
Unknown T at KOKO review | Blood Diamond launches in style
Unknown T took to the stage at London’s KOKO to mark the announcement of his debut album, Blood Diamond. Find our review of the gig below.
Unknown T took to the stage at London’s KOKO to mark the announcement of his debut album, Blood Diamond. Find our review of the gig below.
Lola Young played the final night of her residency at Signature Brew Haggerston, bringing to an end her European and UK run of shows. Read our review.
★★★★☆
From BRIT nominations to the Barbie soundtrack, PinkPantheress is making her mark in the pop industry – and she’s only just released her debut album. With 13 original tracks and collaborations with some of the biggest names in hip-hop, Heaven Knows makes it clear she is here to stay.
★★★★☆
At long last we have Baby Queen’s debut full-length, Quarter Life Crisis; a record which, as its title suggests, offers relatable anecdotes on twentysomething life, over luscious production and bubblegum-inflected pop.
★★★★☆
UK rap’s greatest enigma celebrates the long-awaited release of his debut album, Famous Last Words.
Already the pop star’s magnum opus, 1989 (Taylor’s Version) sounds better than before, with tracks from the vault improving it further still.
★★★★☆ Genre-bending psych outfit King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard engage an arsenal of synthesisers for their 25th studio album, leaving their comfort zone for a galactic robo-rave.
★★★★☆
Amid the encouraging atmosphere of a band, the four members of FIZZ – all established artists in their own right – become the boldest versions of themselves, writes Lucy Harbron.
★★★★☆ Nearly two decades in, Bombay Bicycle Club offer a thrilling reinvention with their sixth studio album. It goes beyond indie boundaries and jumps headfirst into pop and electro territory.
★★★★☆
Between the dazzling LED screens and crystal-clear sound, The Japanese House serves up a feast for the senses at London’s brand new Outernet venue.
★★★★☆ After a 12-year hiatus, The Streets have returned with a welcome blend of old and new. The Darker the Shadow the Brighter the Light is comfortingly familiar and yet betrays subtle strands of maturity.
★★★★★ Sampha's Lahai is another work of art, a hand-built universe of clocks, birds and spaceships, as Sampha seeks out the meaning of life.
★★★★☆
The Rolling Stones return with their first new material since 2005’s A Bigger Bang. If Hackney Diamonds is their swansong album, then it’s hard to imagine a better sign off.
★★★★☆ Five years in the making, Troye Sivan's latest album serves as a sophisticated, vibrant exploration of love, sexuality, and human connection. Here's our Something To Give Each Other review.
★★★★☆
Four years since she started releasing music, we now have the debut album from Holly Humberstone. Despite its title, Paint My Bedroom Black is a vibrant full-length project that takes misery and morphs it into something unifying, writes Ali Shutler.
The “old Drake” was supposedly going to reappear on For All The Dogs. Sadly, it's the “new Drake”: bloated, hollow and directionless.
★★★★☆ Roger Waters tackles life, time, and warmongering in a revisit of Pink Floyd's classic that offers a blend of nostalgia, political commentary, and undeniable musical craft. Here's our Dark Side of the Moon Redux review.
★★★★☆ Animal Collective's latest album surprises at every turn, blending funk, dreams, and raw emotion into 64 riveting minutes.
★★★★☆ Jorja Smith is finally back, five years on from her debut album. With records like Falling or Flying, she can take all the time in the world.
★★★☆☆ Darren Harriott’s 2023 Fringe offering Roadman again proves the Black Country native’s ability to be very funny, but it also sees him struggle to form any kind of narrative or tension.
★★★☆☆
Miles Kane returns to his guitar roots, and ultimately his comfort zone, on his fifth studio album. Read our One Man Band review.
★★★☆☆
After nine months and two postponements, Pusha T’s It’s Almost Dry tour finally touched-down in London, with the rapper delivering a no-nonsense, if slightly short, set.
★★★☆☆
Wizkid celebrates Africa at his historic Tottenham Stadium concert. Despite dazzling with his stage presence, he largely neglects his latest album – and isn’t joined by any special guests onstage.
★★★☆☆
The third album from Anne-Marie, Unhealthy, follows her trend to-date of relatable lyricism – but its pop potency sometimes gets lost amid the chaos.
★★★★☆
Parklife not required: Damon Albarn’s band played The Ballad of Darren in full, plus some ridiculously rare songs.
★★★★☆
Creative kindred spirits Benjamin Romans-Hopcraft and Speedy Wunderground chief Dan Carey compile a well-balanced five-track EP with DEN7. You hope this is merely the beginning of their “anti-recording” Miss Tiny project.
★★★★☆
Ahead of the release of his third studio album Unreal Unearth next month, Hozier laid out the lyrical and vocal wealth of his near-decades’ long catalogue to an outdoors crowd at Alexandra Palace.
★★★☆☆
Josh Kiszka’s vocals are Greta Van Fleet’s prized possession on the Michigan rocker’s third studio album Starcatcher.
★★★★☆
Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) is interested in rewriting history in the process of reclaiming it. Moving away from the formula set by Fearless (Taylor’s Version) and Red (Taylor’s Version), Speak Now takes more liberties, twists and tweaks rather than being a carbon copy of the original. Changing lyrics and tracklists, the singer remains true to the spirit of the original album – staying interested in herself as the main topic, and reintroducing that 20-year-old self in a bigger and broader way.
★★★★☆
Following the meticulously-planned political observations of Hope Six Demolition Project, Dorset’s singer-songwriter has gone in the opposite direction, making an ode to inexperience and improvisation.