15th March 2023
Shame emerge from small gigs in Brixton pubs to Glasgow’s SWG3 on their headline UK/EU tour. The environment of SWG3 is very fitting for a post-punk gig. The steel piping on the ceiling, grey walls and overall warehouse structure reverberates the noisy distortion and echoey vocals of post-punk appropriately in a slightly sinister, joyously decadent ...
15th March 2023
Caroline Polachek’s long awaited sequel to 2019’s Pang is a tightly hewn, thematically rich pop showcase Caroline Polachek crawls towards you through a backdrop of chaos amidst a slew of new pop releases. For one, it’s an album cover rooted in the panic and uncertainty of youth, but it’s heightened musically by Polachek’s siren calls ...
10th March 2023
Marcus Hyka talks to Martha May, whose adventure in being a solo artist involves squid, band breakups and 60s French pop. “I actually have a video of me filming a pod of big-fin glitter squid. They’re like tiny little squid, and when they turn sideways, they disappear. They’re like invisible.” Aged only 22 years old, ...
9th March 2023
Music is a universal feature of human culture – not a single civilisation or society has existed without it. The benefits of musical engagement are so wide ranging and consequential that rather than thinking of music as a hobby or recreational activity, I believe it makes more sense to conceive of it as an essential ...
7th March 2023
A pop prophet in her ascendancy. Months prior to Self Esteem’s Barrowlands debut, a friend told me to get to her show as soon as humanly possible, likening the performance to a religious experience. By the close of the main set, the triumphant and soul-baring song I Do This All the Time, it’s impossible to ...
28th February 2023
An exploration of the small-scale issues with BCNR’s Live at Bush Hall. “Look at what we did together, BCNR, friends forever.” Black Country New Road’s Live at Bush Hall has all the hallmarks of a final goodbye. The performance is framed like a prom, with its protagonists dressed in decaying school-dance garb, as if stumbling ...
28th February 2023
How to find a friend in the UK city of culture’s music spaces. Young people make Glasgow. The significance of Glasgow’s history in the music scene is one of world-class recognition. There are no limitations to the richness of Glasgow’s cultural scope, whether that be an intimate gig at the back of a West End ...
22nd February 2023
Spotify’s obsession with data should not come at the expense of smaller artists. Enter Spotify, the most popular streaming service in the world. Home to your favourite music artists, podcasts, and audiobooks, all but the press of a button away. What’s more, it’s accessible, and completely free (if you can stomach a persistent wave of ...
22nd February 2023
It’s a war waging between fan bases with no sole aim or angle: the battlefield of the 21st century. Being able to follow artists we idolise on social media is like having a virtual backstage pass to all their events, all the time. Have you ever been to a gig and seen the artist post ...
22nd February 2023
For LGBTQ+ history month, an exploration of three artists and bands bringing queer expression into their songwriting It’s often said that if you want something done well, you must do it yourself. This perfectly sums up the new wave of LGBTQ+ musicians that have risen up in recent years. With fresh ideas, unapologetic themes, and ...
