You think Ozzy Osbourne and Black Sabbath invented Satan-summoning occult rock? Think again. A year before Black Sabbath’s doomy debut came Coven’s 'Witchcraft Destroys Minds & Reaps Souls', a deeply controversial 1969 release, not least because of its naked...
When Julien Baker was ten years old she asked her father what depression felt like. He replied, “It’s like trying to fill in a giant hole and you’re standing there with your shovel with dirt, and you keep filling...
Mahalia - 'Jealous' ft. Rico Nasty
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QyBGzYkHLRk
“From the Southside / Summer's outside, chillin' Westside” sings Mahalia on the first verse of ‘Jealous’ and whether borne out of fantasy or an earnest sketch of her native Leicester, it’s an endearing way...
It’s difficult to put your finger on why, but there’s something about the boom of podcast-listening that has often felt like a very ‘older millennial’ pursuit. Maybe it’s the quietly intellectual nature of the format, the focused concentration it...
Lael Neale’s Twitter bio simply reads “Luddite”, which seems about right given the highly analogue creation of her second record, ‘Acquainted With Night’. Limited to first takes on a 4-track cassette recorder, with little more than a vintage Omnichord...
No one knows character development quite like the witch. From the term being used to accuse women of performing dark magic, burning them at the stake and drowning them in rivers, to global pop stars using witchcraft to hex...
It’s a tale as old as time: a style many have tried to forget captures the imagination of a new generation and comes back with a vengeance. While throwbacks like vinyl, scrunchies and corduroy felt almost inevitable, few could...
When Craig Finn sang “Damn right you'll rise again” back in 2005 on ‘Separation Sunday’, The Hold Steady’s second album, he was addressing Holly, the junkie hoodrat who drifts through their entire discography. He was also unknowingly addressing the...
The age-old concept of Difficult Second Album Syndrome is one that still haunts many artists today: how on earth do you follow up a great first record?
There are a wealth of artists, though, who have managed to return with...
I first came across Alberta Hunter while flicking through the $1 racks in the vast Hollywood branch of Amoeba Records on Sunset Boulevard. When I was living in Los Angeles it became a weekly ritual and, amongst the endless...