brasil)Vai Anitta, the Netflix docuseries that chronicles the life of one of Brazil’s pre-eminent pop stars, opens with an attempt to boil down the enormity of the 26-year-old’s...
View ArticleLoyle Carner: Not Waving, But Drowning review – heartfelt hip-hop
AMF RecordsLoyle Carner’s second album opens with a love letter. Titled Dear Jean, it’s addressed to the musician’s mother, reassuring her over tinkling piano and the gentle tapping together of...
View ArticleSoak: Grim Town review – familiar yet life-affirmingly raw pop
(Rough Trade)Before Bridie Monds-Watson’s second album properly gets under way, it is anxious to police its potential listenership. Opening with an ominous train announcement welcoming passengers on...
View ArticleBig Thief: UFOF review – folk-tinged indie bordered by demons
(4AD) Hypnotic soft guitars mask uneasiness on the New York four-piece’s third album: it really packs a punch Over the course of their previous two albums, New York foursome Big Thief pruned their...
View ArticleMac DeMarco: Here Comes the Cowboy review – self-indulgent comedy indie
(Mac’s Record Label)Mac DeMarco’s lackadaisical balladry has long boasted a lyrical economy that feels almost Beatlesesque – simple, relatable observations that echo through a song until they acquire a...
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