The lyrical genius that is Frank Ocean has never been one to shy away from confronting world issues. In his debut studio album, Channel Orange from 2012, which features an amalgamation of soul, hip hop and R&B, Ocean provides the listeners with the painful processes that are attached to drug taking; what it is like to […]
R&B
Jorja Smith @ O2 Academy Bristol
After a flurry of Summer festival performances, boasting tour dates across the globe in the coming months, Jorja Smith brought her “Lost & Found” album tour to Bristol’s O2 Academy on October 5th. Smith’s debut full-length album, Lost & Found, was released on June 8th 2018 and has projected her to new heights of critical […]
Album Review: Janelle Monáe – Dirty Computer
Janelle Monáe’s Dirty Computer could not have been released at a better time. A complex and genuinely enjoyable synthesis of pop, R&B, funk, and the sci-fi elements that have threaded through Monáe’s earlier releases, the album brings together different genres so that there’s something for everyone. Collaboration is key, with influences from Prince and tracks […]
Stormzy – Gang Signs & Prayer Review
Wow, this album was long. Long to the point of being difficult, long to the point of having its saggy middle blur into one vast half-trap, half-R&B, oh-yeah-it’s-also-grime mess, God, Gang Signs and Prayer feels as long as this sentence. And yet it only runs fifty-eight minutes. Don’t get me wrong, this review’s not a hatchet […]
Album Review: Craig David – Following My Intuition
If you know anything about Craig David pre-2015, you’ll know that the nation has been swept by an alarming common error in thinking that he has literally produced no music since 2000. He has. Four whole albums, in fact. But you will also know, that none of them matter. His debut album, Born to Do […]
Homecoming: An interview with Rosie Lowe
With a succession of critically adored tracks to her name, the London-based, Devon-born musician Rosie Lowe has emerged as one of the most hotly tipped artists around. Now Lowe is set to captivate her biggest audience to date with the 19 February release of her eagerly anticipated debut album Control, homecoming to Bristol’s Louisiana the week after. Is Exeter still home? Yeah, I made a […]
“I want to be reaching everyone”: An evening with Kwabs
Kwabs first entered my radar in 2010, in the BBC 2 series Goldie’s Band – By Royal Appointment, which followed the drum and bass star in his search for young, talented and insatiably passionate British musicians. Last year, Kwabs had his first real hit in the charts with his single ‘Walk’ from his debut studio […]
Album Review: The Neighbourhood – Wiped Out!
The Neighbourhood Wiped Out 30th October 2015 Wiped Out! is The Neighbourhood’s second full-length album, released two years after their particularly successful debut ‘I Love You’. An American alternative rock band, The Neighbourhood mix soulful vocals with smooth musical accompaniment, generally aligned with an indie pop kind of vibe. With much expectation riding on […]
Album Review: Samm Henshaw – The Sound Experiment
Samm Henshaw The Sound Experiment 25 September 2015, Sony Before I could write anything, I had one question about Samm Henshaw that needed to be resolved. Why is it that he spells his name as he does? Of what significance is that extra “m”? I went about finding an answer to this query in […]