Britain is scared of jazz
Ezra Collective is the first ever jazz band to win the Mercury Prize – lifting a curse on a genre…
ByAlbum reviews
Read all the latest album reviews from the New Statesman here.
The Ballad of Darren is one of Blur’s best records
The band’s new album, like all their greatest work, is suffused with melancholy.
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Joe Dunthorne on Black Sunday by Cypress Hill: “My favourite way to get blazed”
From the Long Players series: writers on their most cherished albums.
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Heavy Heavy by Young Fathers: a revolutionary adventure in rhythm
On their fourth album, the Mercury Award-winning band fuse avant-garde pop and hip hop to create a truly exhilarating sound.
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The high-art cabaret of Christine and the Queens’ Redcar
At a circus venue in Paris the next evolution in the musician’s theatrical pop shows how real life seeps into…
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How Arctic Monkeys succumbed to solipsism
On The Car, Alex Turner sounds increasingly like a man who doesn’t need his band any more. The resulting record is…
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Are the 1975 geniuses, or simply mediocre?
The band’s new album is full of their signature contradictions. It is uplifting and ironic; ultra-modern yet nostalgic. Take it…
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Sheku Kanneh-Mason: “The cello is a part of you”
The 23-year-old has already played for the royals and tackled the Elgar Cello Concerto. Where does he go from here?
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Drake’s Honestly, Nevermind: best served tepid
Drake used to be our Prince Hamlet – but on his underpowered new album he is a journeyman extra offering…
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George Ezra’s Gold Rush Kid: the irresistible return of the barbecue troubadour
Ezra’s sun-soaked new album shows off his gap-year vibes and big wicket-keeper energy.
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Angel Olsen’s Big Time is a sensitive record about grief, loss and coming out
On her new album the 35-year-old turns to country music to come to terms with her sexuality and the death…
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Liam Gallagher’s new album is a soporific wade through the swampy waste of Britpop
Recycled choruses, vapid lyrics and meat-and-two-veg guitar: C’mon You Know could only achieve profundity if you were four pints deep…
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Harry Styles’ new album is a summery, Eighties-infused poolside record
The best songs on Harry’s House feel like a brief tickle of cool air on a warm, lazy day.
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Kendrick Lamar’s Mr Morale and the Big Steppers first listen: a brutally honest record
On his new album, the American rapper explores therapy, grief and masculinity.
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Florence and the Machine’s Dance Fever is a timeless, euphoric record
This is an immersive, cathartic new album of stadium-filling songs.
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There’s no denying it: Adele’s new album is a classic
These are songs that, whether you like them or not, do not tire or fade, and a voice that will…
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Lucy Dacus: “It’s dark when adults fantasise about being teens again”
The US indie singer-songwriter on diary-writing, home movies, and the pull of nostalgia.
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Hiatus Kaiyote’s jazz funk is pure musical sunshine
On their third album Mood Valiant, the Australian neo-soul group return with complex grooves that are always transcendent.
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Wolf Alice’s Blue Weekend is a masterpiece by a British band in their prime
On their third album, London rock band Wolf Alice confirm that they are one of the greats.
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On Cavalcade, Black Midi’s experimental guitar music sounds self-indulgent and disjointed
The band’s disinterest in comprehensible lyrics, melodic engagement or recognisable song structures makes for tiring listening.
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