Latest Reviews

London born singer-songwriter Rachel Keen – otherwise known as Raye – has forged a hugely successful career writing for the likes of Beyonce, Ellie Goulding and Little Mix, and provided vocals for hit records from the likes of Jonas Blue and David Guetta. However, her own solo career in front of the microphone has been a bit of a stop-start affair, with four EPs released over the last six years and a wide collection of singles to boot.

With a name like Tim Montana – yes, it’s his real name – the Nashville based singer-songwriter was perhaps always destined for a career in country music. But it’s safe to say Montana isn’t trading on his name alone. After being convinced to move from LA to Nashville by producer Johnny Hiland, he dropped his debut album Iron Horse – which Hiland played guitar on and provided backing vocals for, and produced – in 2007 to positive reviews.

Wakefield’s finest indie rockers The Cribs have had a turbulent few years. After rising to the top of the then-dominant indie scene in the mid-noughties with hits like Mens Needs, the Jarman brothers fell somewhat out of the limelight. Their last album, 2017’s 24-7 Rock Star Shit was a perfectly serviceable but slightly uninspired offering, but it was what came after the release of that record that threatened the outfit’s very existence.

Brighton-born Gracey is clearly enjoying her breakout year. After the runaway success of her collaboration with 220 Kid on the single Don’t Need Love, which reached a peak of number nine for two weeks in the UK singles chart, as well as songwriting credits for the likes of Sub Focus, Lorde, and Kylie Minogue and another smash collaboration with Alexander 23, the young singer-songwriter is back with her new seven-track EP The Art Of Closure.

Let’s cut to the chase, bshp (pronounced ‘bishop’) is a name that, based on this evidence, you’re going to be hearing a lot for more of.

Yorkshire-based indie psychedelia outfit Van Houten formed in 2017 out of Leeds College of Music and describe themselves in their Spotify bio (where they’ve already amassed well over 1,000 monthly listeners) as “slacker pop with a cherry on top”. They dropped their self-titled debut album through Clue Records last year and turned a lot of heads with their single Better Than This, an intoxicating and spacey affair that had something of a Pavement vibe to it.

Brooklyn-based indie outfit The Antlers continued their triumphant return this week with new song It Is What It Is. It’s their second new release in just a few weeks too, following hot on the heels of Wheels Roll Home, the first new material the band had put out since 2014’s Familiars, their fifth studio album.

It’s been a heck of a year for American country singer-songwriter Thomas Rhett. In February, Rhett and his wife welcomed their third daughter into the world, and then in September, he shared the prestigious ‘Entertainer of the Year’ award with Carrie Underwood at the 55th Academy of Country Music Awards. While I’m sure Rhett hasn’t been immune to the pain and difficulties caused by the Coronavirus pandemic, he’s still had plenty to celebrate in both his personal and professional life over the last twelve months, and good for him.

American singer-songwriter Chris Stapleton seemingly came out of nowhere with his smash hit debut album Traveller, which was nominated for the Grammy for Album of the Year and won the Grammy for Best Country Album at the 58th Grammy Awards in 2016. It was also named Album of the Year at the 2015 Country Music Association Awards and has been certified quadruple platinum, shifting well over 2.5 million copies since its release. Not bad for a debut from a previously unknown performer, eh?

Some people cynically claim that music as it used to be, full of soul, passion, and love, is gone. Well, if that’s the case, that’s because Cory Henry stole all of that for his own compositions.