Latest Reviews

Ska-punk scamps Less Than Jake have been recording, touring, and starting drunken teenage parties around the world for closing in on three decades now. But, just like their legions of fans, they’re growing up and growing older. It's been seven years since their last studio album See The Light was released, and there must have been some out there among us that were wondering in the intervening years if we’d ever get them back.

It seems like in the jazz and folk scene, just about everyone’s heard of Dodie, and for a while, too, but it’s only now that she’s finally dedicated herself to an album. Part of that upcoming album is this newest single, titled “Rainbow”. Truthfully, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a song so appropriately titled for a track. It begins with a beautiful guitar progression, plucked one note, one string, at a time, and soon accompanied by the soothing, delicate voice of Dodie.

Sheffield sensations the Arctic Monkeys were widely heralded as the saviours of authentic indie rock when they burst onto the scene with breakthrough hit I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor, and the album from which it was taken, Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not, which became the fastest selling debut album in British music history when it sold a staggering 360,000 copies in its first week of release.

Black Eyed Peas’ recent comeback scores a rush of excitement in the form of Shakira in their latest single ‘A Girl Like Me’. This beloved group has reassembled in the past year but most would notice that their latest work has been missing a certain feminine flavor. Though Fergie and her captivating vocals are still nowhere to be found, Shakira’s wild and over-the-top charisma shines through and makes an impact regardlessly. It helps that there’s a strong chorus to match Shakira’s spirit, one that distorts her voice at the end and layers it up a couple of pitches. The end-product is a fun, exaggerated, high-pitched refrain that echoes through the silence and builds up the mood for a rambunctious adventure. 

Texas-born singer and songwriter Alaina Castillo came to fame through YouTube after uploading videos of her singing to the platform in 2017. Her hushed, gentle tones saw her amassing thousand of views, before she dropped her debut EP, Antisocial Butterly, last year, and embarked on her first tour, with dates around the USA.

Mariah Carey recruits a coterie of phenomenal singers for her 2020 rendition of ‘Oh Santa!’ featuring Ariana Grande and Jennifer Hudson. The Queen of Christmas may very well glide through every holiday season through her most famous number but she chooses to update a more recent tune of hers. The original version of ‘Oh Santa!’ was released in 2010 but this tune featuring Ariana and Jennifer is set to be a leading single for Mariah’s Apple TV+ Christmas special titled “Mariah Carey’s Magical Christmas Special.” 

Folk rocker Lissie burst onto the scene a decade ago with her debut album Catching A Tiger, which was recorded in Nashville and spawned the hit single When I’m Alone, chosen by iTunes as their ‘Song of the Year’ for 2010. Three further albums have followed over the last ten years – 2013’s Back To Forever, My Wild West three years later, and Castles in 2018 – releases which solidified her reputation as a singer-songwriter with a real talent for crafting country-tinged modern folk songs.

David Guetta’s take on Fleetwood Mac’s ‘Dreams’ is scintillating enough without losing any of the charms of the original number. Guetta works his usual bit of magic and ends up transforming what was a gentle, whimsical composition into a glamorous, exhilarating affair. ‘Dreams’, as many would know, achieved widespread attention this year after Nathan Apodaca of Idaho Falls posted a TikTok in which he was seen riding on his longboard, drinking Ocean Spray, and lip-syncing to the iconic Fleetwood Mac tune. The video went viral, launched a number of recreations, created a trend, and spawned a couple of thousand memes. Both Stevie Nicks and Mick Fleetwood of the band also joined in on the trend. 

Jennifer Lopez’s new single ‘In The Morning’ makes use of a familiar chord to take us through a touch-starved, ecstasy-filled ride through the artist’s deepest desires. The piece will immediately remind you of the early 2000s. The sharp acoustic guitar chords, the hypnotizing percussion arrangement, and J-Lo’s affective vocals come together to set up a moody, romantic atmosphere that’s brimming with a vulnerable sensuality. A sensuality that J-Lo has cultivated and mastered to perfection over the years. What really bolsters the composition is the central melody — it’s passionate, it’s infectious, and it perfectly encapsulates J-Lo’s strengths. She doesn’t dabble in vocal runs or wild soaring notes; however, she is adept at infusing each and every word with her sass, with her feminine energy, with the glamour and glitz that have made her a household name. 

Will Joseph Cook – the mutli-instrumentalist who earned legions of fans for his debut LP Sweet Dreamer back in 2017 – has long specialised in crafting dreamy, carefree summer-fuelled indie pop numbers. He started writing his own songs when he was in his early teens, with Sweet Dreamer being completed before he hit the age of twenty. Now firmly in his twenties and with his new album Something To Feel Good About, has the now all grown up Cook turned his back on his youthful optimistic self? Not a bit of it.