Freaky Party

Music Reviews and more

Main menu

Skip to primary content
Skip to secondary content
  • Pop/Rock
  • Metal
  • Indie
  • Electronic
  • Folk
  • Jazz
  • Classical

Post navigation

← Older posts

Sananda Maitreya review – the former Terence Trent D’Arby returns in astonishing vocal form

Pop’s lost prodigy returns for the first time in 23 years with a dazzling, genre-hopping show – and a falsetto that still floors the crowd

Jennifer Walton: Daughters review – a stylish and painful debut

Fiction, folk and a devastating diagnosis feature in the producer and DJ’s literary penmanship, her gentle, gothic vocals thick with morbid, magical thinking

Lily Allen: West End Girl – a gobsmacking autopsy of marital betrayal

Allen’s first album in seven years traces the fallout from an open relationship, but as well as being cathartic and candid, these stylistically varied songs have melodies that sparkle

Fridayz Live Sydney review – Mariah Carey is impeccable but Pitbull steals the show

Dual headliners capped a R&B festival with fever-dream energy, including self-help sermons and Pitbull cosplayers everywhere you looked

Tame Impala: Deadbeat review – ‘bush doof’ bangers can’t hide how downbeat Kevin Parker seems to be

The producer combines an uneasy marriage of four-four beats with catchy hooks and candid lyrics suggesting his rise to pop’s upper echelons may have come at a cost

The Last Dinner Party: From the Pyre review – baroque’n’roll band’s speedily released second album is overheated

The London five-piece throw the kitchen sink at these dizzyingly dense songs, often crushing their melodic pleasures in the process

Bruce Springsteen: Nebraska ’82: Expanded Edition review – fabled album falls short of expectations

Rumours of the existence of E Street versions of Springsteen’s masterpiece have swirled for decades, but the reality doesn’t live up to the hype

Jade review – pop’s quirkiest star transcends manufactured past

Fans sing along to debut album at synth-laden show that showcased the former Little Mix star’s appealing, unvarnished and at times deeply odd shtick

Robbie Williams review – tiny Camden gig offers blinding star wattage – and a surprising new song about Morrissey

Previewing new album Britpop to an audience of 600, the star promises ‘no stadium bravado’ and delivers droll new songs alongside stripped-back oldies

Hannah Frances: Nested in Tangles review – ramshackle arrangements power restless revelations

Wayward tempos and snapping drums break fresh ground in this unruly release from the Vermont musician

Giustino review – sublime, and ridiculous, Handel rarity returns to Covent Garden

Joe Hill-Gibbins’ scaled-down staging is sensitive, and the music beautifully played and sung, but this is an uneven work dramatically

Katy Perry review – ​like being high on Haribo while trapped in a theme park

In a fun but frenetic show, the star hangs off props, wears a glove that shoots pyrotechnics and generally distracts from her own energy and charisma

The Kooks review – a triumphant and touching mass singalong

Playing to the biggest crowds of the careers, the 00s indie stalwarts perform like they’re loving every minute – although there is also raw emotion in Manchester on the night after the synagogue attack

Taylor Swift: The Official Release Party of a Showgirl review – lazy big screen cash-in

The megastar’s underwhelming new album gets a suitably sub-par cinematic accompaniment offering very little for even the most devoted of fans

Ethel Cain review – a sublime rejection of pop stardom from the shadows

Bathed in darkness and backed by a formidable band, the Florida singer-songwriter turns her brooding southern gothic into a mesmerising, slow-burn spectacle

Post navigation

← Older posts
  • Julius Eastman: A Power Greater Than review – Davóne Tines celebrates the maverick musician
  • Sananda Maitreya review – the former Terence Trent D’Arby returns in astonishing vocal form
  • Gillian Welch and David Rawlings review – perfectly paired talents at the peak of their powers
  • Dave: The Boy Who Played the Harp review – ​it’s clearer than ever what a stunningly skilled rapper he is
  • Mohinder Kaur Bhamra: Punjabi Disco review – rediscovery of an 80s trailblazer
  • Jennifer Walton: Daughters review – a stylish and painful debut
  • Lily Allen: West End Girl – a gobsmacking autopsy of marital betrayal
  • Gli Incogniti/Beyer: Bach from Italy album review – fascinating collection sizzles and shines
  • Iberia album review – Hindoyan and the RLPO turn the heat up with Spanish colours and sunshine
  • Apartment House review – an evening rich in discoveries, musical delicacies and magic
  • LSO/Adès review – the mood-boosting musical equivalent of a Sad lamp
  • Fridayz Live Sydney review – Mariah Carey is impeccable but Pitbull steals the show
  • Little Simz review – hip-hop visionary radiates joy and Gallagher-level swagger
  • Tame Impala: Deadbeat review – ‘bush doof’ bangers can’t hide how downbeat Kevin Parker seems to be
  • BBC Phil/Seal: Bliss, Miracle in the Gorbals/Metamorphic Variations album review – much to enjoy
  • Sebastian Rochford: Finding Ways review – Polar Bear drummer’s strikingly varied quest into the aftermath of grief
  • The Last Dinner Party: From the Pyre review – baroque’n’roll band’s speedily released second album is overheated
  • Hugh Cutting: Refound album review – an idiosyncratic and profoundly satisfying collection
  • Albert Herring review – ENO heralds new era with witty staging of Britten’s story of a mummy’s boy
  • Mitsuko Uchida review – enthralling and exhilarating late Beethoven
  • Bruce Springsteen: Nebraska ’82: Expanded Edition review – fabled album falls short of expectations
  • La Bohème review – noirish reframing of Puccini’s classic weepy
  • Jade review – pop’s quirkiest star transcends manufactured past
  • The Magic Flute review – assured, atmospheric and a lot of fun
  • Robbie Williams review – tiny Camden gig offers blinding star wattage – and a surprising new song about Morrissey
  • Širom: In the Wind of Night, Hard-Fallen Incantations Whisper review – a cacophonous folk kaleidoscope
  • Hannah Frances: Nested in Tangles review – ramshackle arrangements power restless revelations
  • Beethoven 5 Vol 4: Salvatore di Sciarrino album review – classical weight, contemporary subtlety
  • BBCSO/Stasevska: Become Ocean review – elemental, unsettling and beautiful
  • The Hermes Experiment: Tree album review – vivid voices and bold textures from inventive ensemble

Contact www.freakyparty.net   Terms of Use