Category: Pop rock
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The Night Cafe: 0151
When a band calls its album after its home city’s dialling code, you know they’re proud Liverpudlians, (and no review copy will be finding its way to The Sun) but you can’t tell, the odd accent aside, that they’re from Liverpool or even England — they’ve got a West Coast feel that’s more California than…
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Death by Piano: Countdown EP
On one hand this could be called a little samey, on the other we’re always sad when it ends; it’s too short. We assumed the title meant a lot of piano but it’s chilled-out synth. (We did find out that death by piano is very rare: a report we found said that virtually every case…
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Delta High: Superfluidity
This is an album that closes with a song called Hey Ho Rock ‘n’ Roll: Delta High have perhaps realised that triumph and disaster are both impostors, to misquote Rudyard Kipling, and just want to have fun. Delta High take in a variety of sounds and styles. The band’s Neil Jackson — who lived two…
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David Gibb: Rolling Down The Road
Gibb is a familiar figure at Rode Hall’s Just So and played Bollington Festival this year. In a previous guise he was a finalist of the BBC Radio Two young folk awards in 2011. In 2013 he featured alongside musical collaborator Elly Lucas in an advertising campaign for Gola trainers. Success must have seemed close.…
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Olympia: Flamingo
There was a moment — track four, Nervous Riders — when we thought we were going to love this album, but sadly it’s a little too patchy. This is the second album by Australian singer-songwriter Olympia (real name Olivia Bartley, and from Wollongongand) and it’s psychedelic pop with leaning towards to indie. On the plus…
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Ed Sheeran: No 6 Collaborations
Sheeran has got to be an unlikely global star by playing bland tunes aimed at targeted demographics. You can snigger but he knows what he’s doing and he’s done better than you. You can’t get any bigger than global superstar so perhaps this album marks the end of his career plan phase one and a…
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Artmagic: The Songs of Other England
Top rate musicians here — Sean McGhee has toured with Alison Moyet, guitarist Richard Oakes helped Suede deliver Top 10 albums, John Cale drummer Alex Thomas is on the throne — but an album that you might find a little lacklustre. The topics are inspired by McGhee’s interest in English folk music, hence the track…
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Shakespears Sister: Singles Party (1988-2019)
Everyone knows Shakespears Sister, though you might struggle to remember a song. “Two girls, dancy pop, something to do with Bananarama and Dave Stewart, fell out ..?” Well that’s all we remembered. Marcella Detroit and Siobhan Fahey formed the band in 1988 after Fahey left Bananarama. They split in 1993 after Detroit was sacked in…
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Marina: Love + Fear
The Diamonds are gone — perhaps she had them recut — and now it’s just Marina. She and her now-resized Diamonds passed us by a little; a bit too poppy. People apparently liked her lyrics although, like the Diamonds, these appear to have been somewhat cut. This album is also poppy, but appealing. She has…
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Lizzo: Cuz I Love You
We came across Lizzo some time ago with Batches and Cookies, a stripped down semi-joking but addictive rap song (sample lyrics: “I got my batches and cookies / I got my batches and cookies / I got my batches and cookies / I got my batches and cookies”). The album Lizzobangers was less interesting and…
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