Latest Reviews

Believe it or not, Song To A Refugee – the new album from Nashville-based country singer-songwriter Diana Jones – owes its existence to Oscar-winning British actress Emma Thompson. It’s a sorrowful and powerful record that addresses the plight of those crossing the US-Mexico border, but without the film star who has appeared in films including Love Actually, The Remains Of The Day, Sense and Sensibility, and the Harry Potter series, it might not have even been created.

As a nineteen-year-old in 2003, Katie Melua released her debut album, Call Off The Search. It reached number one in the UK albums chart and sold a staggering 1.8 million copies in its first five months of release. The followup, Piece By Piece, has sold more than four million copies. By 2006, she had become the highest-selling female artist in the UK and Europe. Her rise was absolutely meteoric.

Make no mistake, this is a hotly anticipated debut offering. Pillow Queens, the Dublin four-piece with the risqué name who formed in 2016 and almost overnight won a legion of fans with their debut EP Calm Girls, have already wracked up sold-out tours across the UK and Ireland and played alongside the likes of IDLES, Pussy Riot, and American Football.

Royal Blood’s long-awaited return is finally here as the Brighton rock duo have released their first new music since their 2017 album How Did We Get So Dark. Ahead of the arrival of their third studio album, the band dropped new single Trouble’s Coming this week.

Los Angeles' KiNG MALA touches on themes of lust, recklessness and femininity in her work. Her last single, Sugarblind, was a swaggering track that gained widespread acclaim from the likes of Live Nation's Ones to Watch, Earmilk and American Songwriter to name a few. Fans will be glad to hear that her new single, If I Try To Find You, picks up where its predecessor left off.

London-based singer-songwriter Imogen Mahdavi only released her debut single Doormat Darling last year, but since then she’s been on a steady upward trajectory. She has starred in a lead role in the hit UK nationwide play Dressed, which she also penned the music for, while her track Crowd Of Thoughts, a soulful, ghostly number produced by Grammy Winner Eddie Serafica (Hamzaa, James Bay, Buddy Guy), won her even more fans and rave reviews from a host of publications. Now she’s back with new single Some Things Are Best Oversaid.

Bastille’s latest single ‘survivin’’ is just mellow enough to charm your socks off. The band has gained a reputation in recent years for undertaking dramatic features, complete with soaring choruses, intense instrumental solos, and sweeping melodies. But their latest tune keeps the proceedings smooth, refreshing yet oddly impassioned.

There’s something immediately warm and nurturing with CMAT’s music - that much has been made evident with her two last songs. With her new single, I Wanna Be A Cowboy, Baby!, the feeling remains the same, even rather heightened. In fact, everything about this track feels like a step up from her previous work. From the melodies, to the overall feel of the tune, CMAT’s newest single paved her a bright future, if her other songs hadn’t already done that.

Bristol punk rockers IDLES had carved out a reputation as an acerbic and utterly compelling live act with support slots for the likes of the Foo Fighters and The Maccabees under their belts before their second album, 2018’s Joy As An Act Of Resistance, achieved the remarkable feat of cracking the top 5 of the UK’s album charts, transforming the band into Brit Award and Mercury Prize nominees almost overnight.

You’ll almost certainly know Matt Berry from his comedy. He’s widely known for his performances in a huge list of shows including The IT Crowd, Garth Marenghi’s Dark Place, and The Mighty Boosh, as well as for co-creating and starring in the acclaimed Channel 4 comedy Toast of London, for which he won the 2015 BAFTA Award for Best Male Performance in a Comedy Programme.