…Tenderness was born out of a tough storm of circumstances: the pandemic, a cancelled tour, a break-up, and the loss of her father. Furloughed and with too much time on her hands, Katy Beth Young (Peggy Sue, Deep Throat Choir) began to write new songs in her north London living room, windows wide open to the hot summer outside. In August 2020, during that “weird window” of the pandemic where lockdown eased up enough for a trip to the seaside, or across London, Young visited producer Euan Hinshelwood (Younghusband, Cate Le Bon) at his Greenwich studio. In two days, the pair recorded eight demos with no pressure or plan. The final recordings are sparse in that country way but layered with Hinshelwood’s carefully chosen textures: synths, drones, rich…
Category: indie-pop
Following albums made in his home state of New Jersey, across New York State, and while living in rural Pennsylvania and New Hampshire, John Andrews‘ fifth LP was written and recorded after a move to the industrial, maritime neighborhood of Red Hook, Brooklyn. Its working-class setting and Andrews’ seasonal job with N.Y.C. Parks both work their way into the warm, reflective fabric of the self-produced Streetsweeper. It also marks his relocation from the Woodsist label to Earth Libraries. This time around, Andrews’ semi-fictional band the Yawns consists of Luke Temple (bass, guitar), who also engineered the album, as well as his returning Cut Worms touring bandmates Noah Bond (drums) and Keven Lareau (bass). Star Moles’ Emily Moales lends backing…
If 2025 was the year the UK reclaimed its rock ‘n’ roll crown with the Oasis reunion, 2026 is officially the year Richard Ashcroft reminded us why he was always the movement’s beating heart. Fresh off his massive stint as the special guest on the Oasis Live ’25 tour, Ashcroft has dropped Live Vol. 1, a career-spanning collection that feels less like a standard live album and more like a victory lap.
Recorded during his triumphant run of shows following the stadium mania of the previous year, Live Vol. 1 captures Ashcroft at his most potent. From the opening chords, it’s clear his voice hasn’t aged a day; if anything, it’s gained a soulful, weathered depth that adds new layers to classics like “The Drugs Don’t Work” and “Sonnet.”
The production strikes a perfect balance.
Maria Taylor started working on Story’s End — her latest LP — six years ago, beginning with a handful of quiet, stripped-down demos in her home studio. There was no real rush to follow up her 2019 self-titled effort, but fractures in both her marriage and a close friendship found her leaning back into these songs once again.
The result is both beautiful and heartbreaking. Songs of marriages and friendships falling apart sit alongside moments of optimism and renewal, making Story’s End an emotionally powerful journal set to a lush soundtrack. The opening title track features Taylor’s hushed vocals floating over a maudlin piano before strings — and eventually drums — enter the mix. It’s a deeply affecting opening salvo.
Offering up more of her perceptive, increasingly world-wise songs, Responsible Friend is Elizabeth Ziman’s sixth Elizabeth & the Catapult album and first since the COVID-concerned sincerely, e. A little more playful but no less profound, it finds her grappling with relationships, work, and, more generally, human stewardship amidst the existential threat of things like worsening socio-politics and climate change. Ziman produced much of the album herself, but longtime collaborator Dan Molad (Lucius) produced four tracks and mixed most of the songs, and Jon Titterington (Father John Misty) lent a hand on a couple tracks.
Responsible Friend opens with the earnest “I Love You Still,” a song whose tender, supportive sentiments are underscored by…
VOLUMES: ONE, the first non-studio release from Bon Iver, captures 10 distinctive live performances, recorded between 2019 and 2023, showcasing Justin Vernon and his band at their most whole. There’s a warmth and exuberance across the album, as well as the sort of muscular sound you can really only get at a live show. For the uninitiated and die-hards alike, these recordings could well be the defining versions of the tracks, no doubt made possible through the essential live engineering of Xandy Whitesel and performances from bandmates Jenn Wasner, Sean Carey, Michael Lewis, Matthew McCaughan, and Andrew Fitzpatrick.
Vernon began working on VOLUMES: ONE in 2020, and he spent a considerable amount of time combing through concerts…
Emerging out of semi-nowhere — well, Northwich — the Charlatans were saddled with a name that lent itself to jibes about their quality and the early burden of being a one-hit wonder with “The Only One I Know.” That all changed when Some Friendly, the group’s debut, planted itself at the top of the UK charts in 1990. Drawing on Martin Blunt’s background in mod and psych outfits, Rob Collins’ outrageously funky keyboards and Tim Burgess’ unexpected star quality, Some Friendly combines the joyous bounce of baggy with the good natured immediacy of indie pop, then wraps it up in state of the art production. Some of the lyrics betray Burgess’ sharp-tongued punk background — “You’re Not Very Well,” the opener, expresses anything but sunny sentiments…
Minneapolis-based novelist, songwriter and vocalist Dan Hornsby is not the first to lead a band, but might be among the first ones to set his lyrical vision through jangly guitar rock with his band True Green.
Hail Disaster, the band’s second 13 songs are set in that catchy musical frame that somewhat abandons the band’s original lo-fi sound for a clearer sound and warmer production values, that shine a brighter light on both the band’s intricate instrumental sound and Hornsby’s literate lyrics.
In many ways, the music on the album draws comparisons to both David Berman’s Silver Jews and solo output, as well as Phil Elverum’s The Microphones phase, to which Hornsby and multi-instrumentalist Tailer Ransom add…
Buzzy Lee has a couple of tricks up her sleeve. She acts, writes, performs, and on occasion collaborates with musical powerhouses, notably Denzel Curry and JPEGMafia. Now, Buzzy Lee, frequently known to the masses as Sasha Spielberg, joined Harry McNally, her partner, and close friends along the way to build her third solo album, Shoulder to Shoulder. At first, the couple enlisted Nick Millhiser of Holy Ghost! though the team unanimously decided to keep the working process intrinsic — making her album naturally come alive.
Shoulder to Shoulder is unexpectedly soulful with accents of groove. Buzzy Lee delicately caresses her words in every track. Remarkably, she experiments with piano as a foundation while piecing together the right moments to test her…
During the late ’70s, the beginnings of a wave of music heavily inspired by the garage rock and psychedelia of the 1960s began to swell. Chalk it up to many factors — the availability of a number of reissues, especially the Pebbles series, a disillusionment with the restrictive rules of punk rock, the passage of enough time so that the era seemed glamorous, the chance to get cheap vintage gear — but the result was an underground that evolved in many interesting directions and even went quite overground at different times. Cherry Red’s 2026 collection This Can’t Be Today: American Psychedelia & the Paisley Underground 1977-1988 looks to document the scene, gathering together the many strands and sounds of the time to present a comprehensive view.
Lauren Auder‘s journey from Soundcloud uploader to embracing pop sensibilities has been a long one, but by the sound of Whole World As Vigil, it could be one that’s coming to fruition.
Auder has been recording music for over 10 years now, working with the likes of Slowthai and Jeshi and self-publishing a variety of demo songs. This led to a series of EPs, and eventually a support slot with Christine and The Queens. Her debut album The Infinite Spine showed that she was a dab hand at baroque electronics but her second album feels like a massive step forward – a record that finds the sweet spot between industrial grit and arena-sized ambition.
Having apparently started off life as a series of voice notes recorded while walking round…
Arlo Parks has long made a home in vulnerability and poetic lyricism, and on Ambiguous Desire, she doubles down on that instinct with confidence. The album is full of psychedelic textures, punchy basslines, and dreamy vocals that blur together into something hypnotic but anthemic.
While the coherence of the record sometimes lends itself to monotony, the darker sonic undercurrent, coupled with a newly found more intricate and explorative sonority, has a sensation of quiet and dreamlike absorption.
Across the whole record, Parks’ vocals are soothing and ambivalent. ‘Get Go’, one of the album’s singles, is definitely the record’s most euphoric moment. Punchy but shimmery, its broadness conjures the feeling of dancing and…
…includes several ‘cuts’ reimagined by friends and collaborators, as well as previously unreleased demo drafts from the original recording sessions.
Those familiar with 2022’s Squeeze might find themselves disillusioned here. Where Sasami’s albums once began with frustrated vocals atop a brash metal backdrop that gets off on rodent torture, they now arrive hosting a succint, full-blown pop record perfectly acceptable for daytime radio, nurtured by a newfound superstar alter-ego. Predictably, she’s shied away from diving too deep into the pop realm up until this point. Immediately upon entry, however, Blood On the Silver Screen makes an effort to blend the barriers separating rock and pop: Sasami wakes us up to her serious ability to excel across both fields.
Rogue Wave began almost by accident.
In early 2002, faced with the sort of existential crisis unique to the newly unemployed, Zach Rogue decided to take some time off from his home base of San Francisco. He set off with a one-way ticket to New York in March with the intention of recording one or two songs with a friend, in an effort to exorcise his demons both artistically and personally. He came away with both a new lease on life and an album’s worth of material that would later become Rogue Wave’s stunning debut, Out of the Shadow.
At the end of 2002, while preparing the album for self-release, Zach rounded out the band’s lineup with the addition of Pat Spurgeon (drums, keys, samples, vocals) Sonya Westcott (bass, vocals)…
Dream pop is a genre that takes a great deal of attention to perfect. It’s not enough to write idiosyncratic lyrics set to a jangly beat; there are holes to be filled between drum cymbals and bass chimes. Burning at Both Ends aims to hit that sweet spot between wakefulness and drowsy activities. The finished work is a more palatable equivalent to My Bloody Valentine’s Loveless, a facet that will enthrall some and disappoint others. Nonetheless, Hit Like a Girl take no prisoners, presenting a well-formed record that resides comfortably in the dream pop canon. Led by Nicolle Maroulis, an artist who uses they/them pronouns, the group achieve a sonic meditation on 21st century living.
“Only Have Myself,” an angry rocker, is dotted with ferocious exhibits of screaming from…
Paula Kelley emerges from her orchestral pop cocoon with her immaculately realized third album, 2026’s Blinking as the Starlight Burns Out. Her first solo album since 2003’s The Trouble with Success or How You Fit Into the World, it sees the Boston-bred/Los Angeles-based singer, songwriter, and arranger once again underscoring her reputation as an indie rock auteur, merging her shoegaze roots with her love for cozy, ’60s- and ’70s-style AM pop. As on her past recordings, here Kelley not only sings, but plays most of the instruments. She also writes all of the orchestral arrangements, a skill that kept her busy with film work and away from pop music for most of the 2010s. That said, she did reunite with her former Drop Nineteens-bandmates for an unexpected 2023…
Opening the album emphatically, ‘Flowers in the Water’ is a refreshing return from The Boxer Rebellion. Brimming with optimism and positivity, lyrics such as: ‘Don’t obsess, be an optimist/ The glass half full is bottomless’ feel like an ode to overcoming adversity and living in hope rather than submitting to despair. Their first album in six years, The Second I’m Asleep is “10 songs mapping the emotional landscapes of life – moments of clarity in chaos, letting go of old ghosts and the art of understanding ourselves in a rapidly changing world”, as the band put it themselves in the album’s press release.
Known for their cinematic sound having featured in television and film soundtracks, the album’s lofty soundsacpe layered with guitar really…
They say timing is everything. The time to meet the right person. The right time to start over. Blink, and you might miss them. But is there ever really a perfect time? Or does timing just feel perfect when we’re finally ready to listen? The release of Full Circle at the first hint of spring feels almost too on the nose: an album about retreat and renewal arriving just as the world thaws out. For Tom Misch, timing does a lot for narrative work. After years of constant motion, his long-awaited second studio album captures the lightness of transformation and the undeniable bounce of realising you’re once more in bloom.
Once upon a time, Geography cemented him as a defining voice of the late-2010s bedroom producer wave. Everything felt easy. Since then,…
…features the original album plus ‘Live at Third Man Records’, a 10-song live album.
On his debut for Columbia Records, Pete Yorn wears his heart on his sleeve like Ryan Adams, sings in a husky croon similar to Jakob Dylan, and earnestly plays into passion and emotion like Jeff Buckley. The year 2001 belonged to Yorn, and his critical praise was not unwarranted, with Musicforthemorningafter marking the stunning beginning of a long, varied career. It’s a raw selection of heartland and American trad rock, yet Yorn’s love for Brit-pop is also quite evident, with several breezy acoustic-based songs (“Sense,” “Simonize”) resembling threads of the Smiths. Yorn’s voice may crack at points, but it contributes to the dusty feeling of the entire…
It’s been a long journey for Lindsey Jordan, better known as Snail Mail. From the fledging steps that were 2016’s Habit EP, in which a 16-year-old Jordan released more heart, feeling, conviction in song format than the indie genre had seen in many moons. In many ways, she arrived fully formed, surfing to the front of the indie rock genre on a wave of pure honesty and talent for guitar prowess. With the release of 2018’s debut album, Lush, she became one of the most recognizable voices to skate the scene. With the exceptional and expanding follow up that was 2021’s Valentine, it’s hard to believe that it has been close to five years since Jordan last released an album.
Ricochet at its most honest is a stellar reintroduction to the world of Snail Mail,…