Kele: 2042 review – Okereke’s most political work yet
The Bloc Party frontman’s fourth solo album mixes the intimate and personal with references to Grenfell and Windrush
Cigarettes After Sex: Cry review – icky lyrics, lovely melodies
Staying firmly in his sweet spot, Greg Gonzalez repeats the autobiographical oversharing and the sheer ambient pop pleasure of the band’s first album
Sŵn festival review – weirdness and wonder in Cardiff’s alt-pop paradise
Based everywhere from an Irish chain pub to an antiques centre, this slickly organised festival shows how varied and vibrant today’s indie scene is
Vagabon: Vagabon review – indie star is expansive yet intimate
Swapping crunching guitars for softer electronics, Laetitia Tamko’s second album is both sharp and tender
Mark Lanegan Band: Somebody’s Knocking review – surly rock pinup sees the fun side
Lanegan’s desolate croon gets its groove on, in this rocking, relatable 11th album
Foals – Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost Part 2 review – grandiose designs
What promised to be the state-of-the-nation address to top all other state-of-the-nation addresses turns out to be merely a solid, rifftastic arena rock album
Big Thief: Two Hands review – powerful and gritty grunge folk
This ‘earth twin’ album to their ‘celestial twin’ UFOF, released in May, foregrounds Adrianne Lenker’s arresting voice and tender/brutal lyrics
Richard Dawson: 2020 review – Britain’s best, most humane songwriter
Dawson adds pop-facing elements to folk on this brilliant album, full of stories of a benighted Britain
Two Door Cinema Club review – kings of uncool get the pints flying
Their indie disco shtick may be thoroughly out of fashion, but the Northern Irish band can still work a crowd into a frenzy
Angel Olsen: All Mirrors review – a little lost in the operatic mix
Reverb and its vocal cousin, vibrato, are aural forms of witchcraft, imparting both haunt and gravitas to the songs they touch. Angel Olsen, once of Chicago, now of North Carolina, has long had a grain silo of a voice, pre-loaded … Continue reading
Wilco: Ode to Joy review – yet another winning set
Since Wilco’s last album, 2016’s Schmilco, frontman Jeff Tweedy has been busy, releasing three solo albums (including one, Warmer, just three months ago) and writing an autobiography. Yet his creative well is far from dry. While the downbeat folk stylings … Continue reading
Wilco: Ode to Joy review – Jeff Tweedy is as uncertain, but as sincere, as ever
Stripped back it may be, but Wilco’s 11th album combines expressive lyrics about change with big singalong choruses
Angel Olsen: All Mirrors review – shapeshifting songs to impress and unnerve
Literate, melodious songs twist into dissonance and darkness on Olsen’s new album. It’s a rewarding, unexpected listen
Tegan and Sara: Hey, I’m Just Like You review – Canadian twins revisit their youth
With Hey, I’m Just Like You, Canadian twins Tegan and Sara Quin have cultivated a fresh start. After morphing from indie-punk outcasts into purveyors of sugar-rush pop beloved of Taylor Swift on 2013’s excellent Heartthrob, they hit a wall on … Continue reading