Category: album reviews
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Westside Cowboy: It Goes On review – it goes on… repeat
The hottest band in UK indie are on a tear; having finally released their first album, Westside Cowboy have delivered, somehow upgrading on what they had before. Matthew Rowe explains what makes It Goes On so great.
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Phoebe Bridgers: Lost Weekend review – blockbuster return will make you believe in magic
Phoebe Bridgers’ third album improbably lives up to the hype generated by her ingeniously orchestrated return to earth: a high-budget, detail-oriented showpiece about grief and hope packed with spectacular twists and turns. When it comes to indie folk, Bridgers really is on a planet of her own.
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Olivia Rodrigo: you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love review – seems pretty safe
On her third album, Rodrigo leaves behind the gutsy pop punk that made her such an intriguing A-league popstar, but this expertly paced new LP features one of the finest hit singles of 2026 and proves Rodrigo doesn’t need her heart broken to write great pop.
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Prince Daddy & the Hyena: Hotwire Trip Switch review – wildly entertaining pop-punk nostalgia from a vocalist reborn
On their fourth full-length album, Prince Daddy & the Hyena go back to basics with 12 pop punk would-be singles and no time for filler. Kory Gregory’s emo vocals hit new melodic heights on handily their most entertaining record yet.
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Cory Wong: Lost In The Wonder review – a lacklustre collection of singles from funk’s busiest guitarist
Known for his signature guitar riffs, superhuman turnout of albums, and wider collaborative efforts, Cory Wong is well-established within the funk sphere. But with his latest release he’s perhaps gotten too comfortable, suggests Matthew Rowe.
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Every Mercury Prize 2025 nominee, ranked
The Mercury Prize is back, and a new album will be crowned as the UK and Ireland’s best in Newcastle on Thursday 16 October. To celebrate this year’s competition, Undertone listened to all 12 nominated albums. Which is the best, and which has the best shot at winning? The verdict is in…
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Parcels: LOVED review – playful pop from a band best served live
Existing fans of the renowned pop group will find a healthy offering of funky foot-tappers on Parcels’ light-hearted new album, which will no doubt be morphed into dazzling showstoppers for the band’s huge upcoming shows – it’s just a shame so little of their big-stage theatrics seeped through onto the record.
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Welly: Big In The Suburbs review – puts the fun back in British indie rock
Welly’s debut album is winningly silly, although its political satire feels a little too safe, and the comedy in Elliot Hall’s cartoonish vocals wears thin quickly.
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Courting: Lust for Life review – overwrought concept album pulls its punches
The Liverpool band’s drive for creative risk-taking is admirable, but the experiment doesn’t pay off on this messy, underwritten third album.
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Vulfpeck: Clarity of Cal review – at long last, a hit
After a string of increasingly unfunny joke albums, Jack Stratton and co get (a little) more serious on this latest collection of joyful funk-pop tunes. It ranks as one of Vulfpeck’s finest outings to date, even if they let it slip in the closing stages.
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Divorce: Drive to Goldenhammer review – endearing, open-hearted folk-rock
Framed around a quest to the fictional place of ‘Goldenhammer’, the Nottingham indie band’s impressive debut is packed with one gorgeous duet after another, plus a wealth of plaintive melodic earworms.
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Sam Fender: People Watching review – the Geordie Springsteen delivers a classic
Valorised Geordie hero Sam Fender paints a vivid picture of ordinary working-class life in this extraordinary third record. Never has Fender’s trademark brand of melancholic beauty sounded so potent.
Undertone 