Tag: music
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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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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.
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RNS/Ólafsson live at the Glasshouse review – quite possibly the best pianist in the world right now
Beethoven’s flamboyant Emperor concerto was an odd choice for this master of pianistic introspection, but Ólafsson nonetheless proved his world class status following a typically daring and dynamic first half from Sousa’s Royal Northern Sinfonia.
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Undertone’s best songs of 2024
From era-defining pop hits to indie rock gems, vocal jazz to death metal, it’s time to look back on the very best songs that came out in 2024.
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The wonderful adventure: why Slipping Through My Fingers is ABBA’s tragic masterpiece
A devastating account of a mother’s loss doubles as a universal meditation on the human compulsion to cling on to the past in a pop single that mixes ecstasy and agony in a way no other song has before or since.
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Maruja live at the Cluny review – an extraordinary plunge into hell
The Manchester noise merchants provided all the expected thrills – tempestuous drumming, atmospheric saxophone, sharp-tongued poetry – and added sweeping improvisations and stupendous operatic climaxes. This tepid Newcastle crowd was spoiled rotten.
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Soft Play live at NX review – shirtless punks ignite a brutal mosh pit
The hardcore Kent punks are noted for their unusual lyrical vulnerability, but in truth this gig was all about deafening, apoplectic rock bangers. The resulting mosh pit chaos left this reviewer floored – literally.
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Becky Hill live at Utilita Arena review – dance music star goes through the motions
Becky Hill may have plenty of hit singles under her belt, but her live act proved to be a work in progress on a shaky night in Newcastle.
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Ezra Collective: Dance, No One’s Watching review – jazz champions play to their strengths
The jazz group that set the Mercury Prize alight last year return with an album that goes all in on infectious dance grooves. Their knack for melody seems to have been forgotten in the party, but this bloated record does conclude with the most moving track of this band’s career.
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The Last Dinner Party live at O2 City Hall review – red hot girl group come off the boil
Five piece indie rockers The Last Dinner Party were Britain’s most talked-about band during their meteoric rise last winter. The strength of the songwriting remains undeniable, but frontwoman Abigail Morris gave a noncommittal performance on a faintly disappointing Monday night in Newcastle.
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Every Mercury Prize 2024 nominee, ranked
With the Mercury Prize, awarded to British and Irish albums on musical merit alone, approaching next month, Undertone takes a look at the twelve nominees. Which make for the most complete, artistically masterful album? And, more importantly, which one will be chosen to win?
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Cobra Spell: 666 review – kick-ass hair metal runs wild
An outrageously eye-catching album artwork marks the debut the of the brand new, all female lineup of Sonia Anubis’ Cobra Spell. Alex Walden checks out to their latest album to see if they could produce that rare magic: genuinely fresh-feeling music inspired by the 80s.
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SOFT PLAY: HEAVY JELLY review – redemptive riot delivers on all fronts
The Kent punk duo SOFT PLAY hold nothing back on their deafening fifth album. There are ample pulse-quickening riffs to whip up the mosh pit, but also plenty of nuance and introspection to reward repeat listens, not least a tender surprise at its climax.
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Shannon & the Clams: The Moon Is In The Wrong Place review – wildly entertaining dive into the abyss
Raucous 60s rockabilly might sound like an unlikely match for an album unequivocally about grief, but Shannon & the Clams pull it off miraculously in this deeply personal record, which shifts from joy to despair – and often a complex mix of the two – with astonishing ease.
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Summer of funk: five groovy albums to keep in your rotation this summer
Now that Summer has finally arrived, Alex Walden has been on a deep dive in an attempt to collate his summer playlist. While the process remains unfinished, Alex has found five albums that he deems to be essential listens this summer.
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