The kids are coming up from behind.
Popstar extraordinaire, Taylor Swift, off the back of her recent engagement to NFL player Travis Kelce and re-recording 4 of her most popular records in an egregious money-making farce, released her 12th album, The Life of a Showgirl, off the back of a typically outlandish marketing scheme….and what is to be said of the music … Read more
New York based pop singer Shane Boone, monikered ‘sombr’, achieved virality on the Tiktok platform at just 19 years old with the back-to-back singles back to friends and undressed (though in all likelihood, probably an industry plant). The former is an angsty, slow-moving and reverb-soaked trip-hop ballad (like a male, ‘Zoomer’ version of Tumbl-era Sky … Read more
Trio of sisters Haim play soft rock, evoking the 1970s – best on 2020’s Women In Music Part III. Their brief hiatus ended with 2025’s I Quit which also employs the production talents of Rostam Batmanglij (formerly of Vampire Weekend) and contains the usual reference points (between Taylor Swift, Sheryl Crow and Stevie Nicks) but … Read more
Debut album Addison by Tiktok creator Addison Rae is characterised by sleek production courtesy of Elvira Anderfjard who worked on the Taylor Swift Taylor’s Version remixes and a breathy vocal (a la Lana Del Rey), emblematic of the nonsensical but catchy hit single Diet Pepsi. There is at least something to the production skill of … Read more
American singer-songwriter and producer, who grew up in Germany the son of diplomats, Dijon Duenas (monikered as just ‘Dijon’) orchestrates progressive pop and R&B, derived from Prince but absorbing contemporary influences from the likes of Bon Iver, Clarence Clarity and Frank Ocean. Dijon’s long-awaited debut album, Absolutely arrived in 2022, made in conjunction with frequent … Read more
Pennsylvania’s singer-songwriter Hayden Anhedonia, aka Ethel Cain released (though earlier in the year, she released Perverts – an ambient album) her follow up to 2022’s impressive, southern-gothic rock opera, Preacher’s Daughter steeped in gloomy slowcore atmosphere. Willoughby Tucker, I’ll Always Love You retains the somnolent, oppressive atmospheres, furious subtext and lengthy tracks (nearly 80 minutes … Read more
Tahliah Debrett Barnett, monikered ‘FKA Twigs’ released her third studio album, Eusexua, her most straightforwardly danceable album yet, mostly overseen by Welsh producer, Koreless. No doubt her vulnerable whisper can still captivate but the production is often unflattering. The addition of ‘club’ music arguably detracts rather than contributes to her emotional style which still manifests … Read more
Maryland DIY singer-songwriter Marcus Elliot Brown AKA Nourished By Time released the much-anticipated follow up to 2023’s Erotic Probiotic 2, The Passionate Ones, a unique singer-songwriter approach centred on a DIY aesthetic and a compositional style that blends the starry synth-pop of the 1980s and the vocal melodies of 90s New Jack Swing with icy … Read more
Chicago vocalist, guitarist and composer Hannah Frances followed up her breakout album in 2024 Keeper of the Shepherd, which put forward a set of eerie and baroque progressive folk tunes. With the help of Daniel Rossen of Grizzly Bear (and perhaps inspired by Rossen’s 2022 album You Belong There), Nested In Tangles expands further on … Read more
Mac Demarco further stripped his sound back on the melancholic folk-pop home recordings of Guitar, a series of lazy, relaxed meditations, reminiscent (as always) of John Lennon, barely 30 minutes in length. The shy delivery works best on the cute Shining and the solemn lament Home, where the melodies are given space to breathe. Terror, … Read more