Music Reviews
Albums, singles and live performances analysed beyond the hype. We explore artistry, authorship and the systems influencing what gets heard.
-
Our Rating 7/10 Lord Jah-Monte Ogbon doesn’t rap like he’s trying to impress you. He raps like he already knows he can. As of Now is long, loose, and deliberately personality-driven. It opens with humour. Not throwaway humour. Sharp, slightly absurd, meme-aware humour that immediately establishes tone. He understands the internet age of rap, but…
-
Every year the industry declares a new wave. Most of it is noise. Real movement is quieter at first. It shows up in sold-out mid-size rooms, in longlists before the headlines, and in artists tightening their live sets while the wider market is still distracted. The ten names below are not algorithm accidents or overnight…
-
Our Rating 9/10 In a culture obsessed with noise, Dotts O’Connor chooses stillness. The alternative folk songwriter has built his reputation on restraint. Rooted in rural landscapes and the emotional weight they carry, his work inhabits the space between connection and isolation, routine and longing. Nothing feels forced. Nothing feels ornamental. His songs sound lived…
-
Focus track: “Gang Signs” Our Rating: 7/10 THUMPER have always understood impact. Density. Volume. The physicality of sound. But Sleeping With The Light On suggests something more interesting than just noise. It suggests discipline. The album opens with “The Rip,” and the name is apt. It does not ease you in. It arrives with crunch…
-
Our Rating: Nostalgia I have always considered Daft Punk to be one of the rare acts who understood mythology as well as melody. Their split five years ago felt less like a breakup and more like the end of a chapter in modern electronic folklore. They exited quietly, deliberately, without reunion bait or nostalgia merch…
-
Our Rating 7/10 Soda Blonde – “Suit & Tie” I have always considered Faye O’Rourke to be one of Ireland’s finest and most undervalued vocalists. How a voice like hers has not travelled globally is something I will never fully understand. Perhaps it speaks less to talent and more to the chronic inability of Ireland’s…
-
Our Rating: 10/10From the forthcoming album It’s About Time (March 6, 2026) There are entire stages of women’s lives that popular music still refuses to name. Peri-menopause is one of them. With “Young One,” Ndidi O does not just name it, she sits inside it. Quietly. Unflinchingly. Taken from her forthcoming album It’s About Time,…
-
Our Rating: 9/10 From the forthcoming album People Are Mad (April 17th) There is a particular dignity in songs that do not try to impress you. Sean Griffin’s “Be My Girl” does not posture. It does not modernise itself for algorithmic approval. It does not chase nostalgia either. It simply stands there, scuffed boots planted, and tells…
The Industry Review 