Mini Music

FKA Twigs - LP1

The artist formerly known as Tahliah Barnett, FKA Twigs has released her first studio album - 'LP1'. A futuristic record featuring stuttering drum machines, 808s and metallic synths; each song draws you closer and keeps you wondering. Against harsh digital effects Twigs’ voice soars sweetly, roars and bends behind a vocoder. The lyrics flit in the same way from strong sexuality in Two Weeks, “My thighs are apart for when you're ready to breathe in, suck me up”, to the much gentler Pendulum with a sombre sense of heartbreak, "So lonely trying to be yours”. The album is sonic, packed with stark and honest lyrics.

Todd Terje - It's Album Time

As the name suggests, 'It’s Album Time' is Todd Terje’s first full-length album. Once called 'elevator music', the album is cheesy but it knows it. If it were a cocktail it would be sucrose sweet with too much grenadine and pink paper umbrellas. The result is relentlessly upbeat, climaxing with the sugar high Inspector Norse.

Angel Olsen - Burn Your Fire For No Witnesses

The second studio album from Angel Olsen delivers a fuller, louder sound with wilder vocals than ever before. Olsen’s twangy electric folk is enchanting, as though powered by a single bare bulb flickering on the edge of expiration. Charred electric guitars accompany daydreamy lyrics, “I wish it were the same as it is in my mind” Olsen warbles. As a whole, the album is catchy, kitschy and reassuring while staying true to the disconnected lonerism of 'Halfway Home'.

Mac DeMarco - Salad Days

Salad Days is the third studio album from Canadian sweetheart Mac DeMarco, filled to the brim with his familiar, happy-go-lucky California synth. The woozy bass and sweet, soulful lyrics remain where the somewhat forced quirkiness of ‘2’ has been replaced with a clever sense of humour and more funky guitar.

Glass Animals - Zaba

The debut album from Oxford four-piece Glass Animals is smart and sexy. Half way between Alt-J and Wild Beasts, the beats are well timed and intricate, laced with clever one-liners and cheeky schoolboy charm. The highlight is Hazey, a sultry and confident love song with R&B influences and eastern instrumentals.

Warpaint: Warpaint

You’re probably already quite aware of this huge new hit from Californian girl rockers, Warpaint. This is the second full length instalment from the group, and the first to have been created by all four band members, producing a new, subtler sound. Having already reached the UK Top Ten, the self-titled album heralds massive success for their upcoming tour.

The album offers a fresh, mesmerising journey which upholds the initial charm of their début, but with sharper composition  and the added allure of delicately layered harmonies. Warpaint projects an ethereal sexuality, provoking film noir, come-hither, femme-fatale imagery. Shimmering "Hi" and the intoxicating warning of "Disco//very" create a unique rhythmic shiver with spellbinding effect, generating an unusual soundtrack to a cloak-and-dagger midnight tryst or moonlit dance party.

There’s a hypnotic quality throughout the album; strange and quietly exhilarating. The smokey, warbling harmonies are reminiscent of early ’90s R&B styling’s, though without the over singing. Warpaint exposes new complexities for the potential future of subtly sexy rock music.

Sleigh Bells: Bitter Rivals

With their latest studio album, Sleigh Bells have created a sugar-sweet pop soundtrack to a demolition zone. From the very beginning, it's clear to see that Bitter Rivals is an album to be reckoned with. 

For this, their third album, Sleigh Bells have excitingly embraced a much more varied instrumentation, having added a drummer to their live show. The effect is delightfully deafening; Sleigh Bells have a unique talent for turning sounds that if executed differently could be used to torture, into something extremely pleasurable. Bitter Rivals is ferociously catchy, laying saccharine melodies next to pummeling guitar cacophony. 

Despite Sleigh Bells' knack for all things loud, one of the records highlights is also one of its gentlest. The delicate ballad "To Hell With You" flaunts Krauss's soft vocals with as little tampering as possible. The sly, sultry lyrics tease sweetly: "I'll go to hell with you/ Here's the proof." Bitter Rivals is Sleigh Bells' most focused record to date, and it's also their poppiest; this album is above all extremely listenable and impressively distinct.

HAIM: Days Are Gone

After what feels like an eternity, HAIM's debut album is finally here. But don't worry, the wait has been worthwhile. 'Days Are Gone' is full of music that tunnels into your mind and remains there. It is inexhaustible, impossible and  intoxicating to listen to. 

Since HAIM's success with their early EP 'Forever', their fan base has been as huge as it has been enthusiastic. Add to that a triumphant summer on the festival scene and you've got more hype than most bands could handle. In light of said hype, HAIM's label Polydor reacted and threw all they could at the band in the form of high-end producers and all the studio magic they could muster. By the time Haim released their summer single, 'The Wire', their previously raw and unembellished sound had transformed into a Shania Twain song, which left fans understandably scratching their heads. Luckily, these incredibly talented ladies can seemingly make anything sound good, and the country-pop-rock hybrid managed to impress critics and listeners alike. 

In 'Days Are Gone', HAIM have been systematically tidied up by their label. Their original mix of rock and 90's R&B has been watered down, replaced by thundering drums and magnificent 80's flourishes. The NME called 'Running If You Call My Name' 'totally Phil Collins', meanwhile 'If I Could Change Your Mind' has apparently borrowed synths from a Whitney Houston track. This debut has it all; 'Go Slow' is the perfect ballad while 'My Song 5' is reminiscent of their earlier, angrier tracks. 'Days Are Gone' sounds like a refreshing break-up album that is more about finding yourself again, rather than finding love again. Full to the brim of precocious guitar riffs, breathy vocals and endlessly memorable lyrics, this is an album that was definitely worth the wait. 

Arctic Monkeys: AM

This album spectacularly recreates the tentative excitement experienced when you set off on a night out knowing that on your travels you'll probably bump into your ex and then go home with his friend. The entire album chronicles an electric night out in your favourite dive bar, complete with come to bed eyes and confessions of heartfelt love. It all begins with ‘Do I Wanna Know?’ immediately followed by ‘R U Mine?’, the first two singles from AM. 

The first single, R U Mine, was released in April 2012 making AM the longest awaited Arctic Monkeys album to date. However, if waiting for what may seem like an eternity for the next album produces a record this good, I can learn to be patient.

In the hype that preceded AM’s release, the biggest story was the anticipation of R&B influences which had fans and critics waiting with bated breath, half expecting a Turner/Helders rap battle. Thankfully, that didn't happen. Instead the album is laced with heavy drum beats you might find programmed into a cheap Yamaha keyboard, in the best possible way of course. 

After the final clash of symbols from ‘R U Mine’, we're gently hurled into ‘One For The Road’ and AM really kicks off. The entire album is rife with the tongue-in-cheek sexiness that Turner excels at and this track is no exception. AM is dark and exciting. Most recent single ‘Why'd Only Call Me When You're High’ is dark and intimidating, yet wickedly thrilling. Stand-out track ‘Arabella’ is best described with a visual: think drug fuelled fantasies illustrated in the South Park episode ‘Major Boobage’. 

The album closes with a personal favourite 'I Wanna Be Yours'. This track is wholehearted proof that at this stage in their evolution Arctic Monkeys can make anything sound good, and Turner can make anything sound sexy; see lyric 'I wanna be your vacuum cleaner' and feel your knees wibble. 

In a recent interview Radio One interview, Turner himself hit the nail on the head saying ‘Summat about it feels like this record is exactly where we should be right now.’ You said it, sugar. 

Review: Lianne La Havas at Tramlines

I’d be hard pushed to find someone who doesn’t like Tramlines. Every year the build-up buzzes through Sheffield, enticing locals into a hushed frenzy of giddy anticipation. Even the weather plays along, kindly bestowing some pleasant weather for the one weekend a year we have any reason to play outside.

The vibe is genuinely lovely. I know that ‘Inner city music festival’ plus ‘48 hour drinking’ paints a picture of disgruntled locals and a fight waiting to break out, but everyone is simply happy to be there. Everybody is friendly, chatty and just excellent in general.

This year Tramlines delivered a line up bursting at the seams with over a hundred acts playing over three days. Finishing off the weekend, headliner Lianna La Havas took to the Devonshire Green mainstage.

A relatively new addition to the folk and soul scene, La Havas has quickly made a name for herself through her unique fusion of acoustic ballads and up-tempo, jazz inspired hits. Having released her debut album ‘Is Your Love Big Enough?’ for Warner Bros. last July, La Havas quickly found an enthusiastic fan base, considerable media success and a nomination for the BBC’s Sound of 2012 poll.

On the final evening of the festival, Lianne La Havas graced the Tramlines mainstage bounding with enthusiasm and an eclectic live band in tow. Before long the crowd was won over, swaying devotedly and hanging on every word, every note.

The atmosphere grew into airborne pins and needles as the audience and La Havas began to sing back and forth in their fiercest roars, along to her acclaimed hit ‘Forget’. La Havas’ performance embodies the festival mentality; it is young, fresh and above all else, fun. Song choices rapidly oscillate between high-tempo hits and emotionally charged ballads, and back again, keeping the crowd on their toes. Each song is belted out with unbridled passion and energy, which is somewhat rare from such a young and comparatively inexperienced performer.

As the sun began to set on Devonshire Green, La Havas bid farewell to a captivated audience with an impressive rendition of her albums namesake ‘Is Your Love Big Enough’, sealing the performance as flawless from beginning to end. At her core, La Havas is beautifully uncomplicated. Her music shuns gimmicks, publicity stunts and quirky tag lines, and instead relies on what a large proportion of the music industry unfortunately lacks; talent.