Virginia Wing: Ecstatic Arrow review – rhythmic dream pop with a bite
Alice Merida Richards and Samuel Pillay mix serious pop smarts with jazz, part-naive vocals and a jaded aesthetic: it’s unique
The The review – long-awaited return reopens brilliant teenage diaries
Performing for the first time in 16 years only days after his father’s death, 1980s indie hero Matt Johnson retains a gravel-voiced gravitas
The Great Escape review – raunchy rap, cracking synthpop and rock’n’roll fireworks
A handful of standout acts were exhilarating but this celebration of new music highlighted a drift towards sameness and whimsy
Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks: Sparkle Hard review – a reanimated rock eccentric
For a man who recently declared “I’m basically over”, Stephen Malkmus sounds surprisingly animated on his seventh album with the Jicks. Now 51, the former Pavement frontman still possesses the qualities that distinguished his years with the 90s band – … Continue reading
Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks: Sparkle Hard review – fuzzy logic and killer tunes
On their seventh album, the off-kilter ideas coalesce into big melodies and a more political stance
Courtney Barnett: Tell Me How You Really Feel review – sharp barbs and no holds barred
Barnett’s second album is angrier, gathering her arrows to skewer the world’s problems like a loud battle cry
Johnny Marr review – Manchester rock royalty wrests legacy back from Morrissey
Marr plays Smiths showstoppers, spliced with songs from new album Call the Comet, and is unafraid to tackle Morrissey’s vocal pirouettes
The Charlatans review – north country boys make euphoric homecoming
One of the UK’s most enduring bands have weathered death, imprisonment and a nervous breakdown to bring their wildly varied music back to their spiritual home in Cheshire
Frank Turner review – big-hearted anthems and love songs to America
The provocative singer-songwriter balances the profane and the polite with a set that triggers a joyous mass sing-along
Beach House: 7 review – dream-pop duo find greater depth
(Bella Union)
The Sea and Cake: Any Day review – elegantly disheveled, melodic jazz rock
Their 11th album hones – and slightly overpolishes – their jazz breakbeats and rock chug
Beach House: 7 review – dream-poppers follow their glorious rulebook
It may have the same ingredients – bassy synths, elements of shoegaze, Victoria Legrand’s blank voice – but this is still mighty tasty
Arctic Monkeys: Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino review – funny, fresh and a little smug
Channelling Serge Gainsbourg and the Beach Boys, the Arctic Monkeys move on from stadium indie in a smart album that sees Alex Turner wearing a constant smirk
Yellow Days review – emotional blood-letting from an artist to watch
George van den Broek rasps, writhes and sweats as he delivers songs of harrowing romance and anxiety to a full house