rock
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We reviewed Sean Griffin’s single “Be My Girl” a few months back, a track that hinted at something more stripped and more personal sitting just beneath the surface. Now, with his debut solo album People Are Mad out in the world, that shift comes fully into focus. After decades fronting The Ruffians and building a…
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Our Rating 7/10 There’s a point in an artist’s career where the question shifts. It stops being about how big they can go and starts being about what they choose to hold onto once they’ve already been there. The Weight of the Woods sits right in that space. This is Dermot Kennedy pulling everything inward.…
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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…
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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,…
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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 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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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…
