Photo Credit: Michael Marcelle The husband-and-wife fronted Canadian indie rock band Arcade Fire recently celebrated 20 years as a band. Already with their debut album – 2004’s Funeral – they managed to make an impression on pop culture, and their legacy grew even bigger as they continued to release an impressive three-streak album run with 2007’s Neon Bible and… Read more
Photo Credit: Autumn de Wilde “I am no mother, I am no bride, I am king,” chants Florence Welch on Dance Fever opener “King”; a mission statement for an album that sees the 35-year-old English musician unshackle herself from societal expectations and the malaise of lockdown living. “Florence and The Machine do dance music” is a sentence that,… Read more
Photo Credit: Ryan Rundle On stage, Cannons lead singer Michelle Joy is an enigmatic presence – sporting glam-rock looks and exuding a sense of effortless cool. On her band’s third album – and first since their breakthrough LP Shadows (which boasted the band’s first AAA chart-topper) – Joy seeks to transplant this effortless cool into her band’s… Read more
Photo Credit: BBC (All Photos) The final night of the Radio 6 Festival begins with a brief performance from Evangeline Ling and David Wrench – the duo who blend pop, House, and post-punk to create truly distinctive music. While their stage presence is low-key, and young vocalist Ling seems understandably nervous at the start of… Read more
Photo Credit: Ebru Yildiz (All Photos) A little after 7 pm, Fenne Lily – supported by her band – walks onto stage to open for label-mate Lucy Dacus in Bristol – the city in which Lily has been performing since the age of 15. Now 25, she begins with her best song yet, “Car Park”;… Read more
Photo Credit: Oliver Halfin Few bands have mastered the art of still being exciting after 30 years together as a band without beginning to tread water. While there might be flashier, more original, and more forward-thinking groups, Spoon has remained a reliable source of swaggering, Southern-influenced blues-rock. 2007’s Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga, featuring the hit… Read more
Photo Credit: Hollie Fernando Only the most hardened of cynics could resist the charm of Wet Leg’s breakout single “Chaise Longue” – filled with euphemisms, deadpan put-downs, and Mean Girls quotes. The band’s rapid rise – with just a handful of songs to their name, they managed to sell-out shows across the world and appeared on multiple… Read more
Photo Credit: Lupe Bustos “I’m living in your letters // Breathe deeply from this envelope // It smells like you and I can’t be without that scent.” Its lyrics like these that made Dashboard Confessional’s 2000 debut The Swiss Army Romance such a seminal, incisive record – one whose ability to capture the seismic pain of young heartbreak… Read more
Photo Credit: Ryan Allan Wisconsin’s Carlie Hanson had her big break when her song “Only One” was added to a playlist curated by Taylor Swift. The best moments on her debut album Tough Boy occur when she embraces a Swiftian style of songwriting; where small details are blown up to cinematic proportions – where being in love… Read more
With Coronavirus receding and the world slowly opening back up, the last year has allowed musicians to finally get back in the studio and record new music. Combine this with a pandemic’s worth of soul-searching and you find an entire generation of new talent making urgent music that meets this moment. From soul-searching singer-songwriters to… Read more