Rapper Kojaque captures Dublin life with daring new album Town’s Dead

by Joe Sharratt
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Kojaque, otherwise known as Kevin Smith, is the latest in a long line of musical talent coming out of Dublin. On his debut album, the young rapper specialises in carving out sharply observed slices of life in the Irish capital, and in particular the experiences of the city’s young people, ravaged by years of political, economic and social change that have priced many out of finding their own home. Indeed, Kojaque wrote the album while living at home with his mum. 

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Review: Rising star Aziya pays tribute to her guitar heroes with new EP We Speak of Tides

by Joe Sharratt
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“Cathartic” is the single word 21-year-old Londoner Aziya Aldridge-Moore (known as just Aziya) used on her official Facebook page to describe the release of We Speak Of Tides, her first EP and a release that was spawned from the last year and more of life lived under lockdown. Unable to perform with her band, Aziya instead took to social media, releasing covers of some of her favourite artists, and working on the tracks that would form her debut EP.

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Review: Maisie Peters drops new single Psycho from upcoming debut album

by Joe Sharratt
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Maisie Peters has already enjoyed a truly meteoric rise. After gaining popularity through YouTube and dropping the EPs Dressed Too Nice for a Jacket (2018) and It's Your Bed Babe, It's Your Funeral (2019) through Atlantic Records, the 21-year-old singer songwriter penned a record deal with none other than Ed Sheeran earlier this year, and the ginger-haired pop behemoth is all set to release Peters’ debut album You Signed Up For This later this summer through his Gingerbread Records label. 

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Review: Laura Mvula is back on top with joyous new album Pink Noise

by Joe Sharratt
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Birmingham-born singer, songwriter and composer Laura Mvula has endured a particularly difficult few years. It’s not just the constraints and strains of lockdown that we’ve all endured either. After her first two albums – 2013’s Sing To The Moon and The Dreaming Room in 2016 – were both Mercury nominated, her debut winning two MOBO Awards and the followup an Ivor Novello Award, Mvula was unceremoniously dropped by Sony from her five-album deal. Incredibly, she only found out the news by email

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Manchester Orchestra reach new heights with stunning new album The Million Masks of God

by Joe Sharratt
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Hailing from Atlanta, Georgia and led by the captivating vocals of frontman Andy Hull, Manchester Orchestra are a band that have achieved one of the trickiest feats for an indie rock outfit – making each album feel at once unique yet quintessentially identifiable as theirs. From debut album I’m Like A Virgin Losing A Child all the way through to their most recent release, 2017’s A Black Mile To The Surface, each new Manchester Orchestra record not only felt like it contained the band’s DNA at it’s very core, but also progressively improved on its predecessor and offered something new. Very few bands can do this, and it's a sign, if any were needed, of their incredible talent as songwriters and performers.

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Review: Indie stars Modest Mouse return with psychedelic new album The Golden Casket

by Joe Sharratt
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Hailing from Washington, west coast rockers Modest Mouse were one of the key flag bearers for the indie revival of the late 1990s. Their rapid fire release of three albums in just five years, from their debut This Is A Long Drive For Someone With Nothing To Think About, to follow up The Lonesome Crowded West, and 2000’s The Moon & Antarctica, catapulted them to worldwide acclaim, and rightfully so. These early volumes were captivating, free flowing masterpieces of the genre that stand up more than two decades on.

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Review: The prolific Ripley Johnson returns with new Rose City Band offering Earth Trip

by Joe Sharratt
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Lockdown must have been a tricky prospect to deal with for Ripley Johnson, the hardworking singer and multiinstrumentalist who is one half of Moon Duo and the frontman of west coast psychedelic rockers Wooden Shjips. Suddenly forced off the road, the enigmatic Johnson turned his hand instead to crafting a new album, despite only releasing his last offering as Rose City Band last summer.

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Review: Zitti e Buoni- Maneskin

by Rob Costa
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Ciao bella, is this a joke?

It’s easy to write off any winner of a Eurovision song contest and label these artists and songs as a novelty. After all, most of the past winners, with the exception of a few, notably ABBA in 1974, fade away into musical oblivion.

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Review: October Sky- Yebba

by Adam Bailey
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Often times, when we have something important to say, we take a big breath in…. then out it comes. In the first second of October Sky, we hear Yebba take a breath in before the vocals. I love the production team for keeping this in, as it sets up the introduction to Yebba’s heavenly vocals perfectly!

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Review: Born 2 Die by Prince - listen

by Nicholas Gaudet
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With a surprising new release, late-legend Prince has released a single titled Born 2 Die from his upcoming posthumous album Welcome 2 America. It truly feels like a throwback to old-school funk, and promises the album to be of utmost greatness. 

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Review: Interlude J. Cole

by Nicholas Gaudet
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After a long wait, J. Cole finally unexpectedly releases a song from his newest album, Off Season, titled i n t e r l u d e, which shows a whole new side of J. Cole that the world had never heard before this short two-minute track.

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Review: Elevator Boots Counting Crows

by Nicholas Gaudet
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It’s common nowadays for band to take inspiration from old school rock and roll groups like Greta Van Fleet for example. It isn’t often, however, that you hear not only those roots glow through the music, but also in the production. Elevator Boots, Counting Crows’ newest single, is straight from 1968, and no one can convince me otherwise.

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Review: Into the Storm Gojira

by Nicholas Gaudet
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Gojira have always had a fantastic reputation with their releases. Every album is an expansion on everything they’ve done before, and they are excellent at continuing that moment with each release. With their newest single, Into the Storm, their fourth preview of their upcoming album Fortitude, they absolutely hold that momentum and propel it further on.

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Review: Worth Seq

by Nicholas Gaudet
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It’s very rare that artists manage to mix soft tones, sounding like water flowing down a river, and heavy, gut-wrenching beats, like the edges and bumps of the rocks the water flows over. But, as expected of Seq, the artist manages to mix the two in a perfect blend otherwise thought impossible in his newest single, worth.

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Review: Breathe Greta Svabo Bech

by Nicholas Gaudet
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Sung like a somber lullaby, Greta Svabo Bech’s newest single, Breathe, has all the dark themes of certain branches of neo-classical all toppled with an indie feel. The combination of those elements makes for an absolutely beautiful piece of art to be remembered for generations.

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One Cure For Man Stuns with Bold New Single “Everything (Promise Me)”

by Harley Houghton
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UK-based solo artist One Cure For Man, also known as James Parkinson, has gifted us with another incredible single. “Everything (Promise Me)” is a powerful, catchy, and toe tapping thrill ride from start to finish. I defy anyone not to bop their head along to this one, the beats provided by Parkinson’s brother Ben on drums are impeccable and provide the perfect backbone for the stunning track.

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Review: How Badly Do You Want It Louis and the Shakes

by Nicholas Gaudet
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Do you need to get cheered up for that exam you have going up? Do you need to get pumped up for that gym session you’ve been dreading today? Do you need to make your daily run ten minutes faster than you normally achieve? Take out your phone, load up Louis and the Shakes’ newest single, How Badly Do You Want It, and let the magic of the tune do the rest.

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Ben Howard reaps the rewards of collaboration with new album Collections From The Whiteout

by Joe Sharratt
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English singer-songwriter Ben Howard’s three previous albums all have a different feel to them. The folk artist made his debut in 2011 with Every Kingdom, his most instantly gratifying album, and followed it up with I Forget Where We Were, a more complex record that rewarded listeners’ efforts and remains to many his best collection. 2018’s Noonday Dream was darker in feel, and marked a change in tone for Howard, but was no less excellent. 

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Taylor Swift asks popular country singer Maren Morris for backing vocals on ‘You All Over Me’ - listen

by Joe Sharratt
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Two years ago, Taylor Swift’s very public battle with Scooter Braun over the rights to her back catalogue was huge news. “This was my worst case scenario” Swift wrote at the time in an emotional Tumblr post that blew up, and while the legal wrangling left Swift and her fans in an unfortunate position, many would argue she had the last laugh when she announced her decision to re-record her old music.

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Justin Bieber aims for big themes on new album Justice

by Joe Sharratt
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There comes a point, about half way through Justin Bieber’s sixth studio album Justice, where you might wonder what’s happening here. And strangely, it comes on the song that isn’t a song, MLK Interlude, which is instead an excerpt from a 1967 sermon given by Martin Luter King. “You died when you refused to stand up for right. You died when you refused to stand up for truth. You died when you refused to stand up for justice.” It’s incredibly powerful, but what’s it doing here, on an album from a pop star whose last album Changes was preceded by the single Yummy? A song so shallow it’s chorus went “Yeah, you got that yummy-yum / That yummy-yum, that yummy-yummy.”

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