LISTEN: Shelf Lives – ‘Yes, Offence’
We live in the age of offence. As we’re all pushed, like it or not, to think twice and thrice before putting any kind of opinion or statement out there, and artistic expression is increasingly constrained by a generalised concern with the risk of offending someone, brazenness may in the right circumstances become a virtue, […]
In Conversation with… BILLIE MARTEN
It’s early February, in 2022, and Billie Marten is setting out on a week’s worth of live gigging with indie rock outfit, Palace. Both are out celebrating their respective recent album releases, for Marten, this is 2021’s effervescent foray, Flora Fauna. It represents a time in her music that has symbolised growth for the artist: […]
LIVE REVIEW: Foxes at Night & Day Cafe, Manchester
“I’m an introvert, I swear” reads the caption of a recent social media post by Foxes — but how are we to know? When met by Louisa Rose Allen, aka. Foxes, the signs aren’t that clear: a bubbly, vivid image is displayed and danced around the room for all to see, one wouldn’t naturally pick […]
TRACK BY TRACK // Broken Hands – ‘Split in Two’
It is often dubbed the “difficult” second album, in most cases this statement duly proves to be mere superstition or rather an unfortunate belief in the folklore of artistic stagnation, while the creation of Broken Hands’ sophomore record was fairly straight-forward on the surface, its arrival into the world has been far from it. A […]
SONG OF THE WEEK: Grace Gillespie – ‘Empty in the Capital’
As we start to ease ourselves out of the lockdown state we’ve become familiar with over the past four months, it’s likely that the strange, unsettling conditions we’ve lived under will inform more and more work across all media.
ALBUM REVIEW: Fontaines D.C. – ‘Skinty Fia’
It might be somewhat of a stereotype that there is a parable with good bands and their early records, where the first is the raw gem breaking onto the scene, the second is the place for dangerous experimentation, and the third is the album of maturity, where some kind of balance is reached and some […]
