By Bryony Holdsworth Ady Suleiman, an emotionally articulate singer songwriter with soulful brilliance, is set to release his new album Memories early next month. His lyrical candidness is infectious, swooping between vocal discord and soulful pop. The album opens with ‘I Remember’, the uplifting piano pop topped with Suleiman’s gorgeously smooth vocals. The bold collection of songs draw on the singer’s personal experiences, and this impassioned emotion is brutally honest. Hi

By Bryony Holdsworth The art-rock London quartet have released their third studio album Marble Skies– a kaleidoscope of neo-psychedelia. The ten track LP is a genre-blurring passion project, and asserts a solid identity for the once underground band. The album opens with the titular track ‘Marble Skies’, a rich colour palette of 60s surf music and 70s symphonic pop. It successfully blends these two components to create a polished fun-house of dramatic vocoder. In ‘Tic Tac Toe

By Bryony Holdsworth Formed in San Marcos, Texas in 2015, Brockhampton came to life in an online forum and 2017 saw the release of three studio albums- mere months apart. The Saturation trilogy has caused a seismic shift in the classic definition of ‘boyband’, flipping the script to include black and queer narratives. Led by Kevin Abstract, Saturation III is a politically charged stream of consciousness, encapsulating social struggles and the racial disparity in contemporary

By Bryony Holdsworth The grandiose, lovelorn ballads of Garrett Clark Borns have returned, gracing the Michigan singer/songwriter’s second studio album with magnificent androgyny. “Dopamine is released when you are longing for something, the desire of a reward- it’s the fantasy in your mind”. This chemical connection was a resounding theme throughout the artist’s debut album Dopamine, and it seems this lustful fantasy continues to be a source of inspiration. The LP opens with

By Bryony Holdsworth “There are no members of Francis and the Lights. It is me and whoever else is involved. Including you”. The American music project is led by Francis Farewell Starlite, and although the frontman does experiment with an eclectic sound, his work is usually characterised by heavy electronic production and pockets of Balearic beat. ‘The Lights’ are intangible and shroud the music in an ethereal, radiant energy, described by Starlite as the lights on stage and

By Bryony Holdsworth Released in 2015, Carrie & Lowell is the seventh studio album by American indie folk singer Sufjan Stevens. The beautifully candid LP was an outpouring of grief, inspired by the death of his mother in 2012. Nearly 3 years later, Sufjan has indulged fans with The Greatest Gift: “Outtakes, remixes and demos from Carrie & Lowell”. Carrie & Lowell was characteristically different from the last two albums, technically stripped back and saw Sufjan complimenting

By Bryony Holdsworth “Morrissey fans are about to give up on him- Johnny Marr, please stage an intervention”, reads one critical review. The subject: Morrissey’s most recent politically controversial outburst- conspiracy theories and the ‘scandal’ of the UKIP leadership contest. Both are topics to be avidly avoided by any sane individual, let alone a prominent public figure. The eleventh studio album by the former Smiths frontman appears to be an extension of this public alie

By Bryony Holdsworth Listening to No More Drugs is a truly sensory experience. The 20 year old Bay Area rap artist has released his first EP and seems determined to blend a number of musical components into the 16 minute debut. The result is an exciting Balearic beat pocketed with a clean, crisp rap flow. Jeremy Mayhew, recording under the pseudonym Jammy, has encapsulated the sound of a summer romance, each track raw and lustful. The slick production mixing allows each track

By Bryony Holdsworth 23 year old Shamir Bailey is an experimental artist, his third studio album spinning away from his usual sugary electronic sound. Growing up in Las Vegas, he was introduced to an eclectic range of music which flitted in-between genres, and this influence is glaringly apparent in his latest LP. Shamir’s androgynous voice is beautifully complimented by the minimalist musical accompaniment in opening number ‘Games’, the soundtrack an electronic, monosyllabic

By Bryony Holdsworth The four piece alt-rock band from North London have released their second studio album just two years after their critically acclaimed debut My Love Is Cool. It’s difficult to distinguish a true sound for Wolf Alice, each song moving fluidly along a spectrum of ethereal rock and 90s grunge. Visions of a Life is a dark and dangerous album, successfully encapsulating the raw emotional spectrum of adolescent life. Ellie Rowsell’s voice blends with the musica

By Lucy Harte We Will Need Courage is a diverse debut album from London-based singer-songwriter Lauren Ray. From an international background, Ray has previously worked in the music industry with songwriters for well-known artists such as Beyonce and Jennifer Lopez. Her own work, however, has been compared to the likes of Norah Jones – though perhaps a little less country. Short and sweet with a runtime of just 35 minutes, We Will Need Courage manages to still encompass a mixe