[rating=5]
Released February 27, 2012

The Ting Tings latest album is exciting and inventive mix-tape affair.

Pop is a dirty word in the music industry, and there is a danger that this album, like most truly great pop albums, will get ignored.

[rating=4]
Released January 17, 2012

The new Ani DiFranco is a return to form as well as something different.

It’s real and honest, something she does very well. This sense of contentment permeates the more personal parts of the album, and it’s nice to hear her sounding happy.

[rating=5]
Released January 30, 2012

Lana Del Ray’s outstanding album blows the mind of Nick Smith.

Born To Die is a beguiling collection of stories played out in a diverse and striking vocal style with all the elements of David Lynch at his finest.

[rating=5]
Released January 23, 2012

First Aid Kit’s second album is rich and impressive.

The album is very much a bittersweet masterpiece, navigating complex emotions and themes that most adults can’t verbalise without the aid of a ‘shrink’ to tease it out of them.

[rating=5]
Released January 9, 2012

Mary Black’s Stories from the Steeples leaves quite an impression.

There’s a hidden barb in this album though, and for someone like me who grew up listening to her voice, it’s a harsh but beautiful one – and it may just leave a dark imprint on your soul.

[rating=4]
Released December, 2011

Patrick Wolf’s EP Brumalia is a dark hymn to winter.

Somewhere between Patrick Wolf’s last two albums there is a story of the vampiric nature of love, and this EP is the story of that love.

[rating=5]
Released on October 24, 2011

DarrenHayes returns with an album packed full of pop love songs that is wowing critics and fans alike.

“Hayes combines strong lyrics with unforgettable melodies. And this is an album of relentlessly beautiful melodies.”

[rating=5]
Released on September 19, 2011

Amos’ new album, a 21st century song cycle inspired by 400 years of classical music, is surprising and brilliant.

Amos’ adaptability as a musician makes this, her twelfth studio album, as distinctive as anything she has ever done. Original, inventive and brilliant.

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[rating=4]
Released on August 29, 2010

A striking video to accompany a striking song.

If Antony & the Johnsons and Patrick Wolf had a lovechild with Vanessa Mae, The Irrepressibles’ ‘In This Shirt’ would no doubt be the result.

[rating=5]
Released on March 1, 2010

Unique, unpredictable and impressive, Joanna Newson’s Have One On Me is a vituoso peformance.

Have One On Me is issued as a triple album. Dividing it into three CDs was an astute move, even when it would have fit comfortably onto two. Newsom has said that it is divided “in terms of morning, noon and night, although that wasn’t the concept when the album was written but the way that the narrative progresses”.