Lily Allen’s new album ‘West End Girl’
Her first album in seven years and it’s still unmistakably Lily Allen - older, sharper, but still teasing vulnerability out of wit. The themes cut deeper, the humour lands colder. David Harbour’s next press tour is set to become very awkward.
Sleaford Mods’ new single ‘The Good Life’, featuring Gwendoline Christie and Big Special
Revelling in the gross pleasure of slagging others off, the contrast between Jason Williamson’s flat sneer, Big Special’s strange calm and Christie’s absolutely feral despair are just the triptych that is needed. The doubled vocal on Christie is delirious.
Rose Gray’s new single ‘I Don’t Speak French’ from new deluxe album ‘A Little Louder, Please’
The standout from the deluxe edition of ‘A Little Louder, Please’, this track recalls that mid-to-late 2010s moment when UK dance slowed down and turned cinematic. Sleek, sexy and matched with a vividly conceptual video that completes the vision.
Sampha’s new single ‘Cumulus / Memory’
Co-written with Romy (The xx), this ‘Lahai’ outtake is all gentle transcendence and slow unravelling. Sampha turns seasonal drift into something sacred, a hymn to letting go.
Dove Ellis’s two new singles ‘Pale Song’ and ‘Love Is’
Dove Ellis is set to open for Geese and he’s likely to win plenty of new fans along the way. His voice shares the same cracked precision and volatility as Cameron Winter’s, but Ellis pushes it into something more ornate. Vocals that stretch and snap like Jeff Buckley or Rufus Wainwright ride over lush, shape-shifting sophistipop that nods to Black Country, New Road. Both tracks are hearty and breathtaking.