Latest Reviews

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.

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.”

In what might be one of the most driving and epic song of the year so far, Delta Goodrem delivers a fantastic western-infused showtune folk song that’s filled with excitement and eccentricity with her new single, Billionaire.

Brighton outfit Black Honey’s self-titled debut album was a glorious mixture of attitude and swagger, a indie punk whirlwind that evoked the likes of Elastica and Garbage and crashed into the top 40 UK albums chart. It teed them up for a frenzy of tour dates, an NME front cover appearance, and festival slots right the way across Europe. The departure of founding band member and drummer Tom Dewhurst at the end of 2019 might have derailed lesser bands, but Black Honey focused on completing their new record, Written & Directed, which landed this week.

Ringo Starr needs no preamble. As one quarter of the biggest band of all time, the man has seen it all and done it all and has nothing left to prove. Nor would he even want to – part of Starr’s enduring charm has always been his everydayness, content with his reputation as the definitive nice man of music. Now at the ripe old age of eighty and with the country still in lockdown, you’d imagine Starr was happy just to put his feet up. Not a bit of it. 

Amy Shark’s new single is a blend of what makes both alternative and indie so great in one fine package that drives a beat forward from the moment it starts to when it ends.

In a very odd blend of folk and EDM, Lost Frequencies have managed to make an unusual gem that will both make you raise your brow, and nod your head all the same.

Welsh-born multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, producer and author Catherine Anne Davies – otherwise known as the Anchoress – isn’t your normal pop star. A published writer with a PhD in literature and queer theory from University College London, she creates terrifyingly intense songs that often document heartbreaking pain. Tragically, much of this pain is told from personal experience, the last few years having brought the death of her father, a cancer diagnosis and treatment, and the loss of several pregnancies.

The multi-talented Jacob Banks moved to the UK from his native Nigeria when he was just thirteen years old, and with a creative streak that took in singing and playing guitar, he started writing songs of his own at the age of twenty. He plied his trade on the open mic night circuit around his hometown of Birmingham, where he quickly attracted attention for his powerful vocals and intimate songwriting, which fuses elements of soul, African music and synths to create a rich and unique sound.

Arguably one of the greatest album openers, and in consequence one of the greatest singles of all time, has been remixed in 2021 mixed in with whole new elements, as well as speeches from the civil rights icon MLK in what makes one of the most electrifying remixes of all time.