Write a comment The Weeknd delves into a polychromatic hyper-reality in his latest rollicking single ‘Blinding Lights’. In recent years, the Canadian singer-songwriter of Ethiopian origin has not shied away from the dramatics, his sound exploring a range of themes, emotions and stylistic forms.
Write a comment Okay, I’m going to hold my hand up and say before I reviewed this song, I hadn’t come across Trixie Mattel, and hearing Malibu for the first time took me a little by surprise.
Write a comment It was 2003 when the world first got a chance to hear All Time Low. Their style has evolved over the 17 years they’ve been together and they now boast a full and accomplished catalogue of high profile songs and they tour (a lot), which has kept them at the top of their game as a performing band.
Write a comment With ‘Love In The Dark’, Jessie Reyez continues along her upward trajectory to achieving global stardom; the single is brooding, emotional and powerful, functioning as the perfect vehicle to stretch out her vocal cords, reveal her vulnerabilities and explore a high-value production aesthetic for the accompanying music video.
Write a comment Country music is definitely cool again. With lots of young artists leading the way, the genre often finds itself back in mainstream media.
Write a comment There's a very strong chance you’ve heard Yael Naim’s music before, even if her name might not be familiar.
Write a comment For longtime Paramore fans, Hayley Williams’ debut single ‘Simmer’ is well worth the wait. For over sixteen years, Williams has been the undisputed face of the alternative rock act as its cherished lead singer and has essentially grown to become a musical and fashion icon for rock and punk communities all across the world.
Write a comment The Who, Madonna, Talk Talk, Black Sabbath, Bo Diddley, Queen and Big Country all have something in common with some of their music and James Smith can now join that list - I’ll leave the answer to the end, but it’s not too tricky a puzzle to solve.
Write a comment Badly Drawn Boy releases ‘Is This A Dream?’, his first song in seven years.
Write a comment Prior to ‘This is the Place’ Tom Grennan has released, or been featured on three other tracks that have made it into the top 75 of the singles chart.
Write a comment Pearl Jam formed in 1990, which means that this year will mark 30 years as a group (29 since their release of their first album).
1 Comment Louis Tomlinson’s new song ‘Walls’ is the title track of his latest album out next week.
Write a comment Meghan Trainor is a name you’re more than likely familiar with. All About That Bass was her first major release with manager Troy Carter, and it became one of the fastest selling singles of all time reaching number one in 58 countries - an impressive feat to say the least.
Write a comment Ashley McBryde is one of Country Music’s newest stars and the American born artist from Walden, Arkansas has already drawn nominations for tracks on her soon to be released second album, Never Will, which Martha Divine is taken from.
Write a comment Manchester born GZ Tian is a rising star in English music. He raised a lot of excitement with his 2018 debut single release ‘Laid Back’ and has grown a steady following who have been anticipating more from the young artist.
Write a comment What’s not to like about Drive-By Truckers. Firstly, the band creates a wonderful image of a group of middle aged men who could bear a slight resemblance to ZZ Top. Secondly, what music are they going to play? Probably a rock theme...
Write a comment You may think Malka sounds familiar. Perhaps you've heard her music before, or you could know her work from her time as leader of 6 Day Riot.
Write a comment Tim Chadwick learnt his craft in Dublin’s singer songwriter venues and quickly enhanced his reputation as a powerful songwriter, who wasn’t afraid to put real emotion into his music. Sore Thumb is no different, it is refreshing in the way it tackles personal issues, which the more you read about Tim Chadwick, the more you respect him as a person and musician.
Write a comment It's been 7 years since Ella Eyre’s collaboration with Rudimental on the award winning ‘Waiting all Night’, which went on to win the 2014 Brit award for single of the year.
Write a comment Douglas Dare is a London based singer-songwriter who originally harks from the West Country. With a piano teacher for a father, he was always exposed to music and this helped him develop into one of the UKs most talented multi instrumentalists.
Write a comment When you get a brief biography of a band and you hear that their influences range from the Rolling Stones to Hip Hop greats, you know you’re in for a great tune.
Write a comment Artists come and go, and if they stay around for more than 10 years, there’s very often band member changes. Not so much with Little Big Town who have been together for 22 years, and have the original 4 members all still loving their craft.
Write a comment The Canadian multi-instrumentalist has been around now for nearly 14 years, but a car accident has meant that there has been an understandable hiatusher production for a couple of years.
Write a comment Gengahr are just about to start a tour which sees them crossing continents, all the way down to Auckland in New Zealand to spread the word of their latest album, Sanctuary, which is due for official release on the 31st January.
Write a comment Fake Laugh has established himself as a serious contender now as an artist that can compete in the streaming charts with his unique sound and brand.
Write a comment Billy Ocean has been back in the mainstream public eye more and more over the last few years, making regular radio appearances and still performing his hits around the world.
Write a comment Ireland can be proud of its contribution to popular music, not just the superpower of bands like U2, but with a huge range of tradition, pop and more eclectic artists, there is a new wave of excitement being created through talented artists who are being given opportunities to showcase their undoubtable talents.
Write a comment Seafret are a London based Indie-pop duo Jack Sedman and Harry Draper. Originating from Bridlington, their name reflects their closeness to one of England’s coastal towns. Since their first EP release in 2014 they have been consistent in their production of songs that are growing them a loyal army of fans around the UK.
Write a comment With four previous UK number ones, an impressive total of 67 weeks in the UK top 10 over their four decade career and over 100 million records sold worldwide, the Pet Shop Boys need little introduction.
Write a comment British rap has evolved steadily over the last 40 years and is more mainstream now than ever. It's getting young people into a genre of music that they can really relate to.
Write a comment What's not to like about David Keenan. His journey into music is something of fairy tales - running away from his home in Dundalk in Ireland at the tender age of 17 to find the ‘disappeared’ in Liverpool.
Write a comment We all want to start the New Year happy, so Oh Wonder’s new release would be the perfect place to start. The alternative pop duo of Anthony West and Josephine Vander Gucht have released some awesome tracks since their first EP in 2015.
Write a comment Hannah Grace could soon be ruling the music world with beauty in her music.
Write a comment You may not have heard the name of Camden Cox before, but this London based singer is about to get a lot of attention for her style, vocal delivery and natural talent.
Write a comment The resurgence of folk music, thanks largely to bands like Mumford and Sons and artists such as Ben Howard, has opened the door to many new talents who can now commercially make inroads into the music industry.
Write a comment If you’re going to have music with rap in it, you have to be able to show passion and anger, and not just with the vocal line - it has to come through all of the musicianship.
Write a comment With Nomeansno now officially retired, Fugazi on indefinite hiatus and Sonic Youth extremely unlikely to tour again after the acrimonious marital split of Kim and Thurston there’s very slim pickings, gig wise, for those of us Generation X’ers with an affinity for US post-hardcore, indie, noise rock.
Write a comment Upcoming Irish singer-songwriter Megan O’Neill impressed a London audience on Thursday, marking her final performance of 2019. After a successful year - including opening stadium shows for the legendary Sir Tom Jones, playing at key UK country music festivals (British Country Music Festival, Country 2 Country, Body & Soul) her fans seemed keen for her closing headlining gig at The 229 Venue.
Write a comment Lana Del Rey finished her USA fall tour on Tuesday night supported by a range of special guests, including Lukas Nelson (son of the great Willie Nelson), former The Walkman frontman Hamilton Leithauser, Nikki Lane and Lissie; the acts were seemingly included to suit the Nashville music culture and crowd, adding a little extra spark and interest to the show. This ultimately invoked a country theme for the event, which seemed to favor the city's music scene.
Write a comment Last night I caught up with Olivia Jean at Rough Trade NYC. Well known for her previous lead role with Garage goth band The Black Belles, who were formed by Jack White in 2009, the alt-rock artist has now started to establish herself as a solo act.
Write a comment On October 25th, we attended Willie Jones’ performance as part of his UK tour supporting Michael Ray. Performing a blend of Country, soul and hip-hop, there’s definitely plenty to talk about this singer from Shreveport, Louisiana.
Write a comment This Monday we caught up with Nashville-based country band Old Dominion in Manchester. Over the last few years, they’ve made several appearances in the UK, including performing with Thomas Rhett, playing at the Country to Country Festival as well as their UK tour last November. Now it seems they have established their name firmly in the UK country scene, seeing the sizeable number of fans that turned up in support of this band. In this review I have included the songs that made the biggest impression on me.
Write a comment Irish Country artist Megan O’neill is about to release her latest single “Rootless” on October 25th. The song is from her forthcoming album.
Write a comment Brighton-based indie up and comers Penelope Isles released their long-awaited debut album Until The Tide Creeps In through Bella Union this month.
Write a comment Icelandic folk pop sensations Of Monsters And Men are back with their long-awaited third studio album Fever Dream, and while it’s tremendous to have them back, it’s a very different band we welcome into the limelight this time round.
Write a comment Last Thursday we attended Michaela Anne's first UK headlining show at The Islingon in London. Having already eased her way into a UK audience the previous night supporting Madeline Orange solo at The Islington Assembly Hall - this was her time to shine with a full band behind her.
Write a comment This Eternal Life is the fourth album release by multi-instrumentalist James Parkinson, who goes by the name of One Cure For Man.
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Write a comment Nashville based country star Michaela Anne was part of the lineup of the AmericanaFest, which took part in London this week.
Write a comment This week we caught up with Alt Rock/Grunge band Slothrust at the Deaf Institute in Manchester, Wednesday 23rd.
Write a comment After a few listens to Revelation, most listeners can find that the album does not always follow the pure reggae sound, as it is influenced by other genres, and hence results in a very unique sound. The work of Lee “Scratch” Perry is one of its own, with no similar record we can compare it to.
Write a comment The Darkness is a british hard rock band, influenced by the glam-rock genre in their usage of distorted guitars, power chords, blazing solos and a focus on the vocal side of the music in most of their pieces.
Write a comment The talented singer, songwriter and producer, has released a new single titled “Anybody out There” as of the 7th December. The song features strong themes of love, and other people’s company, sometimes even what happens when these things are missing.
Write a comment White Lies, the post-punk English band, known for the successful “To Lose my Life” record, and their follow-up “Ritual.”, have very recently released a new single for their upcoming album “Five”, expected to be released on February, 2019.
Write a comment South African groove-rockers' concept album tells the story of life over the last two years as one of their country’s hardest working bands.
Write a comment The Australian country star Morgan Evans is increasing his traction obtained by his acclaimed record “Things that we drink to”, released in October 2018, with a series of new intimate sets called “Highway 1 Sessions.” The song “Young Again” was released as of 5 Dec 2018.
Write a comment Last week, the well-known British alternative rock band released their third studio album after a couple of months teasing the aesthetic and some singles from the album on their social media.
Write a comment Write a comment During their latest tour, we caught up with the popular roots-rock sisters, Larkin Poe. On a cold Wednesday night in Islington, it soon became clear there was heated interest in the rock duo with the length of the queue alone; it was also quite an impressive venue too!
Write a comment It’s been half a decade since 1990s grunge icons Alice In Chains (AIC) released an album. But, as with most good things in life, it’s absolutely worth the wait. And as a reward for our patience, the band has given us another music video, this time for their track Never Fade.
Write a comment With her new album Pure Good Vibes arriving this Friday, genre-blending singer-songwriter Ada Morghe is ready to share a sonic love letter to transformation, healing, and the energy of simply being present. Born from an unexpected creative awakening on a trip to Jamaica with producer Livingstone Brown, the record is as much about rhythm and connection as it is about soul-searching honesty. From intimate tracks like “Amin Bird” and “Shadow” to joyous collaborations with legends like Maxi Priest and Makoto, Ada’s new project is a vibrant blend of emotion, groove, and purpose. We caught up with her ahead of the release to talk inspiration, dream collabs, touring with Billy Ocean — and why this album might be her most personal yet.
Write a comment After two decades away from songwriting, Canadian artist Andrew Spice returns with “Gentle Sentinel,” a hauntingly beautiful ballad dedicated to his late cat, Bea. More than just a tribute, the song marks the emotional rekindling of a creative fire that had long been dormant. What began as a simple one-minute songwriting prompt from his friend and fellow musician Emm Gryner blossomed into a stirring, piano-led piece featuring Grammy-nominated string arranger Drew Jurecka. With Bea as both muse and emotional anchor, “Gentle Sentinel” captures the profound, often unspoken love between humans and their animal companions—a love that quietly carries us through grief, healing, and life’s most intimate moments.
Write a comment With a sound rooted in classic rock and storytelling that feels both deeply personal and universally relatable, Leonie Jakobi is making waves with their new single, “I Deserve to Shine.” A high-energy, old-school rock ‘n’ roll anthem, the track is an empowering declaration of self-worth and resilience. But this is just the beginning—there’s much more to come, including a debut album later this year that promises to bring the spirit of Springsteen-esque live energy to listeners everywhere.
Write a comment Maisy is an artist whose storytelling and raw emotion have captured the hearts of fans worldwide. With her recent two-part EP Wonderlust making waves and an exciting UK tour alongside Jamie Miller on the horizon, she is tipped to become one of the next big household names in music. We caught up with Maisy to talk about her latest projects, dream collaborations, and the lessons she’s learned along the way.
Write a comment Jon Allen is kicking off 2025 with a bang. With his new album Seven Dials on the horizon and the recent release of his gripping single White Gold, the British singer-songwriter is ready to take his cinematic, story-driven sound to the stage. Rooted in the dark, atmospheric history of London’s underbelly, Seven Dials promises to be his most immersive work yet. We caught up with Jon to talk about the inspiration behind his latest tracks, the excitement of touring with The Luna Kings, and what’s next on his journey.
Write a comment Harleymoon Kemp returns with a new upbeat country-pop anthem, ‘Back in Tennessee’. An exciting name in UK country music, her rich musical heritage is undeniable. Her father is Spandau Ballet legend Martin Kemp, her mother Shirlie Kemp rose to fame with Pepsi & Shirlie and Wham!, and both Harleymoon and her brother Roman are godchildren to the late George Michael. Over the past few years, Harleymoon has been making her own mark on the country music scene, performing at sold-out shows, securing prominent festival slots, and hosting popular events.
Write a comment In this exclusive interview, we ask Bailey Tomkinson & The Locals to dive into the inspiration behind the latest single, "Chrysalis," and how it symbolises a personal journey of transformation. Bailey opens up about her creative process, the joys of collaborating with renowned producer Ian Barter, and how her evolution from solo artist to band leader has shaped her sound. She also reflects on what it means to be compared to iconic artists like Taylor Swift and Daisy Jones & The Six, while staying true to her roots in Cornwall's vibrant "Kernowfornia" music scene. From performing at major festivals to intimate gigs, Bailey shares the magic of live shows and what fans can expect from The Locals' upcoming performance.
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Write a comment With her signature Oklahoma twang and gripping storytelling, Kaitlin Butts has been steadily gaining momentum in the country music scene, amassing millions of monthly listeners on Spotify and earning praise from critics who believe she deserves even greater recognition. Rolling Stone describes her latest album as "unafraid to test boundaries."
This summer, she took the stage at major festivals like Lollapalooza and Under the Big Sky, and is currently touring the U.S. with Dierks Bentley. Next week, she’s set to join Flatland Cavalry for a UK tour. I caught up with Kaitlin to delve deeper into her journey and what’s next. Also, listen below.
Write a comment The internationally acclaimed vocal ensemble, House Gospel Choir, is celebrating a decade of groundbreaking music with the release of their highly anticipated second album. Leading the charge is the uplifting and soulful track "GLOW," featuring collaborations with Rudimental and Afronaut Zu. Released today, August 9th, under the newly launched label Swear Down Music by the Choir's founder and Creative Director, Natalie Maddix, "GLOW" exemplifies the group's signature blend of beats and bass with powerful vocal harmonies.
