This self-titled EP from Anna Lena & The Orchids is full of doomy beauty; they cite influences as diverse as PJ Harvey and Grizzly Bear, but ‘See It In Black’ reminds me of Radiohead, in that its creepiness shrouds an…
Category: Reviews
Album | The Milk Carton Kids – The Ash & Clay
The Milk Carton Kids are Joey Ryan and Kenneth Pattengale from suburban Los Angeles. They sing pretty and gentle close harmonies woven around their two vintage acoustic guitars with no further accompaniment, and they are very good at it. Pattengale…
Live | Nancy Elizabeth @ Vortex Jazz Club, London
Four years is a long time in music, and an especially long time to go without one of your favourite artists. To say Nancy Elizabeth’s return, nearly four years after the release of her second album Wrought Iron, has been…
Album | The Leisure Society – Alone Aboard the Ark
Their debut was bittersweet indie pop at its finest and the second record was a masterpiece of lush orchestration. Now Alone Aboard the Ark – the third album from Londoners the Leisure Society – sees the band expand their sonic repertoire with…
Album | Simone Dinnerstein & Tift Merritt – Night
Tift Merritt has been producing a rather fine brand of Americana since first releasing Bramble Rose back in 2002. Late last year she released her fifth album Travelling Alone, so we weren’t expecting her back so soon, and certainly weren’t…
Album | Son Volt – Honky Tonk
You tend to know what you’re going to get with a Son Volt album. Jay Farrar was always the straight man in Uncle Tupelo, as evidenced by how far apart he and Jeff Tweedy now are in musical terms. Son…
Album | Dan Michaelson & The Coastguards – Blindspot
With the twang of a guitar, and that trademark voice – the sound of ice cracking as it is engulfed by warmer waters – Dan Michaelson opens his fourth album, Blindspot. From the very beginning of his debut record back…
Album | Steve Mason – Monkey Minds In The Devil’s Time
Monkey Minds In The Devil’s Time is an album that feels divided into two halves, both good in their own way. For those of us who grew up listening to the Beta Band, Steve Mason’s voice is immediately soothing. His…
EP | Bear’s Den – Agape
Agape is a theme of spiritual, Christian love explored by London-based trio Andrew Davie, Kevin Jones and Joey Haynes on their second EP released by Communion Records. Being inextricably linked with Ben Lovett it is unsurprising that Bear’s Den’s sound…
Album | Laurence Made Me Cry – The Diary of Me
In keeping with its title, Jo Whitby – aka Laurence Made Me Cry – kept an online diary of the recording of this debut album in which she at one point noted: “As each track nears finalisation, I’m beginning to…