Category: Reviews

EP | Widowspeak – The Swamps

This is the third Widowspeak release I’ve reviewed, and the first track, ‘Brass Bed’, is lively compared to the sleepy, smoky wooziness of their debut, with a brisk wooden beat. Lead singer Molly Hamilton gives her dreamy voice definition: “Baby…

Album | Laura J Martin – Dazzle Days

I saw Laura J Martin play at Bestival back in 2010, looping flute and mandolin to her voice; if you have no patience for vocal oddity (Kate Bush, Joanna Newsom etc) you might find her pixieish otherworldly presence grating, otherwise…

EP | Ez Stone – Moroccan Whiskey

With an already notable reputation as a mesmerising guitarist, having supported the likes of Rae Morris and John Smith to name a few, Ez Stone’s release of his debut EP Moroccan Whiskey via TLS Records is some very exciting news indeed.…

EP | Bear’s Den – Without/Within

Within/Without signifies a second 2013 release from London trio Bear’s Den. Following on from February’s stunning EP Agape, this latest offering picks up exactly from where we were left, wanting more. Opening track ‘Sahara pt.I’ will already be well-known to…

New Bands Panel | Isobel Anderson & Ruby Colley – The Sussex Sessions EP

Helen True: Isobel Anderson and Ruby Colley met when each was playing as part of separate acts on the Acoustic Stage at Glastonbury in 2011. Two years on, they’ve released their first EP, which collects together three reinterpretations of well-loved folk…

Album | The Wave Pictures – City Forgiveness

City Forgiveness, the fifth studio album from the Wave Pictures, is a rare thing: an album full of substance and ideas, but bound in by style. It’s a road trip album, forged from notes that lead singer David Tattersall took…

Album | Los Campesinos! – NO BLUES

I’ve been looking forward to Los Campesinos!’s fifth album NO BLUES for absolutely ages. The same will be true for a lot of 20-somethings, for whom LC! have been a bit of a soundtrack band since they first emerged as…

Live | Pocktoberfest @ Pocklington Arts Centre

Earlier this year Richard Hawley caused something of a kerfuffle when he revealed he had turned down a slot at Glastonbury because the famous festival had become “meaningless”. For devotees of the Worthy Farm experience this was tantamount to heresy,…

Album | Andrea Tomasi – Hurricane Dream

Andrea Tomasi’s debut album, Hurricane Dream, is incredibly beautiful, and instantly comforting on dark autumn days. Beginning with a campfire guitar, the instrumental opening feels self-assured. It was recorded outside, in the woods: crickets chirping away create a natural space…

Live | Serafina Steer @ House of St Barnabas, London

For Folk's Sake | Serafina Steer

An evening curated by Jarvis Cocker was never going to be dull. Hosted in their tiny chapel by the House of St Barnabas, a private members’ club that uses its profits to operate as a charity for the homeless, this…