Album review: Angel Olsen – All Mirrors

By Sage Shemroske Angel Olsen has had a very particular experience with how the press responds to her music. Years ago a Chicago radio host described Olsen as “kind of like a girl at the bottom of a dark well”, and that helped paint the picture of Olsen as some sort of lonesome storyteller. The […]

Album review: Chastity Belt – Chastity Belt

By Anjali DasSarma Chastity Belt’s music has grown and matured with each new album, and their self-titled album from earlier this year is no exception. The rolling hooky guitar sounds that they have been known for over the past six years tumble through the melancholy. The production, partially done by Melina Mae Duterte (Jay Som) provides a […]

November 2019 – 15 Songs

Welcome to November 2019 – 15 songs. Our 15 favourite tracks from November. Enjoy listening and reading the accompanying descriptions. If you’re in a real rush, skip to the bottom for the Spotify playlist. We promise we won’t cry. Aoife Nessa Frances – Here In The Dark ‘Here In The Dark’, the second single from Aoife […]

My pet: Cross Record

Emily Cross put out her third full-length under the Cross Record moniker back in August. Though the lead single ‘PYSOL My Castle’ was poppier than anything she’d done before, the self-titled album remained true to her experimental roots.

New song: Camille Christel – Goldsmith Street

It’s pitch black, needles of rain fall in the glow of street lamps, whilst underfoot cars race by in both directions and pedestrians search for a place to shelter. That’s the scene I visualise when listening to Camille Christel’s ‘Goldsmith Street’ – the 19-year-old’s field recordings of pissing rain, bird calling plus her stark instrumentation […]

Five Right Now: The Gotobeds

The Gotobeds made a typically tight return earlier this year with their third full-length ‘Debt Begins at 30’. The guitars are bashed within an inch of their death, the drums pulsating and the vocals full of star quality – each track features at least one guest vocalist, sometimes two, sometimes three. The Pittsburgh garage-rockers are […]

New song: Twain – Royal Road

It was in a tense atmosphere where I first heard the name, Twain. It was at a Big Thief gig in Manchester’s Deaf Institute back in November 2017. After finishing a song, I didn’t recognise, Adrianne Lenker announced that ‘was a cover of one of our favourite bands Twain’. To everyone’s surprise, one audience member […]

EP review: ARXX – Wrong Girl, Honey

Descriptions of Brighton duo ARXX’s sound are understandably likely to focus on their angular riffs, robust drums and the obvious juxtaposition Hannah Pidduck and Clara Townsend pose to the roles women are expected to play in music. Their second EP ‘Wrong Girl, Honey’, however, proves that the duo are many-sided, rendering any such pigeonholing reductive. […]

New song: Hannah Ashcroft – Landfire

The debut single from Manchester’s very own, Hannah Ashcroft is a tale of two halves. The first half of ‘Landfire’ possesses a country-western like cool to it. The slinky bassline plus Ashcroft’s aloof vocal give off a Texan desert vibe as if a cowboy has just cantered past, leaving a sky filled with circling dust […]

My pet: Claire Cronin

Not only did 2019 see Claire Cronin release her beautifully sinister record ‘Big Dread Moon’, it also saw the goth-folk musician rescue two schipperkes – Bunny and Mira. Below, Cronin writes about how they came into her life and how life has changed since her family grew by two: The Story of Bunny and Mira […]

New song: Eve Owen – She Says

At 14 I certainly did not have the presence of mind to realise how much I’d lucked out with my parents. Rather, I was beset by a sense of rebellion, convinced that every telling off was an outrageous injustice rather than a simple attempt to put me on the right path. Eve Owen, however, was […]

Five Right Now: Wished Bone

Following the release of her sumptuous record ‘Sap Season’, Wished Bone (Ashley Rhodus) tells us about five current tracks she’s loving right now. Check out Wished Bone’s ‘Five Right Now’ selections below: Planet Jackpot – Strouds Run When I first saw Planet Jackpot perform in Athens,OH I was sort of blown away with the extreme raw […]

Album of the week: ings – Lullaby Rock

“What if I have got more love than I know what to do with?” Inge Chiles aka ings asks on ‘Kiss Your Heroes’. And the Seattle-based artist does appear to possess a deeper reservoir of love than most; for herself, for her friends, for her community, for humans at large. Indeed, ings even taps this […]

New song: Pet Crow – What We Doin’?

‘I feel seen’ would be an adequate, Twitter-friendly response to Pet Crow’s new single ‘What We Doin’?’ The Derby punks ask, ‘What are we doing?’  – a question that the band and listener alike can’t possibly respond to with a logical answer. Like, seriously what are we doing? Why are we on this planet? Why have […]

New song: Aoife Nessa Frances – Here in the Dark

‘Here In The Dark’, the second single from Aoife Nessa Frances’ forthcoming debut album ‘Land of No Junction’, is as catchy as it is ambitious. Stretching across five-and-a-half minutes, ‘Here In The Dark’ is centred around an infectious, forthright chorus. The instrumentation that surrounds the chorus, however, reveal Frances’ experimental leanings; psychedelic flourishes are at […]

New song: Zoe Graham – Gradual Move

“I hate the change of the seasons” Zoe Graham declares on new single ‘Gradual Move’.  It’s little wonder Graham is pained by such overt change; in the last 12 months, the Scottish songwriter has lost her dog and fled the family nest for the first time. “The total shift happened gradually over the six months from September […]

New song: Winnie Raeder – She

Capitalising on the success of this year’s ‘From Here’ EP, London’s Winnie Raeder is back with ‘She’, a gorgeous, sensory ballad that washes over you like waves of warm water. Supported by tender tugs of the guitar, Raeder’s voice is soulful and husky, her words largely ambiguous and open to interpretation – “If I could […]

Interview: Friendship

In our ‘album of the week‘ review, we said that Friendship’s second full-length ‘Dreamin’ “was more restrained instrumentally than ‘Shock Out of Season’ yet no less affecting. Any effects, any adornment, that could divert attention from the core of each song have been ditched. Though smaller in scale the songs are more affecting than ever; […]

New song: Lottie Brazier – Washing Machine

It’s often claimed that music journalists are just failed musicians. London’s Lottie Brazier, former music journalist (Guardian, Pitchfork, The Wire etc) and now budding songwriter, puts fire to that frankly ridiculous cliche with ‘Washing Machine’ – a debut single that proves her aptitude for both.  Co-produced by William Doyle, ‘Washing Machine’ is loosely inspired by […]

Album of the Week: Friendship – Dreamin’

Last October I ordered LISA/LIZA’s ‘Momentary Glance’ on vinyl. An Orindal Records sampler CD felt like a bonus, when I found it at the bottom of the package. The only CD player I own is in my car – a red convertible smart car, I know. I still remember audibly saying, “What’s this?”, when the […]

New song: Patchwork Guilt – My Home

Manchester-based songwriter Patchwork Guilt completes a trilogy of 2019 singles with ‘My Home’. According to Phoenix Mundy (Patchwork Guilt), each song has ‘followed the culmination of a life chapter dictated by self-discovery, often painful with the facing of certain harsh truths about self-destructive behaviours and patterns’.  ‘My Home’ is the most jazzy of the three […]

New song: Lanterns on the Lake – Every Atom

After releasing ‘Beings’ back in 2015, long-term favourites Lanterns on the Lake return today with new single ‘Every Atom’ and news of a forthcoming record ‘Spook The Herd’ (21 February). ‘Every Atom’ is everything we expected and more. Hazel Wilde has always been capable of summing up feelings you could never illiterate yourself. She once […]

Premiere: Neev – Across the Glass

There’s a sense of loss on Neev’s second ever single ‘Across The Glass.’ A love letter to her hometown of Glasgow written from her adopted home of London, she reminisces on times that are consigned to youth. “The fairylights above our heads / made our words taste so sweet” she sings, the memory creating a […]