review

  • Rating: 8/10 There is a particular kind of radical act that does not look like protest at first glance. It looks like a woman standing centre stage, midlife, unshrinking, refusing to dilute her voice for comfort or palatability. That is what Dryadic’s Permission To Speak feels like from its opening bars. Since 2017, Dryadic have carved out…

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  • 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…

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  • Our Rating: 7/10 Some artists chase reinvention. Olivia Dean chose refinement. The Art of Loving is not an album built on shock or spectacle. It is built on emotional steadiness. On craft. On the decision to explore love as something complex and negotiated rather than cinematic and chaotic. From the first track, the tone is…

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  • Our Rating 7/10 There is a particular kind of silence that happens just before morning. Not peaceful. Not calm. Suspended. That unsettled space is where Iarmhaireacht lives. A little bit of an Irish language breakdown before we break into the music here: Iarmhaireacht comes from Irish Gaeilge. “Iar” means ‘after’ or ‘behind’. “Mhaireacht” relates to…

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  • Farnaz Ohadi – Breath

    Our Rating: 10/10 There are albums that are technically good. There are albums that are culturally interesting. Then there are albums that feel necessary. Breath is necessary. Farnaz does something here that most artists spend a lifetime circling but never quite land. She does not “blend genres” in a superficial, festival brochure way. She inhabits…

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