Latest Reviews

Hailing from Sweden and otherwise known as Svea Virginia Kågemark, SVEA turned a lot of heads with her debut single Don’t Mind Me back in 2018, a smart, confident pop track with a message of empowerment. It marked her out as a rising star, and her follow up track Selfish only accelerated that reputation. Her 2019 single, Complicated, with Alexander Oscar has racked up millions of streams on Spotify.

Jade Bird’s latest single ‘Headstart’ explores the restlessness of an infatuation through a magical, saccharine melody. The English singer-songwriter doesn’t hesitate to lean on her vibrant, sweet-as-molasses voice that glides through the notes with ease. Her personality is beaming through the composition, and the instrumentation only heightens the spellbinding allure of Bird’s vocals.

Up and coming Moroccan Canadian singer / songwriter Faouzia has joined forces with American pop and RnB artists John Legend and Charlie Puth to create a stunning new track, “Minefields.” The single dropped this week and is already receiving rave reviews and the praise of fans everywhere.

Swedish singer and songwriter LÉON, otherwise known as Lotta Lindgren, dropped her self-titled debut album last year, four years after the release of her first single. In the intervening years, Lindgren spent time writing in LA, with the recording process taking place in London. The album received solid reviews and established her as an artist to watch.

WizKid, the alias of Lagos-born singer and songwriter Ayodeji Ibrahim Balogun, is undeniably one of Nigeria’s biggest stars. Since his hit single Holla At Your Boy blew up back in 2011, and his smash hit collaboration with Drake – One Dance – went to number one in no fewer than fifteen countries in 2016, WizKid and his eclectic mix of R&B, Afrobeats, dancehall, reggae, pop and hip hop has been on a collision course with global superstardom. With his new album Made In Lagos, it feels like he has finally fully arrived at that destination.

Model, actress, and now singer Paris Jackson took many listeners’ hearts with the release of her newest, and first, single: let down. For those who might’ve been keeping tabs on the entertainer, her foray into music might not have seemed like such a surprise, not only considering her background, but also with her current band, the Sound Flowers. However, judging on their music, to say this single was a surprise is a massive understatement.

Let me begin this review with a short story, one that many most likely shared in the last week. Like many others, I launched Spotify to begin a day of work, and was greeted by the cover for a new single titled Can’t Put It In The Hands Of Fate featuring artists like Rapsody, Cordae, Busta Rhymes and… Stevie Wonder? I wiped my eyes, morning coffee still kicking in, and stared blankly at my desktop’s screen.

American west coast singer, songwriter and keyboardist Jarrod Lawson won a whole host of fans with his self-titled debut album back in 2014. That record’s smooth blend of R&B and soul-infused jazz led to sold-out shows at London’s Ronnie Scott’s, gigs in China, Australia and Tokyo, and festival appearances at Rotterdam’s North Sea Jazz, Indonesia’s Java Jazz, and the UK’s Love Supreme events. His follow-up EP Jarrod Lawson at the BBC was recorded at the legendary Maida Vale studio, and he’s taken the title of Soul Artist Of The Year at the Jazz FM Awards.

The ever reclusive Mark Oliver Everett caught everyone slightly off guard this year when he dropped two surprise songs into the world. Baby Let’s Make It Real and Who You Say You Are marked a triumphant return for Everett, who under the Eels band name has released some dark albums charting his own intense personal pain and loss since the group’s superb debut album Beautiful Freak captivated legions of listeners back in the mid-1990s.

Dutch singer-songwriter Romy Dya is perhaps best known on UK shores for providing vocals for the 2019 Martin Garrix and David Guetta track So Far Away. In her homeland though, Dya has carved out a niche for penning tracks for a host of Dutch artists including The Voice of Holland winner of 2016 Maan, Sharon Doorson and Roxeanne Hazes. She’s also worked with the likes of Ghostface Killah and Busta Rhymes.