Tag Archive: 4AD


…this new edition runs over two discs with the album being packaged with the ‘Fine Friend’ EP and a great selection of previously unheard tracks and demos as handpicked by the band.
A letdown can still be a strong record. Pale Saints’ second LP In Ribbons (1992) was an instantly memorable gilded masterwork, as texturally splendid as it was jarring and creative. But then enigmatic singer Ian Masters walked, taking his songwriting and bass playing with him, as evidenced by his moody and momentous LP Spoonfed Hybrid. Slow Buildings is nonetheless proof that Pale Saints were wise to carry on with Meriel Barham stepping up to full-time vocalist and former Heart Throbs member Colleen Browne joining on bass. No question, Masters is missed.

You need to be logged in to view the rest of the content. Please .

Fight Fascism with Trash Music was a working title Tune-Yards were considering for their new album at one point. In the end, they opted for Better Dreaming, but their pro-democracy and anti-authoritarian stance is evident throughout the record. The music, however, is anything but trash.
Autocracy, hatred, persecution – the world in 2025 isn’t a happy place. It wouldn’t have been much of a challenge to make a dark, hopeless record that reflects these bleak times, but Tune-Yards never take the path of least resistance. On Better Dreaming, they focus on a brighter future instead, one where we can all thrive both as individuals and as a collective. In keeping with this agenda, the music is energising and joyful, while acknowledging the roadblocks up ahead.

You need to be logged in to view the rest of the content. Please .

Xmal Deutschland had an extraordinary impact on British audiences in the early Eighties, having cast a spell through staccato rhythms, unmediated channels, and mysterious (to most at the time) language, further carried by the unique vision and strength of the women involved.
Commemorating their ‘4AD years’ (1983-1984) forty years on, the mysteriously enchanting group returns now with a brand-new release entitled Gift: The 4AD Years. The limited-edition 3xLP boxset contains 2025 Abbey Road remasters of their two albums released with the label (the feverish Fetsich and titanic Tocsin), as well as tracks off other related releases and EPs including Incubus Succubus II and Qual, creating a package pulsating with power and poise.

You need to be logged in to view the rest of the content. Please .

Norwegian musician, artist and novelist Jenny Hval release her new album, Iris Silver Mist. Iris Silver Mist is named after a fragrance made by the nose Maurice Roucel for the French perfume house Serge Lutens. It’s described as smelling more like steel than silver. It is cold and prickly, soft and shimmering, like stepping outside on an early, misty morning, your body still warm from sleep. A perfume, with its heart notes and scented accords, shares its language with music. Both travel through air, simultaneously invisible and distinct.
Rather than begin with music, Iris Silver Mist began with the absence of it. As the pandemic led to no live music, the smell of cigarettes, soap, and the sweat from warm stage lights and shared bathrooms was replaced by unphysical…

You need to be logged in to view the rest of the content. Please .