Idles – ‘Ultra Mono’ album review


Ever since Idles released their debut album ‘Brutalism’ in 2017, the Bristol five-piece have inspired a community of like-minded fans to rally against close-mindedness while also choosing love and collaboration as much as possible. This sense of togetherness – and need for a fairer society – runs throughout their eagerly awaited third album ‘Ultra Mono’.…

Dream Nails album review 2020 Alcopop! Records

Dream Nails – ‘Dream Nails’ album review


London’s Dream Nails had already wowed audiences across the country with their spiky live show and now they’re set to release their debut self-titled album via Alcopop! Records. It’s packed with empowering messages of solidarity and support for the LGBTQ+ scene while also offering an insight into – and a rally against – the daily…

I LIKE TRAINS KOMPROMAT album cover 2020 review

I LIKE TRAINS – ‘KOMPROMAT’ album review


‘An I LIKE TRAINS record doesn’t really start to take shape until there’s a theme’, says the group’s vocalist and lyricist David Martin. ‘That point came following Edward Snowden’s NSA leaks in 2013.’ The band’s new album ‘KOMPROMAT’ (the Russian term for compromising political material) finds the Leeds-based five-piece tackling current affairs and the amount…

Jenny O. – ‘New Truth’ album review


Jenny O’s latest (and first for new label Mama Bird Recording Co.) album ‘New Truth’ finds the singer-songwriter laying her heart bare over gorgeous harmonies and slices of dreamy guitar. It opens with ‘God Knows Why’ – an honest evaluation of the night she suddenly lost all hearing in her right ear: ‘I could hear…

Fair Mothers In Monochrome album review

Fair Mothers – ‘In Monochrome’ album review


Kevin Allan’s Fair Mothers project releases the second, more experimental project of 2020 with ‘In Monochrome’. Featuring guest appearances from Faith Eliott, Dana Gavanski (vocals), Esther Swift (harp), Pete Harvey (cello) and Jonny Lynch from Pictish Trail, the album was recorded at The Happiness Hotel in Edinburgh over the past couple of years and expores…