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
Newer posts →

Boygenius review – Phoebe Bridgers, Julien Baker and Lucy Dacus meet hysteria with humour

The US supergroup have legions of fans swooning – literally – as they crown a summer of female cultural-dominance with an epic outdoor show

Lankum review – eerie, overwhelming radical Irish folk already feels centuries old

The Mercury-nominated four-piece play every song as if they’re fighting with it, gasping for air before verses

Playing for the Man at the Door review – vital snapshot of mid-century African American music

Subtitled Field Recordings from the Collection of Mack McCormick 1958-1971, this 66-song set is full of gripping storytelling and arresting instrumentals from the American south

Julie Byrne review – elegiac ache and nuanced feelings

Two years on from the death of her friend and musical collaborator Eric Littmann, Byrne tours the album they were working on together, in a performance of mesmerising beauty

Joni Mitchell: At Newport review – years melt away in surprise folk festival recording

Her poignant return to live performance in 2022 gets a full release, and it’s a hit-filled show displaying Mitchell’s enduring warmth and wisdom

Julie Byrne: The Greater Wings review – a stunning study of love and loss

Recorded both before and after the death of a friend and collaborator, the US singer-songwriter’s new album feels as though it sits outside time and space

Various artists: A Collection of Songs in the Traditional & Sean-Nós Style review – Gaelic sadness and longing

Recorded in pubs, kitchens and community halls, these old Irish songs are a thrilling reminder that the voice needs no technology to move us deeply

Joni Mitchell review – first headline show in two decades is three hours of total joy

Many thought she might never play live again after an aneurysm, but Mitchell is in lively, fun-filled form at this all-star return in rural Washington state

Damir Imamović: The World and All That It Holds review – lightning bolts of emotion

The Bosnian musician combines Slavic sevdah, Sephardic Jewish and original songs to tell the story of two soldiers who fall in love during the first world war

Rufus Wainwright: Folkocracy review – an illustrious feelgood duet party

The songwriting polymath (and some surprising guests) goes back to his roots on this mellifluous set of folk classics

Jon Wilks: Before I Knew What Had Begun I Had Already Lost review – tender and thoughtful

The hard-working West Midlands folk devotee finds inspiration from beyond Birmingham on a lively, inventive fourth LP

Bongeziwe Mabandla: amaXesha review – South African singer in his own lane

The singer-songwriter elevates his reimagining of Xhosa folk music with synth-pop hooks and his melismatic voice

Lucy Farrell: We Are Only Sound review – a fresh, thoughtful debut

(Hudson)A stalwart of the folk scene brings rich experience to her long-brewed first album

Cinder Well: Cadence review – a mysterious deep dive into the ocean

Multi-instrumentalist Amelia Baker conjures realms of poetic sound on a lush, complex, sometimes overwhelming album

The Young’uns: Tiny Notes review – passionate folk in praise of unsung heroes

Paying tribute to David Nott, Lyra McKee and more, the Teesside trio’s eighth album delivers compassion without fanfare

Post navigation

← Older posts
Newer posts →
  • Suzi Quatro review – at 75, her signature scream is still thrilling
  • Pet Shop Boys review – no hits? No problem on first night of a masterful obscurities run
  • James review – special band still filling arenas with anthems of warmth and humanity
  • Shostakovich: Symphonies No 2 and 5 album review – early experiment meets mature power
  • Messiah album review – Whelan takes Handel’s oratorio back to its beginnings
  • Martha Argerich and Dong-Hyek Lim review – legendary pianist and mentee create musical magic
  • Sanaya Ardeshir: Hand of Thought review – poised piano minimalism with a quietly expansive reach
  • Earl Sweatshirt, Mike and Surf Gang: Pompeii // Utility review – rap radicals’ appealing study in contrasts
  • Sunn O))): Sunn O))) review – a seismic return to drone metal’s elemental core
  • Alim Beisembayev review – intimacy and conviction in programme of Romanticism
  • Royal Liverpool Philharmonic/ Candillari review – Simpson’s oratorio shrieks; Elgar and Sibelius stay polite
  • LPO/Tan Dun review – a full battery of drums, dramatic inhalations and hints of Mongolian throat singing
  • The Turn of the Screw review – gripping and unsettling water-logged staging of Britten’s ghost story
  • Tamerlano review – Trump, Freud and a Bridgerton escapee struggle to get a handle on Handel
  • Miroslav Vitous: Mountain Call review – double bass duets balance muscularity with mellowness
  • Flea: Honora review – Chili Pepper turns piper, taking up trumpet for a soulful jazz odyssey
  • Mendelssohn: Symphonies and Oratorios album review – Andris Nelsons’ prodigious talent on full display
  • Anne-Sophie Mutter: East Meets West album review – diverse, bold and brand new
  • Paul McCartney: Days We Left Behind review – this wistful, lovely song is as McCartney-esque as it’s possible to be
  • Rigoletto review – strong revival of Mears’s violent take, with Elder revelatory in the pit
  • Fcukers: Ö review – hyped Harry Styles-supporting NYC hedonists have the hooks to merit the hoopla
  • The Passion of Mary Magdalene review – Tansy Davies’s score is taut and intriguing
  • Imeneo review – Handel in mischievous mood handled with wit and care
  • Robyn: Sexistential review – pop doyenne returns with emotional grenades and a new philosophy
  • Raye: This Music May Contain Hope review – a wildly ambitious epic of unbridled self-expression
  • FKA twigs review – an Olympian display of pop prowess
  • Pagliacci review – Leoncavallo’s grand guignol staged with insight and commitment
  • Geese review – all hail the new saviours of rock’n’roll
  • The Gondoliers review – brilliantly barbed Gilbert and Sullivan is a feast for the eyes and ears
  • BTS review – having lost none of their chemistry, this is a comeback of epic proportions

Contact www.freakyparty.net   Terms of Use