The first thing I hear when I begin my interview with Josh Hayward, guitarist of post-punk turned alt-rock outfit The Horrors is “You’ve got a really cool name for a paper, by the way. I want that on record.” For a band who have never been shy of making noisy...
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Leading me through the industrial recesses of Birmingham’s O2 Institute, Nick Mulvey’s tour manager tells me about the importance of tonight’s sound check. “We’ve got Jools Holland tomorrow evening, so we need to make sure everyone sounds perfect.” That word ‘everyone’ initially comes as a bit of a surprise. Back...
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You’ve successfully made it to uni and have just moved into a flat with a bunch of soon-to-be best friends and a noticeable lack of fridge space, and now you’re all gearing up for your first nights out as Freshers. And whether you’re off to the campus welcome parties or...
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In this supposed age of apathy and indifference where a sneering sense of irony increasingly rules the roost, Nick Mulvey’s second album is something of an anomaly: a direct call for the listener to – for want of a better phrase – ‘stay woke’. While the 2014 Mercury Prize-nominated First...
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With the 1967 release of Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, The Beatles helped make the concept album look cool. Framed by their ‘band-within-a-band’ conceit, the group sought to bridge the gap between popular music and artistic experience with an album that produced some of their best and most enduring...
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Week 10 is coming to a close and with it, this academic year. 6 writers share the sounds that marked their 2016/2017 university experience and they’re all worth checking out. Little Dragon – ‘High’ and Homeshake – ‘TV Volume’ This academic year has seen a great deal many releases...
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With their 2013 debut release If You Wait, downtempo trio London Grammar were able to carve something of a niche within the mild-mannered minimalist pop scene. Backed by sparse drum patterns and muted bass lines, the striking and soaring vocals from singer Hannah Reid created a recipe for critical and...
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There’s something irresistible about getting the chance to see a band who regularly fill stadiums perform at a small venue. Admittedly, part of the appeal is knowing that you’re one of a limited number of fans who’ve managed to procure a ticket to an event which will invariably have sold...
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Four years is a long time to wait for a follow-up album, but fans of London Grammar were given plenty of warning; it was all there in the prophetic title of their double platinum debut release, 2013’s If You Wait. As promised, if we did wait then it was just...
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2016 marked the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death, and it was a bumper year for Bard-themed celebrations and tributes. A rather timely release, then, was Ian McEwan’s Nutshell, which sees the story of Hamlet co-opted not as a tribute to the playwright, but as a device for him to weave a...
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[dropcap]P[/dropcap]icture the scene. It’s late in the evening and you’re lying awake in bed. You’ve spent a long day studying (stay with me on this) and you’re exhausted. And yet you can’t get to sleep because of the thumping bass coming from next door’s all-night party. The clock strikes three....
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