Gwenno

Utopia

The fourth album from the Mercury-nominated artist forges new paths in psychedelic haze and whispered wizardry, finds Lina Adams

Utopia by Gwenno

Utopia is the latest offering from Welsh musician Gwenno. Matching 2022’s Mercury Prize–nominated Tresor would be no mean feat. But with a silky-smooth caramel nostalgia reminiscent of 2000s indie, combined with dreamy Portishead soundscapes, Gwenno’s latest endeavour broaches exciting new territory. Building on the atmospheric yet self-assured soundscapes of her previous two works, Utopia is an orderly tangle of self-exploration, ruminations on youth, and healing from past traumas.

This is the first project where the majority of Gwenno’s lyrics are in English. Opener ‘London’ carries the ethereal quality of a psychedelic haze, beckoning listeners into Gwenno’s world of underground campfires and…

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The live LP captures the Manchester band’s tour of America with New Order

A Certain Ratio’s 1985 live album Live In America is being reissued to mark its 40th anniversary.

Due out next month and marking the latest release in an ongoing series of reissues of material by the Manchester band, it will be made available on CD, vinyl, limited edition cassette and in digital formats.

Originally available as a self-released cassette that the band sold on tour in 1986, Live In America compiles performances from ACR’s summer 1985 tour of North America with New Order when both acts were signed to Factory Records. The venues that the band played at during the tour were Felt Forum in New York City; Opera House in…

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The singer-songwriter has also shared the record’s lead track, ‘Wreck’

Neko Case has revealed details of her first album in seven years, Neon Grey Midnight Green.

Featuring 12 tracks, the follow-up to 2018’s Hell-On is preceded by lead single ‘Wreck’, which you can listen to below.

In a press statement, the artist said: “There are so few producers who are women, nonbinary, or trans. People don’t think of us as an option. I’m proud to say I produced this record. It is my vision. It is my veto power. It is my taste.”

She will tour the album through North America extensively this October and November. Find the full list of live dates here.

Anti- will release Neon Grey Midnight Green on September 26, 2025.

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The organisation’s Head of Music has also temporarily stepped down after the duo’s set was streamed live online as they led the crowd in a “death to the IDF” chant

Bob Vylan

The BBC will no longer broadcast live performances that the corporation deems to be “high risk” after facing backlash for streaming a Glastonbury set by rap duo Bob Vylan online.

The decision, announced in a statement by the broadcaster, comes after a Saturday afternoon set at the festival’s West Holts stage was shared live online, and saw Bob Vylan lead the crowd in a “death to the IDF” chant. The duo’s stage set-up also featured a backdrop, reading: “Free Palestine. United Nations have called it a genocide. The BBC calls it…

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Kicking off in September, the run of shows will mark Luke Jenner and co.’s first live dates in several years

The Rapture have announced a run of tour dates across Europe and North America for later this year.

The run of 26 shows is billed, in a press release, as the group’s “first proper headline tour in 15 years”, though although they did play a small number of reunion shows in 2019 and 2020. This latest tour will see frontman Luke Jenner and a current unannounced cast of collaborators perform through September, October, and November.

“This has been a long time coming,” Jenner said in a statement. “Years ago, when I stepped away from the band, I was needing time and space to piece together…

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It was recorded during Karin Dreijer’s tour in support of 2023 album Radical Romantics

Fever Ray is set to release a new live album, titled The Year Of The Radical Romantics.

Spanning 14 tracks, the record was captured during Karin Dreijer’s tour in support of 2023 album Radical Romantics. It features reworked versions of songs from all three Fever Ray studio albums: Radical Romantics, 2017’s Plunge, and 2009’s Fever Ray.

Dreijer has also designed and edited an accompanying zine featuring sketches and behind-the-scenes tour photography by Nina Andersson. The artist made the zine alongside Martin Falck, who directed the video for last month’s ‘I’m Not Done (Therapy Session)’, and has also produced the visual for newly unveiled The Year Of The Radical Romantics cut ‘Now’s The Only…

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The much-anticipated release is out later this month

Jim Legxacy has shared details of his new mixtape, black british music (2025).

Spanning 15 tracks, the much-anticipated release includes features from fellow London-based artists Fimiguerrero and dexter in the newsagent, and is largely co-produced by Jim Legxacy himself and frequent collaborator Joe Stanley. There are further contributions from a number of other producers across the record.

The follow-up to 2023 mixtape homeless n***a pop music, this latest release includes previously released singles ‘father’ and ‘stick’, as well as the new track ‘big time forward’, which you can listen to below.

XL Recordings will release black british music (2025) on July 18, 2025.

black british music (2025) by Jim Legxacy
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Kez Whelan delivers his latest guide to the best in heavy music, featuring killer new records from Deadguy, Psudoku, Sodom and many more

Sodom

I’ll admit to never being fully on board with Gruesome’s shtick; after having such a blast playing old Death songs on the Death To All tours, Exhumed’s Matt Harvey and Gus Rios formed their own breakaway tribute band, but actually writing new songs in the style of Death rather than just racing through the hits. And, I mean, good on ‘em really, but I’ve always felt that aping one specific band so closely is something of an artistic dead-end – and sure enough, whilst their past records have been decent enough, there was nothing in them that inspired…

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Darragh Morgan

For Violin and Electronics II

The Irish performer’s follow-up to 2017’s For Violin and Electronics showcases the breadth of possibilities for combining strings and wires, via works by Mira Calix, Donnacha Dennehy, Shiva Feshareki and others

For Violin and Electronics – Volume II by Darragh Morgan

Violin is a site of adventure for Darragh Morgan. The Irish violinist performs compositions that unite the instrument’s sweet acoustic timbre with electronics, enhancing and warping its sound. His 2017 record, For Violin and Electronics, first presented this interest through six icy meditations. On For Violin and Electronics II, he follows that experiment with nine more pieces that showcase the versatility of this instrumentation through the eyes of nine different composers.

Uniting strings and electronics isn’t a…

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After hearing the recent, sad news about Michael Madsen, our grind house geezer, Mat Colegate, turned his attention to Species (1995) only to find that the past is a foreign country where they do things differently…

Filmmakers have long been fascinated with the questions posed by the hypothetical existence of extraterrestrial life. What would the discovery of intelligence from beyond the stars reveal to man about his place in the cosmos? What power would our ancient faiths maintain in the face of the revelations that would be occasioned by first contact with beings from another planet? What effect would these strange visitors have on our sciences? On our arts and our politics? But it was with the release of Ridley…

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