Category: Reviews

Album | Nick Mulvey – First Mind

I saw Nick Mulvey support Laura Marling last year and was absolutely captivated by his simple, beautiful melodies. I was concerned a move into the studio would result in Mulvey losing this simplicity, but luckily, the record is raw, striking…

Live | tUnE-yArDs @ Village Underground

Merrill Garbus, without having even released her latest album, ‘Nikki Nack’, set a storm upon her fans after announcing a one-night-only appearance at London’s Village Underground. Predictably, it sold out in minutes, and those with tickets were undoubtedly in for…

Album | Tom Williams & The Boat – Easy Fantastic

Tom Williams and his sea-faring backing band, The Boat, return with their third album Easy Fantastic, funded entirely through Pledges made by fans of the band. For those who have heard other records by Tom Williams, there hasn’t been much…

Album | Conor Oberst – Upside Down Mountain

Often labelled as the ‘21’st Century Dylan’, or, ‘the spokesperson of the Ritalin generation’, Conor Oberst is, to many, a hero, one of the best songwriters around today. He is well known for his ability to pen a good lyric,…

EP | Swallow and the Wolf – Fire

Vivacious indie-folk duo Swallow and the Wolf are on the brink of releasing Fire, a varied collection of songs blending folk guitar, warm vocal harmonies and driving piano and percussion. The sincerity of the song-writing and Russell Swallow’s vocal performance…

Album | Tiny Ruins – Brightly Painted One

Hollie Fullbrook, singer-songwriter of Tiny Ruins, has a voice like honey tea, smooth and warm. This gives her songs a soothing texture, even when they’re sad or wistful, slightly reminiscent of Nick Drake. Brightly Painted One opens with ‘Me at…

Live | Wilsen @ Slaughtered Lamb, London

There’s a bit of a buzz developing around Wilsen. And, sure enough, the amount of the people in the room grew considerably as 9 o’clock rolled around and it was time for the New Yorkers to take to the stage…

Album | Bridie Jackson And The Arbour – New Skin

If you can find the time in your day, it’s worth taking a moment to be thankful that Bridie Jackson And The Arbour exist. It seems absurd that more bands aren’t making music that sounds like this. But then maybe…

Album | Gruff Rhys- American Interior

Gruff Rhys doesn’t like doing things by halves. This, his fourth (and latest) solo album, comes as part of a trifecta, encompassing a book and film, both to be released in the not too distant future. American Interior is a…

Album | The Delines – Colfax

Three years ago, the progression of Willy Vlautin’s songwriting reached its logical conclusion with the ambitious ‘musical novel’ The High Country, a concept album in which Vlautin sought to combine his increasingly successful literary career with his first love, music.…