The vibes are always immaculate whenever a Moonchild song comes on, and such as is the case, with the help of Alex Isley, with their newest single ‘You Got One’.
For a while there, it seemed like Kentucky rockers My Morning Jacket might well have called it quits, so focused were all their respective components on their own side projects and other pursuits. Even when new My Morning Jacket material appeared, as with last year’s The Waterfall II (the followup to 2015’s The Waterfall), it was composed of recordings from sessions made in 2013 that also yielded its predecessor.
It’s hard to convincingly blend styles together in music without sounding either tacky or forced, but Kali Uchis and Ozuna do a wonderful job in their newest single ‘Another Day in America’ doing just that.
In an interesting play on musical contrasts, Alice Glass’ newest single, ‘FAIR GAME’, finds a way to both soothe and hype the listener all at the same time.
Milan Ring is one of those musicians and songwriters that it’s really hard to pin down to any particular genre. On her debut album ‘I’m Feeling Hopeful’, released the other week, the Sydney-based artist moves through R&B, soul and hip hop influences to weave tracks that are sultry, smooth and modern all at once.
In a very vulnerable and raw performance, Alicia Keys spills her heart with nothing but her voice and a piano in her newest single, ‘Like Water’.
The king of modern easy-listening, vocal jazz, and traditional pop is back with a new gripping preview, released as a single, titled ‘First Listen’, that will certainly catch you off-guard on a “first listen”.
Following traditional power-ballad tropes mixed in with modern ideas, Ariana Grande and Kid Cudi team up to provide a long-awaited return to form for the former in one of the most inspiring tracks of 2021.
LA-based trio Kills Birds got the kind of boost most new bands can only dream of when none other than rock and roll royalty in the form of Dave Grohl started championing their cause.
Bury’s finest four-piece are the latest outfit to drop the lockdown album; a record constructed remotely over the course of the pandemic, backdropped by the sizable tilt of unreality it brought with it. It’s no surprise then that, straight away, what hits you about ‘Flying Dream 1’ is its haunting quality, a gentle otherworldliness that is rich and compelling.
Step forward Fred Durst, the now 51-year-old(!) who as the frontman of Limp Bizkit spearheaded the nu metal charge of the late 1990s, and receive your award for most on -brand lyric of the year. Because, on the perfectly named Dad Vibes, Durst raps that “Hot dad ridin' in on a rhino / Got the roll-under-rap with the dad vibes / Now everybody bounce with the franchise, come on”. Limp Bizkit are back. Close your eyes, turn your baseball cap around, and it’s like we’ve gone back in time twenty years. And my word, it’s fun.
Nineties BritPop troubadour Richard Ashcroft has been in the news of late for his stance on Covid-19, pulling out of the Tramlines festival in Sheffield back in the summer after announcing on a now-deleted Instagram post: “Apologies to my fans for any disappointment but the festival was informed over 10 days ago that I wouldn’t be playing once it had become part of a government testing programme.”
Born in Sheffield, figurehead of the 90’s Britpop movement, longtime BBC radio presenter: Jarvis Cocker, were you to not know any more than this about him, wouldn’t seem the most obvious candidate for releasing a covers album of classic French pop songs. But Jarvis Cocker, the sartorially beguiling, Michael Jackson protesting, lyrically inspired flaneur: yes, actually a dozen French songs reworked by that Jarvis Cocker suddenly makes a lot more sense.
Album’s have all sorts of interesting and varied origin stories. From the tumultuous and difficult times that saw Fleetwood Mac crafting Rumours against all the odds, to Justin Vernon holing up in his father’s remote cabin for the winter to come to terms with a breakup and recording For Emma, Forever Ago in the process, the stories of how records come into being are often as rich and engaging as the album’s themselves.
