Tag: jamie boyd

Bombay Bicycle Club rise above the crowd again on their new LP.

As they reach their some 15-year milestone, Bombay Bicycle Club’s latest effort provides evidence as to why they still deserve to sit on the throne as one of indie rock’s few remaining leading lights. From the raucous…

Be Your Own Pet prove to be more vital than ever.

After more than a decade-long hiatus, early 2022 saw Be Your Own Pet announce a series of surprise comeback shows supporting Jack White, after a chance meeting with the legendary former White Stripes man. It had seemed such an…

The Japanese House returns with an LP combining lofty pop melodies with introspective tales depicting an otherworldly snapshot in time.

From the gorgeously shimmering musing on drifting through a relationship in Lilo to the emotional rawness of losing someone you love on I Saw You in a Dream – which…

Albert Hammond Jr continues to forge his own path in the annals of retro rock & roll.

“This is my life, sonically. It’s also just music, so let’s not get so serious about it.” Albert Hammond Jr heeds warning to anyone looking to overtly critique his latest record, a sprawling…

Rufus Wainwright pays tribute to the enduring folk genre with help from an illustrious string of guests.

A master of scaling, emotive melodies using a deft combination of theatrical vibrato and expressive tenor singing often wrapped around subtle piano and guitar, Rufus Wainwright puts aside his established brand of opera…

Lael Neale by Alexandra Cabral

Lael Neale played Manchester on May 15th.

As the ornate chandeliers emit a modest glow from the ceiling of this quirky, 110-capacity gig venue that has long supported grassroots artists and performers from its unassuming Oldham Street base in Manchester, it feels like the perfect…

Whether it was huddling around the radio as Vera Lynn soothed the troubled minds of families across the UK during the Second World War, or witnessing the rebellious virtues of the mid-70’s punk movement that railed against perceived social disparity, the power of music to provide catharsis against an existential…

It may well be entirely cliched to say it, but a lot can happen in ten years. Back in 2009, music media buzz and the UK gig circuit were awash with indie and alternative rock acts looking to follow in the hallowed footsteps of the scene’s luminaries – The Libertines,…

Confusion. Indecision. Fear of change. These more problematic elements of the human condition will likely be familiar to many at certain junctures of life. Whether it’s moving to a new city to start afresh or picking up the pieces of a broken relationship, grappling with an internal dialogue about what…

The death-knell for traditional rock music has long been ringing in the ears of die-hard fans and touring bands up and down the country like an unwanted bout of tinnitus – Catfish And The Bottlemen have seemingly never received the memo. In rebuttal to the latest wave of contemporaries taking…

Fast approaching a decade of existence, Worcester’s finest Peace deliver a commercially targeted third LP following 2013’s psychedelia-tinged shoegaze debut In Love and 2015’s sunshine-fuelled Britpop-era inspired predecessor, Happy People. Having initially been touted as heirs to the Foals and Maccabees soaring indie-rock shaped throne, the band have since crafted…

The aftermath of Oasis’ split resulting from increasing tensions between the perennially sparring Gallagher brothers Liam and Noel has no doubt been kinder to the latter. Noel’s critically and commercially acclaimed solo albums stand in stark contrast to younger brother Liam’s intermittent flashes of brilliance with Beady Eye, despite concerted…

With the coinciding of her sixth album release in the throes of International Women’s Day and the direct translation of album title Semper Femina taken from an excerpt of Virgil’s Roman-era poetry which stated ‘woman is an ever fickle and changeable thing’, even Laura Marling’s oft-cryptic lyrical swoons create little…

Catfish & The Bottlemen’s meteoric rise from bleary eyed rock and roll hopefuls, relentlessly traversing the north west in the pursuit of the Oasis-ian dream, is one of an increasingly rarefied yet endearing tale in contemporary music folklore. The Llandudno-based band has seen their hard work pay off in droves…

It’s difficult to believe north Wales’ most celebrated alt-rock trio, alongside the Manic Street Preachers, released their sprawling debut album ‘The Big Roar’ over half a decade ago, where hypnotic vocals chimed with distortion laden guitar for a crescendo inducing embodiment of the expansive Welsh countryside which inspired its creation.…

So much has changed in the eight years since Miles Kane and Alex Turner unveiled the Scott Walker-inspired fruits of a French expedition to record ‘The Age Of The Understatement‘ that it seemed very possible a follow-up to the Mercury Prized nominated baroque-pop debut album may never see the light…