Album Reviews

Album Review: Gordi – Reservoir (2017 LP)

When I was younger, after Saturday sport, if I’d played well and scored a goal, my Dad would give me dollar to buy something from the canteen. Without failure, I’d buy a bag of mixed lollies. Mainly because it was great value, but also because you never knew what you were going to get until…

Read More

Album Review: Gang Of Youths – Go Farther In Lightness (2017 LP)

Straight off the bat, Go Farther In Lightness is a victory album. It’s a victory of love and loss; a triumph for hope and life. It’s an album with many peaks and just as many moments that make you ponder and appreciate your existence. It’s a compass for those lacking direction. It’s the ‘I may…

Read More

Album Review: Mura Masa – Mura Masa (2017 LP)

The self-titled debut album from British pop DJ Alex Crossan AKA Mura Masa, while producing some quality bangers and funky house tracks, fails to come across as a much of a Mura Masa project. The quality of the tracks, the production and the diversity of sounds on the album all contribute to the positive sides of…

Read More

Album Review: Saskwatch – Manual Override (2017 LP)

Change, for the lack of a better word, is good. And while they may have moved even further away from the soul and horns that made me fall in love with them in the first place, Saskwatch continually prove they know how to make devastatingly beautiful indie-pop. This is no different here on their fourth…

Read More

Album Review: The Creases – Tremolow (2017 LP)

How can a song be anthemic if no one’s ever heard it before? The Creases answer that question in their stunning debut album Tremolow. While there’s been a lot of hype around this beloved Brisbane band since they formed four years ago, they waited until now to release their LP. One of the reasons was…

Read More

Album Review: Make Them Suffer – Worlds Apart (2017 LP)

Perth based sextet Make Them Suffer are back with their glorious third studio album, Worlds Apart. I will be honest, heavy deathcore is not my norm. But, as an angsty teen growing up in a depleting economy where a Thrasher T-shirt is more than my rent, I still find myself turning towards the choleric, emotion dripping genre…

Read More

Album Review: Jay Z – 4:44 (2017 LP)

The brief, yet captivating career retrospective of the life and career of Shawn Carter has a complete sense of poise, elegance and humbled acceptance. 36 minutes is all veteran emcee Jay Z needs on 4:44 to play host to a series of introspective thoughts on his life. The negative press surrounding Jay after Beyoncé’s Lemonade…

Read More

Album Review: Foster The People – Sacred Hearts Club (2017 EP)

Following on from 2014’s Supermodel and their earlier 2017 release III EP, Foster The People have returned with Sacred Hearts Club. Hip-hop, alternative, funk, and indie-pop influences are all evident and well balanced on this release, demonstrating a clear evolution from the group who first burst into the international music scene with their controversial, but…

Read More

Album Review: Husky – Punchbuzz (2017 LP)

It’s been a while since we’ve heard an album from Melbourne three piece Husky. In saying that, however, the three year wait has been completely worth it. They’ve strayed from their comfort zone in their latest LP, Punchbuzz, putting the folk vibes on the back burner to experiment with some unfamiliar tempos and rhythms. This…

Read More

Album Review: Arcade Fire – Everything Now (2017 EP)

In 2013, Reflektor cemented Arcade Fire as a band to watch. Headlining festivals around the world, their groovy-techno-logic sound, crossed with spacey love stories and anarchic idealism, heightened their already bubbling commercial success. Four years later, with studio album number five rearing its head (titled Everything Now, due July 28th), two questions arise: has the popularity…

Read More

Album Review: 21 Savage – Issa Album (2017 LP)

21 Savage’s presence in the rap battle royal after debut extended play Savage Mode became a dreary, dark figure shrouded in mysterious production and grimy lyricism. Through the swanky production of Metro Boomin and Southside, Savage Mode became a renowned debut for the Atlanta born rapper. Although many claimed that Savage’s album was rather stoic…

Read More

Album Review: Haim – Something To Tell You (2017 LP)

More than four years in the making, Haim have returned from the world of playing festivals and obsessive touring to create Something To Tell You. On Something To Tell You they haven’t recreated the wheel, but have more than ably changed the manual on how use said wheel, or in this case, album. Haim have spoken…

Read More

Album Review: Alison Moyet – Other (2017 LP)

Alison Moyet has always been front of mind for me when it comes to female vocalists. Her voice has woven itself steadily through my life ever since I heard “Where Hides Sleep” years ago. Now, with the release of her ninth solo album, Other, I sit in awe still of her extraordinary voice and remarkable…

Read More

Album Review: SATURATION – BROCKHAMPTON (2017 LP)

Have you ever moved in with fifteen of your friends to start a rap group and inadvertently created one of the best and most unique rap albums of all time? Have you ever written and produced said album in a matter of weeks? Have you ever taken the rap world by storm, gathering comparisons to…

Read More

Album Review: Fleet Foxes – Crack-Up (2017 LP)

Those who say folk is a dying or dead genre are those who are uninitiated with Fleet Foxes. Critically acclaimed indie-folk band Fleet Foxes return after losing band member Josh Tillman, who currently performs under the guise of Father John Misty. Helplessness Blues is still highly regarded as one of the best albums of 2011,…

Read More

Album Review: Vince Staples – Big Fish Theory (2017 LP)

LA Clippers fan Vince Staples set the rap game alight with his debut album Summertime ’06. The captivating conscious hip-hop album left fans satisfied, yet hungry for a new project. Enter Prima Donna; the more experimental album which was rather divisive for Vince Staples fans. However, the experimentalist in Vince wouldn’t stop there, as fans…

Read More

Album Review: Kacy Hill – Like A Woman (2017 LP)

I saw Kacy Hill live at Splendour In The Grass 2016 on the back of knowing two songs of hers. Going into the set thinking her sound was maybe a cross between James Blake and Montaigne, I quickly realised I was doing her an injustice in comparing her to any other artist (irrespective of the…

Read More

Album Review: Washed Out – Mister Mellow (2017 LP)

It’s been four years since Washed Out‘s (Ernest Greene), last album; and boy has a lot changed. 2013’s Paracosm was a tuneful record of utter warmth and bliss whereas new album, Mister Mellow, is a 13-track thickly woven psychedelic tapestry of samples and arrangements with a full length visual counterpart. Whilst this is keeping with…

Read More

Album Review: Kasabian – For Crying Out Loud (2017 LP)

Easy to grasp, unrelenting in its palatableness – the Brit-rock indie quintet has served up a safe sixth album. Delivering on their typically loud choruses and drum breaks once more – For Crying Out Loud is what we expect from Kasabian. It’s music you could either jump a skipping rope to or down a lager…

Read More

Album Review: Clea – Fairweather (2017 EP)

Brisbane-based singer-songwriter Clea recorded her debut EP Fairweather between a mix of coastal, rural and inner city studios and that transient nature has injected itself into her dreamy debut. A mix of urban-esque yet freeing electronic beats lie on a wave beneath Clea’s folk-like, airy vocals as the EP progresses between primary use of synths to…

Read More

Album Review: Trevor Sensor – Andy Warhol’s Dream (2017 LP)

From the immediate start of his debut album, Trevor Sensor’s husky-voiced howl will resonate with you for sometime.  Recorded at Steve Albini‘s Electrical Audio studio in Chicago, the LP features production work from Brandon Darner (Imagine Dragons), Foxygen’s Jonathan Rado and Richard Swift (The Shins). Sensor’s voice is especially reminiscent of a late 1980/1990’s Bob…

Read More

Album Review: London Grammar – Truth Is A Beautiful Thing (2017 LP)

The first time I heard “Rooting For You” I burst into tears. I was going through a break up at the time see, and I’m a pretty vulnerable person to begin with, so the added mental weight, backed by the beauty of London Grammar was all too much to bare. There was something about that…

Read More

Album Review: Royal Blood – How Did We Get So Dark? (2017 LP)

The sophomore album from Brit-rockers Royal Blood is a punchy follow-up to their self-titled debut. Unfortunately, How Did We Get So Dark? lacks in many areas that made Royal Blood the captivating album that it was. The debut album from Royal Blood was rife with catchy riffs, gritty guitars and convincing vocals. How Did We…

Read More

Album Review: Portugal. The Man – Woodstock (2017 LP)

We’ve had a week now to sink our teeth into the eighth album from American group Portugal. The Man, an outfit I’ve been listening to now for almost a decade. Their evolution from 2009’s The Satanic Satanist to 2013’s Evil Friends is a remarkable one – seeing the group catapulted from unknowns to one of…

Read More

Album Review: Grinspoon – Guide to Better Living (20th Anniversary Edition) (2017 LP)

This month, well known Aussie rockers Grinspoon are releasing a deluxe edition of their first studio album Guide to Better Living. Celebrating the 20 years it’s been around by adding a load of live tracks to the album list. Grinspoon formed in 1995 and released Guide to Better Living two years later in September. The…

Read More

Album Review: Crooked Colours – Vera (2017 LP)

After eighteen months in the studio, Perth trio Crooked Colours have just released their debut album Vera. This is a well-crafted and enjoyable release for those that love their music laid-back yet still up-tempo. The opening track “Flow” is a likable and catchy tune that has those summer vibes threading through. It begins with that…

Read More

Album Review: Rozwell Kid – Precious Art (2017 LP)

On their most recent album, Precious Art, Rozwell Kid commit to this very 90s, Get Up Kids-esque, early Weezer kind of fuzzy pop punk. There’s nothing that would sound out of place in the background of a scene in a Buffy episode from 1998. Here’s the main question you need to answer before heading into…

Read More

Album Review: Phoenix – Ti Amo (2017 LP)

Phoenix is a seemingly cool band. They just ooze confidence in their music and live sets. Here on their sixth album Ti Amo, the Parisian four-piece seemingly rest on these cool laurels that has made them favourites worldwide, while not really progressing all that much as a band. While the band are notable and proud…

Read More

Album Review: Lorde’s Melodrama (2017 LP) lives up to the hype

When “Liability” came out, it sucker punched me right in the face. You start listening to it and you’re like, ‘Oooo this is nice’, and then the lyrics sink in and your face turns red and the tears start welling and then BAM! Emotions! Lorde has a way of doing that. She knows how to…

Read More

Album Review: nyck – Alive (2017 EP)

There’s always something impressive about melancholic music. While it’s definitely not the most upbeat and joyous moods and genres to be in, the modesty, honesty and heart-wrenching nature of the music is what makes it so relatable to so many people; irrespective of their demographic. And here on the debut EP of nyck you’re more…

Read More