Books: This Is What You Get

This retrospective catalogue is the first institutional show focusing on the visual works of art by Stanley Donwood and Thom Yorke. The majority of the paintings, drawings and digital works were specifically made for Yorke's internationally celebrated band Radiohead, formed in Oxford in 1985. This features iconic artworks from the 1980s until today, relating to Radiohead albums, their covers and promotional band images, as well as sketchbooks and rare materials from their archives that have never before been published. It offers fresh views on the art of album covers, exploring the complex relationship between visual art and music.

Radiohead was formed in Abingdon, Oxfordshire, in 1985. The collaboration with the artist Stanley Donwood began in 1994 when the band was developing their second album, The Bends, which was released on 13th March, 1995. 2025 is therefore the 40-year anniversary of the band and the 30-year anniversary of the release of The Bends. The catalogue’s focus is upon the art produced by both Stanley Donwood and the band’s lead vocalist, Thom Yorke presented chronologically. Radiohead’s popularity has never waned and they have a strong core following and new fans (many of who are the children of ‘original’ fans).

The high-quality reproductions are complemented by exclusive interviews with the artists, and essays by Alex Farquharson, Nico Kos Earle, Benjamin Myers, James Putnam and Jennifer Ramkalawon.

A major retrospective will be held at the Ashmolean Museum from August 2025 to January 2026.

 

Title: This Is What You Get 

Publisher: Ashmolean Museum

Binding/Pages: Hardback 256 Pages

New Music: Carnage

          

The Antlers distinctive mix of raw emotion and almost otherworldly arrangements to cast the present moment in a new light. One able to take something familiar and apparently ordinary and reveal it as anything but, be that the calamitous consequences of our consumerist culture or else the oft-ignored beauty of the natural world which stands to be lost as a result. As Peter Silberman concludes: "These songs were born out of an attempt to come to grips with my guilt." Lead single "Carnage" introduces these themes with equal parts anger and grief. The Antlers have long possessed the uncanny ability to take subtle, introspective tones and blow them widescreen, and the new single is no different. A track which morphs from sparse, plaintive beginnings into a full band swirl, its stark imagery detailing not only the cost of humanity’s current mode of living but how we so often remain oblivious to the damage wrought. "Carnage" is a song about a kind of violence we rarely acknowledge," Silberman explains. “Violence not born of cruelty, but of convenience. Innocent creatures are swept up in the path of destruction as their world collides with ours, and we barely notice." The lyric video was created by Ryan Hover. 

Rocktrospectiva: The Powerful And Effective "A Hero's Death" Turns 5

Released on 31 July 2020 "A Hero's Death" was the second studio album by Irish post-punk band Fontaines D.C., the album received critical acclaim upon its release, signifying a partial departure from their bubbling and anxiety-inducing post-punk sound found on their first record to the incorporation of more dream-like and psychedelic aspects having taken inspiration from The Beach Boys, to name but one of many influences, during the writing of the record. The album spawned four singles "A Hero's Death", "I Don't Belong", "Televised Mind" & "A Lucid Dream".

Following the release of Dogrel, Fontaines D.C. embarked on a spring 2019 tour with British punk rock band IDLES. During the tour, the band wrote and recorded material for their second studio album. The album is produced by Dan Carey, who produced their debut album, Dogrel. 

According to lead singer Grian Chatten, the album's name was inspired by a line in a play by Irish writer Brendan Behan. Chatten said the album title is "an effort to balance sincerity and insincerity, but more broadly it's about the battle between happiness and depression, and the trust issues that can form tied to both of those feelings". The album cover features a statue of the Irish mythological demigod Cú Chulainn entitled "The Dying Cuchulain" by Oliver Sheppard.

According to the band's press release of the new album, the sound ventures away from their post-punk sound. The band said that bands such as Suicide, The Beach Boys, Beach House, These Immortal Souls, The Brian Jonestown Massacre and Broadcast were influential in the sound of the album.

Critics were fairly good describing the album as a maudlin and manic triumph, a horror movie shot as comedy, equal parts future-shocked and handcuffed to history, cause the band managed to delivered a difficult but powerful second album full of songwriting that stares life in the face, althought other critices complained about the record due a lack of a cohesive element and powerful singles, nevertheless the record managed to reach the top of the UK album charts in its debut week, and debuted on No. 1 in Scotland and No. 2 in their native Ireland. 

A Hero's Death Track List:  

 

1. I Don't Belong

2. Love Is The Main Thing

3. Televised Mind

4. A Lucid Dream

5. You Said

6. Oh Such A Spring

7. A Hero's Death

8. Living In America

9. I Was Not Born

10. Sunny

11. No

Rocktrospectiva: The Welcome Back To The Form "Made Of Rain" Turns 5

Released on 31 July 2020, "Made Of Rain" was the 8th., studio album by English rock band The Psychedelic Furs, it was the first studio album from the band in almost 30 years and has received positive reviews. The album spawned two singles "Don't Believe" & "You'll Be Mine" & "Wrong Train". It was also the first album with Rich Good ex The Pleased and Amanda Kramer ex Information Society.

 

The band reunited in 2000, and they had intended on recording new material but principal songwriter Richard Butler did not feel confident in any newly written songs until six months before prior to the sessions for Made of Rain. It was the first studio release by the group since 1991's World Outside and was preceded by lead single "Don't Believe". The album was initially scheduled to be released on 1 May, but was delayed until 31 July due to logistical issues stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic.

It was like a dreamlike pop album tailor-made for these garish, even nightmarish, days. It was all backed by a typically rousing rhythm from Paul Garisto – sometimes employing the crisp patterns that shimmered from Ringo Starr’s Revolver era-banging his drum with furious, fast-paced precision, whacking each and every piece to their breathless finale.

 

About Richard, he in particular rised to the challenge, bellowing out a deceptive but nonetheless readily harebrained style that pushed with the energy the choppy, colorful licks aim for. If nothing else, Made of Rain proved a love letter to the days when singles, not albums, were the audience tipple of choice. 

 

Highlights were the apocalyptic "Don't Believe", tumbling through the twisted instrumental segments with weathered, rain-torn precision. With "No One", a pounding, effects-heavy look at the disenfranchised within us, lightened by Tim's hypnotic finger work.  "Come All Ye Faithful" which was closest Richard Butler's canon to a gospel ballad-brought to greater life, thanks to the stop/start bass that leads the song to the enthralling guitar coda. The longtime Psychedelic Furs collaborator Mars Williams soundscapes the tunes with a series of tangy saxophone solos. Now think about "You'll Be Mine" a ballad that romanticizes the violence and opulence of love in equal measure-showcased his best work, expressing an explosion more commonly heard on a punk rhythm guitar, and of course the tremendous "Wrong Train" that particularly took me back to the good old days "Talk Talk Talk" or "Forever Now" and finally the trangressive "The Boy That Invented Rock And Roll". The album was co-produced by Guns N’ Roses guitarist Richard Fortus.

 

Made of Rain received "generally favorable reviews" and called it "long overdue", with some repetition and an over-long runtime but there were several songs that highlighted Richard Butler's talents as a performer and songwriter, also praised the several technical aspects but also criticizing the sequencing and sameness of several songs. It was welcome return to the Furs'  classic blend of aggression, tender melody and brooding ambience" that is darker than previous material. 

 

Made Of Rain Track List:  

 

1. The Boy That Invented Rock And Roll

2. Don't Believe

3. You'll Be Mine

4. Wrong Train

5. This'll Never Be Like Love

6. Ash Wednesday

7. Come All Ye Faithful

8. No-One

9. Tiny Hands

10. Hide The Medicine

11. Turn Your Backs On Me

12. Stars

Rocktrospectiva: The Career-Defining "Marks To Prove It" Turns 10

Released 31 July 2025 "Marks To Prove It" was the 4th., and final studio album by the English band The Maccabees, the album peaked on No. 1 in the UK and spawned three singles "Marks To Prove It", "Something Like Happiness" & "Spit It Out".

The album was recorded in the band's studio in Elephant and Castle and throught its 41 minutes pays tribute to the area, including the album cover being of the Michael Faraday Memorial that is near the studio. Marks to Prove It, took two and half years to complete, this album is an amalgamation of the Maccabees' previous slush indie pop sound –  from Colour It In and then the stronger Wall of Arms – and the sailing, mystifying and altogether more layered sound of Given to the Wild. 

The product of such a combination has left a suite painted seriously with concerns of texture, pace and maturity; it was an album that took us out at twilight, throws us into the depths of the night with all its endeavours and its heartbreaks, and then hails us the night-bus all the way back until dawn and its insight.

From the opener "Marks to Prove It", placed the listener up for a teeth­grittingly fast ride; jagged guitars and staccato piano keys bounce around, while the sound clutches at the seams of the record as it cascades forward into the body of the album; the album had nothing of its predecessors, and this song was nothing like its forbearers. Influenced by the beginnings of gentrification of the transport system at Elephant & Castle – the roundabout of which is adorned on the album cover – the album addresses the more matured outlooks upon themes such as love and its loss, the quiet inevitability of the passing of age and time; it monopolizes the grasping but not quite reaching of something to hold onto whilst everything changes, and this era silently moves into the next.

Other remarkable tracks were "Kamakura" explosive choruses that gave sense to its sound of easy rhythm, "Ribbon Road" was another genius cut, "WWI Portraits" was inspired y the Imperial War Museum located in the surrounded areas of Elephant, then "Spit it Out" showed a powerful face of the band,  

The album was mature in both its sound and its lyricism. The Maccabees wandered into unknown territory with touches of jazz and blues from a brass addition, quasi-militant waltzes and discordant layering, as well as the addition of quieter piano-centred tracks like in "Pioneering Systems". There too were switched up vocals, with Hugo sang on "Silence" and lyrics recorded in one take on "Dawn Chorus". There was something distinctly raw, dark and slightly violent on the edges of even the most beautiful moments in the work; a deft and swift sadness shakes all the songs.  

Looking at the back catalogue of albums from the Maccabees was reminiscent of reading old private diaries; observing as the personal outlooks upon life progress all the way from boyhood through adolescence to manhood. Then Marks to Prove It is the musings of men in their late twenties, not the. It was a testament to the war wounds and love wounds inflicted over the years; the insight that experience gives; the heartbreak of time. In it, romanticising has been firmly moved aside, gentrification has been reacted to by resolute solidarity of men against change.

The Maccabees have proven themselves as unique, multi-talented and highly skilled band on this album, which was honest, humble, and quietly astounding. It was their career-defining; real artistry. Beauttiful way to end its career. 

 

Marks To Prove It Track List:  

 

1. Marks To Prove It

2. Kamasura

3. Ribbon Road

4. Spit It Out

5. Silence

6. River Song

7. Slow Sun

8. Something Like Happiness

9. WW1 Portraits 

10. Pioneering Systems

11. Dawn Chorus 

The Reissue: Crush 40th. Anniversary

OMD's 1985 album "Crush", will be reissued for its 40th anniversary in October. The band's sixth album features the singles "So In Love," and  "Secret", with the former reaching the top 30 of the charts on both sides of the Atlantic.

 

The album will be reissued as a 2CD deluxe edition featuring seven previously unreleased tracks newly mixed from the multi-tracks. These include four unheard songs. Additionally there’s B-sides and remixes. 

Andy McCluskey commented:  

The 40th anniversary re-release of Crush has been a wonderful opportunity for us to re-assess the album. 1985 was a period of great intensity with constant touring and time pressure in the studio, but we created a powerful collection of songs and lyrical themes. In hindsight, we made a much better album than we knew at the time. Two hit singles ‘So in Love’ and ‘Secret’ remain live set constants to this day.

The 2LP vinyl edition also features the seven unreleased tracks, but not the B-sides. The standard extended mix of "So In Love" is also omitted. Both formats include rare photos and comprehensive notes by journalist and author Jason Draper in conversation with Andy McCluskey.

Crush will be reissued on 10 October 2025, via UMR / Virgin.

Crush 2CD Deluxe Edition Track List: 

CD 1

 

1. So In Love

2. Secret

3. Bloc Bloc Bloc

4. Women III

5. Crush

6. 88 Seconds In Greensboro

7. The Native Daughters Of The Golden West

8. La Femme Accident

9. Hold You

10. The Lights Are Going Out

 

CD 2

 

1. Wheels of Steel*

2. Lana Turner v.1*

3. Hold You (Rough)*

4. Choral*

5. Lana Turner v.2*

6. Drift (Demo)*

7. All or Nothing (Demo)*

8. Concrete Hands (b-side)

9. Firegun (b-side)

10. Maria Gallante (b-side)

11. Drift (b-side)

12. Secret (Extended Mix)

13. So In Love (Special American Dance Remix)

14. So In Love (Extended)

15. La Femme Accident (12″ Mix)

15. Concrete Hands (Extended)

 

*Previously Unreleased Track

Albums: MAD!

Released on May 23, 2025 through Trangressive Records, "MAD!! is the 26th., studio album by the US pop/rock duo Sparks, one of their most anticipate works over the last five years, upon its release, the album was met with critical acclaim and continued the group's commercial success in the UK started with Hippopotamus (2017), A Steady Drip, Drip, Drip (2020), and The Girl Is Crying in Her Latte (2023) all peaking at no. 7 on the UK Albums Chart, the highest position since Kimono My House peaked at no. 4 in 1974, despite the return to an independent label, debuting at No. 2. 

Back in 2024 during the ceremony of AIM (Independent Music Awards) in which the duo received the honors of Outstanding Contribution to Music, bandmates Ron and Russell Mael took the opportunity to announce that they had signed a recording contract with Transgressive Records for a new studio album.

The album starts with "Do Things My Own Way." a  clarion call for non-conformism, this is basically a song that advises the listener to reach their own conclusions on life in a world full of "influencers". The song itself has an insistent synth and guitar beat that backs Russell’s almost sprechgesang vocals, but there is no real chorus as such, just a repeated riff to punctuate the verses.  "JanSport Backpack" is not, as many early commentators surmised, a blatant example of sponsorship or product placement, but a commentary on the experience of rejection. The protagonist of the story has seen the object of his affections walking away from him so many times that the aspects of her he becomes most intimately familiar with are the backpack that she wears, the track has a jaunty synth track from Ron with multi-tracked vocals from Russell that give it a deliberately under-produced sound.

"Hit Me, Baby."  It’s a drum-heavy beat and doomy synths sets it apart from much of the album and subsequently it’s a much heavier number than what has gone before. Next "Running Up A Tab At The Hotel For The Fab" has a more arty, angular feeling and those unexpected changes in tone that Sparks have so effectively used before, "My Devotion To You" is maybe a love song, or possibly a thank you to Sparks’'dedicated fan-base. The lyrics explicitly state that it may be about devotion to any number of things, so you can basically take it any way that you please.  "Don’t Dog It," a pounding art-dance number about the search for answers in religion, or science, some nice ‘strings in the mix which lift the production.

Another smooth track next with "In Daylight," which expresses how the darkness of bars and night-clubs can do great favours to those who aren’t exceptionally good looking. The cool  "I-405 Rules" is a fast-moving track extolling the virtues of mass transport. "A Long Red Light" expresses similar frustration at waiting for the traffic lights to change. Sparks are terrific at taking relatively mundane experiences and spinning them into fascinating songs. "Drowned in a Sea of Tears" is a surprisingly acoustic number with nice layers of guitar, drums and percussion, but if you listen carefully is sound a little bit like Elton John's 1988 single "I Don't Wanna Go On With  You Like That" in the verse section. Next is "A Little Bit Of Light Banter" continues the more trad arrangement of "Drowned in a Sea of Tears", but is a much more Sparks song. It's the kind of song that Sparks have always done so well and shows Russell's vocals at their pop best. 

The album ends with "Lord Have Mercy," which feels like an appeal for sanity in today's troubled world. It's an anthemic number that brings out the best of both Ron and Russell's contributions, backed up by perfect guitars, drums and percussion. In the end, "Mad!" is a very satisfying album, enjoyable for an everyday listen. 

 

MAD! Track List: 

 

1. Do Things My Own Way

2. JanSport Backpack

3. Hit Me, Baby

4. Running Up A Tab At The Hotel For The Fab

5. My Devotion

6. Don't Dog It

7. In Daylight

8. I-405 Rules

9. A Long Red Light

10. Drowned In A Sea Of Tears

11. A Little Bit Of Light Banter

12. Lord Have Mercy 

Albums: Tall Tales

Released on 9 May 2025, "Tall Tales" is the latest recording and collaboration between the English musicians Mark Pritchard and Thom Yorke, althought Yorke and Pritchard began work in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, exchanging work online.

The album artwork was created by Jonathan Zawada using CGI and AI. Zawada also produced a feature length-film accompanying the album, which was screened in some cinemas. The album has been promoted by the singles "Back In The Game", "This Conversation Is Missing Your Voice", "Gangsters" and "The Spirit", backed by cool videos taken from the Tall Tales film, and a global scavenger hunt. 

Back in 2012, when Radiohead played in Sydney, Pritchard was introduced to the band by their touring drummer, Clive Deamer. After Pritchard invited Yorke to collaborate, Yorke sang on "Beautiful People", a single from Pritchard's 2016 album Under the Sun. In 2019, Pritchard remixed "Not the News" from Yorke's album Anima.

So back in 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Yorke emailed Pritchard asking him to send him music to work on at home. Pritchard sent around 20 demos, and Yorke began to write lyrics. Later, Yorke began sending demos with his vocals back to Pritchard. They continued to send work back and forth, editing songs down and modifying them. Yorke also played synthesisers, edited tracks and added effects. Pritchard and Yorke never met during the production, instead sending demos and communicating through email and Zoom. Pritchard said he enjoyed working with Yorke, as he provided more than just vocals. But Pritchard wanted to use guitars for some songs, but Yorke declined. Pritchard searched for obscure synthesisers, swapping with friends and using Melbourne Electronic Sound Studio. He used synthesisers including the Korg PS-3300, the Yamaha DX1, a Philips PMC 100, a Roland CR-78, and a Mattel Bee Gees toy rhythm machine.

Now "Tall Tales" has been described as electronic, experimental and ambient. Compared to Anima, the lyrics of Tall Tales are darker and dystopian, the songs discuss themes like "human greed, mendacity, disconnection and the climate crisis". While Pritchard was reluctant to call it a "lockdown record", he conceded themes from 2020 were present within the lyrics. The album title was inspired by George Orwell's novel Nineteen Eighty-Four.

The album opens with "A Fake in A Fakers World", which is actually a cacophony of percussion that evokes images of rainfall, Pritchard is able to create bring sound to the impossible and bring harmony to noises you never thought could be turned to song. Yorke’s vocals, even when heavily augmented, are wildly discernable. The vocals as well as being purposely vague and conceptual in their imagery are also deliberately drawn out, echoing across nearly 9 minutes of music. It’s disorienting, but in a way that seems to make sense. "Ice Shelf" is a dark, ambient song, next "Bugging Out Again" has a haunting falsetto over a slow keyboard soundscape. Yorke’s echoey tone while beautiful is difficult to understand, almost as though he is singing underwater or in a bubble. Many listeners will likely find themselves listening over and over as I did, trying to make sense of what it is he is trying to say but surprise, it's a track about love. Instead "Back in the Game" is an "electro-goth" song with "mature and declamatory" vocals. "The White Cliffs" is a minimalist and "wintry" song with a basic drum machine pattern, "The Spirit" uses strings and trombone and was likened to Coldplay.

"Gangsters" is a new wave song with electronic rhythms and synthesisers, is lifted right out of an Atari or Spectrum games console. One of the singles released ahead of the album, it gives fans insight into the world Yorke, Pritchard and Zawada have created. "This Conversation is Missing Your Voice" is a more coherent R&B track with syncopated handclaps and a stuttering vocal effect, then "Tall Tales" is a darker song with layered vocoder-processed spoken words that comes towards the end of the album is terrifying to listen to but in a way that makes it impossible to skip or pause. Sinister and foreboding, it opens with the sounds of sirens, much like what you would expect to hear during a period of war or in the wake of a nuclear apocalypse. "Happy Days" which seems to be my favourite track, has a repetitive marching rhythm and "lightly bouncing vocals". And the two last tracks "The Men Who Dance in Stag's Heads" is a "medieval folk ballad" that uses muted drums, tambourine and the harmonium. and then the closing track, "Wandering Genie", is a dark ambient track with the line "I am falling" repeated throughout.

Being able to understand the words across the 12 tracks requires of course multiple replays but as you go over the tracks again, huge themes emerge that help to tie everything together. Criticisms of technology and its precedence in our culture, the threats of climate change, reflections on the pandemic and political events of the last few years, commentary on migration and national borders, concern about capitalism and money are just some of the topics that are being dissected - fans of Yorke and Radiohead’s history of poetic and deep lyrics are guaranteed to be pleased if they give the songs the time they deserve. The most interesting track lyrically though has to be the final track, This is not the kind of music you will hear on the radio, for that simply is not what the project is about. "Tall Tales" is rooted in a passion for exploring the boundaries of sound and holding up a looking glass to what makes of this real music. There are moments that are jarring and dissonant as they play around with harmonies that clash and timings that are wonderfully discordant. There is, however, so much beauty in the noise that this album makes and that paired with the searing subject matter that feels so pertinent and needed today makes this such an important piece of art.

Thom Yorke and Mark Pritchard finally are sharing their first full-length project together. The album, is an exploration of the tensions between humanity, self-expression, isolation, AI and ownership. It marries together Yorke’s distinct voice and powerful lyricism with the innovative ideas and capabilities of musical polymath Pritchard to create something that is thought provoking, deeply emotional and at times even profound.

Definitely, this seems to be a fantastic album coherent in all senses, cult film sequence across 12 tracks full on existential phases, that makes the sound from menacing, evocative and hypnotically intense that seems to work in favor of this trinity of real talented artists. 

 

Tall Tales Track List:

 

1. A Fake In A Faker's World

2. Ice Shelf

3. Bugging Out Again

4. Back In The Game

5. The White Cliffs

6. The Spirit

7. Gangsters

8. This Conversation Is Missing Your Voice

9. Tall Tales

10. Happy Days

11. The Men Who Dance In The Stag's Heads

12. Wandering Genie

New Music: This Is The Killer Speaking

            

The Last Dinner Party, shares the video of their first release from their sophomore album, "This Is The Killer Speaking". It marks the band’s eighth collaboration with director Harv Frost, who is also behind the band’s previous music videos, including the short film ’Prelude to Ecstacy’, a compilation of four music videos released last year. Similar to ‘Prelude’s’ nods to Giallo films such as Suspiria and Profondo Rosso, dark fantasy features front and centre in "This Is The Killer Speaking", with scenes of centaur women and a Jack the Ripper-esque figure alternating with the band's raucous performance in a neon-soaked saloon. "With this one we wanted to create a dark fantasy western set in the bustling streets of London's iconic Soho"  explains Harv. "I was heavily inspired by spaghetti westerns and particular Sergio Leone's Dollars trilogy, but wanted to give it a noir feeling in both the exteriors and the interior scenes - going full neo-noir with the interior bar sequences to give the whole thing its own identity. From the start it was all about creating a world in which the fans could step back into, like pages of a story book." "This Is The Killer Speaking" is the first track to be released from The Last Dinner Party’s sophomore album From The Pyre, which they say has been heavily influenced by the conscious mythologising of real-life events. "This record is a collection of stories, and the concept of album-as-mythos binds them” explains the band. "

 

New Music: She Explains Things To Me

            

This is the latest single from the legendary Talking Heads frontman David Byrne.  "She Explains Things to Me"  and it previews what’s to come from the upcoming full-length Who Is The Sky? that’s due out on September 5 via Matador Records. The album is Byrne’s first in seven years, and the song off of it is in part influenced by Rebbeca Solnit’s 2014 essay collection Men Explain Things to Me. As one could probably get right off the bat, the theme of mansplaining has a presence with Byrne examining how men dismiss women’s ideas and points of view. He does this by switching the roles where he’s the one having things explained to him from a woman’s perspective rather than the other way around.Many times, I have marveled at how a friend, usually a female friend, seems to clock what is going on in a film between characters way before I do.

 

New Music: In This City

           

The band Moon Elevator was formed in 2024 by Gareth Soeby, Nigel Moyes and Stephanie David, they're described as "at home in any David Lynch soundscape", now they have shared their single "In This City" the opening track from "The Shadow That Follows You Home", from their four track EP out last July 25, 2025.

New Music: Dancing With The Europeans

           

Suede are releasing their new album, Antidepressants, on September 5 via BMG. Now they have shared its third single, "Dancing With the Europeans." Chris Turner directed the song's video. Frontman Brett Anderson had this to say about the song in a press release: "There's a sense of optimism about this song. I remember specifically we were doing a gig in Spain during the time we were writing this album. I was going through a bad time and at a low, personally. But we played this brilliant gig. There was a great connection between me and the audience. I thought of the phrase, dancing with the Europeans. There's something about that word, Europeans, that I really like. The phrase summed up the experience of looking for connection in a disconnected world. This sense of, where do we find those bonds with our fellow human beings? That show in Spain broke down those barriers". Antidepressants is the Britpop band's 10th album and the band called Antidepressants, because this is broken music for broken people.

New Music: End Of Summer

           

Tame Impala has shared the music video for their new single "End of Summer," a nostalgic track influenced by psychedelic rock and experimental electronic music. Throughout its nine-minute duration, the video immerses us in a divided universe, where two screens simultaneously play complementary scenes: one focused on Kevin Parker in the studio, and the other on his personal experience outdoors. The visual approach emphasizes the duality between creative introspection and the physical experience of the end of summer. The song evokes a sense of emotional closure, as if summer were a metaphor for the passage of time or a vital transformation. There is no conventional narrative with defined characters, but rather a sequence of intimate moments connected through gestures, gazes, and locations. Kevin Parker appears both working on his music and enjoying familiar surroundings, exploring the connection between his artistic and everyday self. One of the most powerful elements of the video clip is the use of the split-screen format, which divides the screen into two parallel sequences. This duality not only provides visual richness but also functions as a metaphor for the doubling of experience and memory. We see two moments occurring simultaneously, but not always synchronized, as if each half of the screen represented a different layer of consciousness. It is a way of expressing how the end of summer is never an exact point, but rather a memory that coexists between the real and the remembered. The technique reinforces the idea that time does not flow in a straight line, but in parallel, like our emotions and memories.

New Music: Cross My Heart And Hope To Die

           

The New Zealand-based alt pop/art pop/indie rock band Yumi Zouma have shared their new single “Cross My Heart and Hope to Die“, alongside a music video. The song is out now and serves as the third single from their upcoming new album yet to be confirmed, they have previously released "Blister", and "Bashville on the Sugar", The video was shot by YZ, Cass and Crocky 2025 and edited by Jawshy4eva, the designs an titled by Lorenzo Fanton

New Music: It's Not The First Time

             

The Scottish alternative rock band Idlewild returned earlier this month with the welcome news of a self-titled album, their first since 2019, to land October 3rd via V2 Records. The band release their second single, the emotive "It's Not The First Time", a widescreen, melodic song that continues in that same rich vein of form. Frontman Roddy Woomble had the following to say about the themes behind the album's second single, one that feels like it wouldn't feel out of place on "The Remote Part": "Memory is a broken net, a leaky barrel. You exist in a series of nows, and there is an art to the obvious – all great truths are obvious truths. The video is courtesy by Michael Sherrington, Forest of Black 

New Music: Get Together

           

Belinda Carlisle has shared the official video of the cover of The Youngbloods’ classic hit Get Together.  The track appears on the forthcoming compilation LP ‘Nobody Owns Me’, I recorded Get Together back in the summer with the supremely talented and absolutely lovely Gabe Lopez and, as always, he knocked it out of the park with the production,” said Belinda. 

New Music: Dolce Vita

           

Sophie Ellis-Bextor shares joyful new single "Dolce Vita" way ahead of the release of her much-anticipated 8th., studio album Perimenopop, due on September 12th. About the single, is a sophisticated slice of sunshine written alongside Karma Kid, Baz Kaye and Clementine Douglas a combination of  breezy synths and luscious strings, it builds elatedly into a vibrant pop chorus about being somewhere new and the escapism that brings. Sophie says about the track: "'Dolce Vita' is inspired by the way you feel about yourself when you’re somewhere unfamiliar. You can reinvent yourself and no one knows your story. When I was writing it, I had this little subplot in my head of someone with a criminal past longing to flee and start again somewhere new! But it works too that it’s just the nostalgic pull of a foreign trip where you really got to escape for a little while.”

Rocktrospectiva: The Metal Masterpiece "Back In Black" Turns 45

Released on 25 July 1980, "Back In Black" was the 7th., studio album by Australian rock band AC/DC. It was the band's first album to feature Brian Johnson as lead singer, following the death of their previous vocalist Bon Scott. After the commercial breakthrough of their 1979 album Highway to Hell, AC/DC was planning to record a follow-up, but in February 1980, Scott died from alcohol poisoning after a drinking binge. The remaining members of the group considered disbanding, but ultimately chose to continue on and recruited Johnson, who had previously been the vocalist for Geordie.

The album was composed by Johnson and brothers Angus and Malcolm Young, and recorded over seven weeks in the Bahamas from April to May 1980 with producer Robert John "Mutt" Lange, who had also produced Highway to Hell. Back in Black was an unprecedented commercial and critical success. It has sold an estimated 50 million copies worldwide, making it the second-best-selling album in music history. The album spawned four singles "You Shook Me All Night Long", "Hells Bells", "Rock And Roll Ain't Noise Pollution" & "Back In Black". 

As the new decade approached, the group set off for the UK and France for the final leg of the Highway to Hell Tour, planning to begin recording their next album shortly after playing those dates. On 19 February 1980, vocalist Bon Scott went on a drinking binge in a London pub that caused him to lose consciousness, so a friend let him rest in the back of his Renault 5 overnight. The next morning, Scott was found unresponsive and rushed to King's College Hospital, where medical personnel pronounced him dead on arrival. The coroner ruled that pulmonary aspiration of vomit was the cause of Scott's death, but the official cause was listed on the death certificate as "acute alcoholic poisoning" and classified as "death by misadventure".

After Scott's funeral on 1 March, the band immediately began auditions for a replacement frontman. At the advice of Lange, they brought in Geordie singer Brian Johnson, who impressed the group. The band begrudgingly worked through the rest of the list of applicants in the following days, and then brought Johnson back for a second rehearsal. On 29 March, to Johnson's surprise, Malcolm Young called the singer to offer him the job.

Three weeks of rehearsals for Back in Black were scheduled at London's E-Zee Hire Studios, but the rehearsals were cut to one week when an opening came up at Compass Point Studios in Nassau, in the Bahamas. Although the band had wanted to record their next effort in the UK, there were no studios available, and the Bahamas presented a nice tax advantage, so Back in Black was recorded at Compass Point from mid-April to May 1980 with producer "Mutt" Lange. Johnson recalled that "It was hardly any kind of studio, we were in these little concrete cells, comfy mind, you had a bed and a chair.  Around the time of the band's arrival in the Bahamas, the area was hit by several tropical storms, which wreaked havoc on the electricity at Compass Point. Johnson referenced the bad weather on the opening lines of "Hells Bells": "I'm rolling thunder, pourin' rain. I'm comin' on like a hurricane. My lightning's flashing across the sky. You're only young but you're gonna die."

The general attitude during recording was optimistic, though engineer Tony Platt was dismayed to find the rooms at Compass Point were not sonically complementary to the group's sound, which was designed to be very dry and compact. According to Angus Young, the album's all-black cover was a "sign of mourning" for Scott. Atlantic Records disliked the cover, but accepted it, on the condition that the band put a grey outline around the AC/DC logo.

Back in Black was first released in the United States on 25 July 1980. Its release in the United Kingdom and the rest of Europe followed on 31 July, and it was released in Australia on 11 August. To promote the album, music videos were filmed for "You Shook Me All Night Long", "Hells Bells", the title track, "Rock and Roll Ain't Noise Pollution", "Let Me Put My Love into You", and "What Do You Do for Money Honey", though only the first four of those songs were released as singles. "You Shook Me All Night Long" became AC/DC's first Top 40 hit in the US, peaking at number 35 on the Billboard Hot 100.

The album is regarded it as "not only the best of AC/DC's six US albums", but also "the apex of heavy-metal art, althought other critices were more critical, saying they found the songs indistinguishable from one another and marred by hypermasculine fantasies, rock music stock phrases, garish guitar, and dull rhythms. In the years to come, the album has been reviewed as a heavy metal masterpiece, an influential hard rock and heavy metal album, due in part, cause the the album was released at a time when heavy metal stood at a turning point between a decline and a revival, as most bands in the genre were playing slower tempos and longer guitar solos, producer Lange palyed a key role in order to pushed AC/DC moved further away from the blues-oriented rock of their previous albums, and toward a more dynamic attack that concentrated and harmonized each element of the band. Lange's production for the album has had an enduring impact in the music industry and used as a guide for how a hard-rock record should sound

 

Back In Black Track List: 

 

1. Hells Bells 

2. Shoot To Thrill

3. What Do You Do For Money Honey

4. Givin' The Dog A Bone

5.  Let Me Put My Love Into You

6. Back In Black

7. You Shook Me All Night Long

8. Have A Drink On Me

9. Shake A Leg

10. Rock And Roll Ain't noise Pollution

Rocktrospectiva: The Nice And Decent "The Back Room" Turns 20

Released on 25 July 2005 "The Back Room" was the debut studio album by British band The Editors. The band formed while attending university and later moved to Birmingham, where they played club shows and made demos. After signing to Kitchenware in late 2004, the band recorded their debut album at studios in Lincolnshire, London and Wolverhampton. Jim Abbiss produced all but one of the tracks; the exception was produced by Gavin Monaghan. The Back Room was a post-punk revival, gothic rock and indie pop album but unfortunately it has been compared to the works of Echo & the Bunnymen, Elbow and Interpol. The album spawned four nice singles "Bullets", "Munich", "Blood" and "All Sparks". 

Editors formed in 2003 during the emergence of the post-punk revival under than name Snowfield; the band consisted of Tom Smith on vocals and guitar, Chris Urbanowicz on guitar, Russel Leetch on bass and Ed Lay on drums. The members met in 2000 at Staffordshire University and ended up living together. Urbanowicz said he had grown tired of guitar-centric music following Britpop and that the members bonded over their love of Is This It (2001) by The Strokes and Asleep in the Back (2001) by Elbow.  

They could all play instruments and shared similar music tastes so they decided to form a band. They were co-students on a music technology course, which allowed them to use practice rooms and recording studios. After graduating, the band members moved to Birmingham, where they earned money to pay rent and worked on the band. They performed at club shows and recorded demos, and later attracted British record labels.  

In early 2005, the band took a five-week break from touring to record what became their debut studio album, though Smith said it was recorded in around three and a half weeks. Most of the album was recorded at The Chapel, a studio in Lincolnshire, with producer Jim Abbiss, who handled recording alongside Ewan Davis. 

The sound of The Back Room has been described as post-punk revival, gothic rock and indie pop, and was compared to the work of Echo & the Bunnymen particularly their album Heaven Up Here (1981) Interpol and their album Antics (2004), and the works of Elbow. Urbanowicz disregarded some of these comparisons, saying Editors' material had already been written before they had "really listened to any of those bands properly". He credited Editors' choice of music to the Walkmen, to whose music they incessantly listened. Smith said, in comparison to their live setting, the album has synthesisers, which give it a dark electronic nuance. The Back Room is characterised by thick, prominent basslines, insistent drums, twinkling guitar and a baritone voice. Starting with "Camera", synthesisers take a prominent role in the album's second half. Urbanowicz attributed the album's aggressive tone to when they were living together and working jobs. The title is taken from a line in "Camera"; Smith considered it the "centre piece" of the album and said while death, love and loss are recurring themes on the album, he intentionally kept the meaning of the songs ambiguous for the listener to interpret for themselves. 

On "Lights", the album's opening track, the guitarwork switches from strummed jangling to single picked notes, which are enhanced by reverb, evoking the style of the Edge from U2. "Munich" follows the same pattern, and is backed by a drum pattern that resembles the one in "Evil" (2005) by Interpol, along with Smith and Urbanowicz's 'marching' guitars. The album's tempo slows for three of the songs, starting with "Fall". "All Sparks", the chorus of which is reminiscent of the work of Coldplay, is followed by "Camera", which evokes murder ballads of Bauhaus. "Fingers in the Factories", which talks about being working class, the vocals, guitars and drums synchronise for staccato notes. "Bullets", which recalls the early work of U2, refers to periods in a person's life when situations go awry, including the aftermath of a break-up and unemployment. "Open Your Arms" evokes "40'" (2004) by Franz Ferdinand. The album closes with "Distance", an Interpol-esque track.

Critics gave The Back Room generally favourable reviews. The album's lyrics drew mixed comments. The message is often sanely chin-up. Despite others were criticising the album's lack of "lyrical dexterity"; Others more-positively received Smith's vocals, complimenting his tone. Hoard praised Smith for being "blessed with that peculiarly British ability to sound simultaneously suave and pained", and said on the better tracks, the "give-and-take between Smith's gossamer croon and his band's tensile shimmer can be seductive".

 

The Back Room Track List:  

 

1. Lights

2. Munich

3. Blood

4. Fall

5. All Sparks

6. Camera

7. Fingers In The Factories

8. Bullets

9. Someone Says

10. Open Your Arms

11. Distance

New Music: In The Middle

           

White Lies have shared the video to their latest single, "In The Middle". Directed by Andreas Nilsson and shot in Bangkok, the band said of the video: “It brings us great pleasure to present our new – completely wild – video for ‘In The Middle’. This video is a return to collaboration with the incomparable Andreas Nilsson who made videos on the first album campaign – for ‘Death’, ‘Farewell To The Fairground’ and ‘To Lose My Life’. Andreas has gone on to become one of the world’s most creative and in demand directors so it’s a real pleasure for us that he’s made this happen. Shot in Bangkok in 24hrs only a few weeks ago, it’s as stylish and as unsettling a music video as you are likely to see. It’s pure cinema, we love it.” About the single, it's stylish and catchy at once.

New Music: Is It Worth It (Happy Birthday)?

           

Cate Le Bon has shared her new single "Is It Worth It (Happy Birthday)?" from her new album, Michelangelo Dying, out September 26. The new single serves as the album's centrepiece, with Le Bon powerfully evoking the simultaneous universality and mysteries of love. Lebon sings: "I thought about your mother / I hope she knew I loved her,". It’s at once striking, contemplative and vivid, weaving its way into your heart and letting you draw your own conclusions. The accompanying video was directed by H. Hawkline

In Memoriam: The Prolific Composer And Musician "Chuck Mangione" Has Died Aged 84

Chuck Mangione, the prolific composer and musician who released 30 albums in his career, died on July 22, according a confirmed statement from his family. He was 84.

 

"The family of Chuck Mangione is deeply saddened to share that Chuck peacefully passed away in his sleep at his home in Rochester, New York, on July 22, 2025," the statement, shared today July 24 with the Rochester (N.Y.) Democrat and Chronicle.

 

Magione was a celebrated composer and virtuoso flugelhorn and trumpet player, Mangione began taking music lessons at age 8 and played in a jazz combo with his pianist brother, Gap, during his high school years. He and Gap were both heavily inspired by Dizzy Gillespie, a family friend and jazz great, whom their father adored. Gillespie would join the Mangiones for dinner whenever he was in town and became one of Mangione’s biggest influences.

 

Gillespie was so impressed by teenage Mangione's musical prowess that he gave him one of his trademark upswept trumpets. Mangione went on to study at the Eastman School of Music, graduating in 1963 with a bachelor's degree in music education, later returning to teach and direct the school's jazz ensemble.

 

He then parlayed a musical upbringing into a successful solo career, selling millions of records and receiving numerous awards, including two Grammys: in 1977 for best instrumental composition "Bellavia" and in 1979 for best pop instrumental performance "The Children of Sanchez". The latter, a soundtrack for the movie of the same name, also won a Golden Globe.His 1977 single "Feels So Good," off an album of the same name, reached No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The album peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard albums chart in 1978, bested only by the "Saturday Night Fever" soundtrack.

 

"Feels So Good" also became an ongoing bit on TV's animated "King of the Hill," where it was frequently referenced, with Mangione himself nabbing a recurring voice-acting role. Mangione also composed "Give It All You Got," the theme song for the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, and performed it during the closing ceremonies to an audience of several hundred million viewers.

 

"Chuck's love affair with music has been characterized by his boundless energy, unabashed enthusiasm, and pure joy that radiated from the stage," his family’s statement reads: "His appreciation for his loyal worldwide fans was genuine as evidenced by how often he would sit at the edge of the stage after a concert for however long it took to sign autographs for the fans who stayed to meet him and the band."

 

Even before his death, Mangione's wide-ranging music career was memorialized in the American songbook. In 2009, he donated a selection of his music memorabilia to the Smithsonian National Museum of American History. 

Rokctrospectiva: The Successful "In The Heart Of The Young" Turns 35

Released on 24 July 1990 "In The Heart Of The Young" was the second studio album by the US band Winger, produced by Beau Hill, the album came out at the decline of the glam metal scene, even though, the record became a huge smash success, the album spawned three singles "Can't Get Enuff", "Easy Come Easy Go" and the power ballad "Miles Away". 

The second album of Kip Winger's band, was a carefully hard rock melodic masterpiece under a realiable production to powered a nice collection of tracks performed by real musicians. The opener "Can't Get Enuff" was a powerful hard rock tune alongside with "Easy Come Easy Go", both were huge successfully, 

Other great tracks were "Loosen Up", "In The Day We'll Never See" & "You Are The Saint I Am The Sinner", powered by the intense and magnificent Red Beach's guitar, got the attention of the listener, while "Baptized By Fire" dared with some rap performance. Other interesting tracks "Rainbow In The Rose" and "Under One Condition" were two nice tracks performed by the deep voice of Kip Winger in order to put a spell to the listener, the sexy riff on "Little Dirty Blonde" is another highlight due its interesting and powerful chorus adding power to the track. 

But, there was a track, the jewel of the crown, one of the most finest and powerful ballads ever recorded by a hard rock band, "Miles Away", composed by the keyboardist and guitarist of the band Paul Taylor, a truly banger that propelled the album to a massive stardom level that placed Winger at the highest level of rock.  

Critics were mixed althought the album musically was closed to the band first album but you can noticed certain notable changes like progressive rock and power ballads elements for instance. 

 

In The Heart Of The Young Track List: 

 

1. Can't Get Enuff 

2. Loosen Up

3. Miles Away

4. Easy Come Easy Go

5. Rainbow In The Rose

6. In The Day We'll Never See

7. Under One Condition

8. Little Dirty Blonde

9. Baptized by Fire

10. You Are The Saint, I Am The Sinner

11. In The Heart Of The Young 

New Music: The Last Time I Saw The Old Man

           

Is the second track taken from our forthcoming album ‘Rainy Sunday Afternoon’ is the poignant and beautiful "The Last Time I Saw the Old Man".  "It's hard to talk about this song too much,"  Neil Hannon says. “My kind and intelligent father had Alzheimer’s for the last decade of his life. A cruel and all too usual punishment these days. The lyrics are a simple and unadorned observation of his final year. No profound statements. No poetry. The music does all the emotional heavy lifting. I suppose sometimes you just have to meet painful events head on. In order to accept them and move on." Rainy Sunday Afternoon is due on the 19th September.

New Music: Under The Water

           

Nation of Language is sharing the pulsating and gorgeous single "Under the Water," a new offering from Dance Called Memory, their forthcoming Sub Pop debut. About the single., Ian Devaney said: This was the last one to make the cut before we turned the record in. "We'd always had a lot of enthusiasm for the track, but the studio schedule had gotten a bit unwieldy over the holidays and an arbitrary deadline had been set…As such we'd turned in the final album mixes for mastering before getting on the plane and I'd resigned myself to saving Under the Water for some subsequent release down the line." But while trying to sequence the album clarity set in that despite our love for rigid adherence to the production calendar, we wanted it on there. So before soundchecks on the other side of the planet we hooked up all the synths we'd brought with us in the greenroom, remotely concocting the version you hear now.