#670: Pale Waves - All Those Things I Never Said

If 2017 proved to be a whirlwind year for Manchester’s Pale Waves, 2018 is likely to be something else entirely. As if earning fifth place in the BBC’s Sound of 2018 wasn’t enough, this month also sees the four-piece release All the Things I Never Said, their Matt Healy-produced debut EP.

This review was originally written for Line of Best Fit. Click here to read in full.

#669: A Grave With No Name - Passover

Written during a stay at his family home following the death of his grandmother, ‘Passover’ is the sixth album from songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Alexander Shields, otherwise known as A Grave With No Name. Like much of his previous output, it's equally as arresting and intriguing as it is sombre and sincere.

This review was originally written for Clash Magazine. Click here to read in full.

#668: Synths and Sensibility: Catching Up With...Acre Tarn

In creating sounds and music that are difficult to categorise, to pigeonhole, bands run the risk of alienating their established fan-base, or worse still, failing to establish that fan-base to begin with. Fortunately for the London-based, Lake District’s Acre Tarn, their esotericism is what makes them so utterly irresistible to begin with.

This feature was originally written for Louder Than War. Click here to read in full.

#667: Wooden Arms - Trick of the Light

It’s difficult to know where to begin with Norwich’s Wooden Arms. Self-described as ‘genre-fluid’, and with as much disregard for convention as such a label justifies, the five-piece craft seemingly effortless arrangements that veer from fragile and introspective, to sprawling and optimistic, often within a single track. And while ‘Trick Of The Light’, the band’s latest album, feels more sombre than the chamber pop of their debut, it still retains all the nuance, beauty and varied influences that made said debut so impressive.

This review was originally for Clash Magazine. Click here to read in full.

#666: Beans on Toast - Cushty

With a name like Beans On Toast, you could be forgiven for assuming that the music of Essex-born Jay McAllister would be light-hearted, upbeat and perhaps even somewhat frivolous. And you’d be partially right. The fact remains though, that while the music of Beans On Toast is certainly delivered with humour and a smile, much of it also carries a message we’d all benefit from listening to.

This review was originally written for Clash. Click here to read in full.