A Different Thread is an Americana folk band with its own sound. The lyrics on their third album deal with life experiences (life in a van, love across oceans), the environment and themes of justice. Vocally, the songs are well balanced, both the individual voices and the harmonies of Alicia Best and Robert Jackson are excellent. Their singing is gospel-like and clearly intelligible. The songs are easy to listen to, but the (sometimes emotional) lyrics come through the positive tone less ... read more

The Los Angeles post-rock duo El Ten Eleven releases its sixteenth record with “Nowhere Faster”, following its longest break in 23 years of collaboration. The album is thematically rooted in unrest and transience, and this is audible in the eight tracks that Kristian Dunn and Tim Fogarty have assembled. A new element is the inclusion of live strings and piano, heard for the first time in their discography and giving tracks such as the title track and “You Against You” a ... read more

With “Kammerkonzert”, Tom Jenkinson, better known as Squarepusher, ventures fully into the world of chamber music for the first time. The title is German for chamber concert, and the name is meaningful: fourteen tracks built on strings, fortepiano, vibraphone, woodwinds and live drums, all played and programmed by Jenkinson himself via a MIDI guitar system. The familiar IDM blueprint remains recognisable, but the usual electronic sounds have been replaced by acoustic instruments, ... read more

No one was waiting for “Highway to Heaven”. Nina Hagen likely knew that herself. But she made it anyway, in her own inimitable and slightly incomprehensible way. The album is neither a statement nor a comeback. It is what it is: a 71 year old woman singing gospel with Nana Mouskouri, and fully believing in it. That deserves respect, and somewhere also a smile. But it is no longer great art.

“Hauntings” contains pieces that, without exception, are excellently mastered and produced, as we have come to expect. The level of detail in the mix is impressive. “Hauntings” is not an album of standalone tracks, but a suite that ideally should be performed by an orchestra capable of translating Barbieri’s sound worlds. Such a performance is something you experience, something that washes over and through you, after which it settles into memory. Slowly and ... read more

“Bully” is not the low point of Kanye West’s discography. That distinction remains reserved for “Vultures 2” and “Donda 2”. It is a step forward compared to his recent output, but it is also an album that trades on the goodwill of the past without truly earning it. The production shows flashes of brilliance, the samples are at times breathtaking, but too many tracks coast on autopilot. As a first solo album in four years, “Bully” should have ... read more

“Automated Paradise” is the first official album by the legendary post-punk musicians John Wardle, better known by his stage name Jah Wobble, and former Siouxsie and the Banshees guitarist Jon Klein. The two have known each other since the 1980s and have collaborated sporadically in the past, such as on Wobble’s solo album “Step Up” from 2023. Wobble gained fame as the original bassist and co-founder of the post-punk band Public Image Ltd. His nickname was given to ... read more

With “Volumes: One”, Justin Vernon launches a new archival project inspired by Bob Dylan’s Bootleg Series and the Neil Young Archives. This first instalment brings together ten live recordings from the period 2019 to 2023, performed by the six-piece Bon Iver live band, including Jenn Wasner, Sean Carey and Matthew McCaughan. Recordings from venues such as The Forum in Los Angeles, the Pitchfork Music Festival in Chicago and WOMADelaide in Australia form a coherent whole that ... read more

With his third album “The Weight of the Woods”, Irish singer-songwriter Dermot Kennedy returns to his roots. Following his two number one albums “Without Fear” (2019) and “Sonder” (2022), the album was largely recorded in a studio near his home in Dublin, in collaboration with producer Gabe Simon, who previously worked with Noah Kahan and Lana Del Rey. Kennedy drew inspiration from the forest behind his house and worked with traditional Irish instruments such ... read more

Yes, the one behind the indestructible classic ‘The Way It Is’, that Bruce Hornsby. The man turns 72 and clearly does not wish to be remembered as someone who scored a one-hit wonder in 1986. This ‘Indigo Park’ is meant to stand as testimony to a richer musical oeuvre in which Hornsby proves himself adept in various styles, from jazz to pop and even classical influences. Naturally, the piano remains Hornsby’s trademark: the intro of the title track immediately ... read more

Anneke van Giersbergen needs no further introduction. This versatile singer made her name in the 1990s when she became the vocalist of The Gathering. With her songwriting abilities and her beautiful voice, she has, since 2007, built a successful solo career alongside all her projects and collaborations with other artists and bands. Each year, millions also hear her voice in the Efteling attraction Baron 1898. Her new solo album is titled ‘La Vie, La Mort, L’Amour’ and will be ... read more

Six years after ‘It Is What It Is’, Stephen Bruner, alias Thundercat, returns with his fifth studio album ‘Distracted’, released via Brainfeeder. The album, largely created in collaboration with super-producer Greg Kurstin, reflects the tension between digital overstimulation and introspection. In recent years, Bruner has processed his sobriety and personal losses into songs that are both humorous and sincere. Opening track ‘Candlelight’ immediately sets the ... read more

‘POMPEII // UTILITY’ is the long-awaited collaborative album by underground rappers Earl Sweatshirt and MIKE, produced by the New York collective Surf Gang. The 33-track double album is split into two discs: the first part, ‘Pompeii’, is MIKE’s work and revolves around decay and loss, while the second part, ‘Utility’, belongs to Earl Sweatshirt and sounds tighter and more purposeful. Surf Gang’s spacey, trap-oriented beats form the connecting ... read more

‘Porcelain’ is the debut album by Australian pop star Shaylee Curnow, better known as Peach PRC. Where she was previously known for her bright pink hair and theatrical Manic Dream Pixie persona, she consciously opts here for a softer, more grounded identity. The electropop opener ‘Piper’ introduces a forested, fairy-tale world, while ‘Eucalyptus’ explores her recent spiritual wonder. On ‘Miss Erotica’, she delves into her past as a dancer, ... read more

Flea: That is the man who, bare-chested with his bass guitar on his knees, jumped across the stage with the Red Hot Chilli Peppers, the funk band he co-founded. But even Flea is getting older. The man is now 64 and returns to his first musical experience: jazz. His stepfather introduced Michael Peter Balzary to Dizzy Gillespie and Miles Davis. The trumpet was Flea’s first love, and that instrument is especially prominent on “Honora”. Flea reveals a completely new side of ... read more

This is going to become a trend: megalomaniac productions in which the boundaries between jazz, pop, soul and even classical music blur. Late last year, Rosalía released her “Lux”, a record that was highly praised. On Friday, “This Music May Contain Hope” by RAYE was released: a theatrical concept album centred around the four seasons (including references to Vivaldi) as a metaphor for change and personal growth. So far, the praise has been less effusive than the ... read more

‘Engines Of Demolition’ is the twelfth studio album by Black Label Society, the band of guitarist, singer and songwriter Zakk Wylde, who broke through when he was chosen at the age of 20 as the successor to Jake E. Lee in Ozzy Osbourne’s band. In 1998, he formed his own band, where he not only plays guitar but also takes on lead vocals. He is also the driving force behind the tribute band Zakk Sabbath and replaced the late Dimebag Darrell during Pantera’s reunion tours. ... read more

On her fourth solo album, “Creature of Habit”, Courtney Barnett returns to the raw, jangly indie rock that made her name, after a relatively quiet period that took her to Los Angeles and led to the closure of her label Milk! Records. The opener “Stay in Your Lane” sets the tone with stubborn energy, while “Site Unseen” with Katie Crutchfield of Waxahatchee grows into a sunny collaboration full of sliding guitars and beautiful harmonies. On “One Thing at ... read more

After eight years of silence, Robyn returns with her ninth studio album “Sexistential”, released via Konichiwa Records and Young. Where “Honey” from 2018 still drifted on dark dance grooves, she now opts for the infectious electropop that marked her major breakthrough with the “Body Talk” trilogy. Together with producer Klas Åhlund, who also helmed that trilogy, she wrote nine songs that transform sensual energy into pure danceable joy. The opening ... read more

Five years after “Valentine”, Lindsey Jordan returns as Snail Mail with “Ricochet”, her third studio album on the Matador label. In the intervening years, she underwent surgery on her vocal cords, moved from New York to North Carolina and made her acting debut. These experiences are reflected in an album that is less about broken hearts and more about big questions: mortality, alienation and the inevitability of change. The opener “Tractor Beam” reveals her ... read more