Back catalogue:

Review: Sade's 1992 album, Love Deluxe, immerses listeners in a luxurious blend of quiet storm, r&b and jazz-pop, enveloping Sade Adu's evocative expressions of desire and heartache. Emerging from the mid-'80s UK jazz-pop scene, Sade perfected a sound that fused jazz, bossa nova, and soul with a modern, streamlined edge. From their beginnings as a fusion of former members of post-punk and new wave bands, Sade the band evolved into a cohesive unit, crafting seamless compositions that seamlessly merged soulful staircases of sound with liquid-crystal pop-funk. Love Deluxe stands as their most monolithic work, a sonic journey characterised by its ethereal fluidity. Sade's music became synonymous with cosmopolitan exotica, transporting listeners to a world of jet-setting luxury and romantic introspection. Adu's introspective lyricism explores themes of love and longing with a depth that transcends traditional romanticism, delving into the complexities of human emotion. The album's production, marked by programmed beats and a minimalist approach to instrumentation, aligns it with the emerging trip-hop genre, characterized by its fusion of lushness and dread. The precise interplay of drums, synth, and guitar creates an immaculate sonic landscape, perfectly complementing Adu's mesmerizing vocals. Each track on Love Deluxe serves as a poignant exploration of love's multifaceted nature, from the relentless devotion depicted in 'No Ordinary Love' to the introspective character studies of 'Feel No Pain' and 'Pearls. Through Adu's evocative storytelling and the band's masterful instrumentation, Love Deluxe transcends mere romanticism, offering a profound meditation on the mysteries of love, birth, and death. It's an album that defies easy categorization, inviting listeners to lose themselves in its blissful abstraction and emotional depth.

Review: Sade's first album in ten years at the time, 2010's Soldier of Love reaffirmed her unique place in music. In an era dominated by bombastic pop acts, her signature blend of smooth grooves and restrained emotion still stands out today. The album maintains that classic sound while subtly incorporating new elements, like the dub-esque snare crashes on 'Babyfather.' Sade's music, often characterised by its tasteful understatement, captures moods with nuance and precision, such as the haunting piano motif that runs through 'Morning Bird'. With its soothing allure and timeless appeal, Sade once again proves why she remains unparalleled in her craft.

Review: Stronger Than Pride marks a subtle shift in Sade's sound, emphasizing a more stripped-down, meditative approach to romance and introspection. Recorded after a hiatus, the album exudes a breezy, unhurried vibe, with compositions that loop back on themselves and melodies that leisurely unfurl. While not as minimalistic as later efforts, the album showcases softer rhythms and lighter melodies, allowing Sade's airy vocals to shine. Songs like 'Love Is Stronger Than Pride' and 'Turn My Back on You' capture emotional honesty and candor, buoyed by sparse arrangements that enhance Sade's directness. Throughout the record, Sade's writing maintains a mantra-like quality, repeating phrases to imbue the songs with quiet anguish and introspection. Leroy Osbourne's background vocals add warmth to Sade's cool melodies, enhancing the emotional resonance of tracks like 'Paradise' and 'Nothing Can Come Between Us.' The band's cohesion and faith in each other are evident on Stronger Than Pride, with each member contributing to flesh out Sade's ideas or provide space for them to bloom. While lacking the glitz and melodrama of previous hits, the album's emotional clarity and restrained production make it a compelling addition to Sade's discography, showcasing their ability to evolve while staying true to their signature sound.

Review: Sade's debut album Diamond Life (1984) introduced a distinctive blend of minimalistic soul and jazz-infused pop, contrasting sharply with the synth-heavy trends of its time. Lead vocalist Sade Adu's modest contralto and understated elegance enchanted listeners, earning comparisons to legends like Billie Holiday and Nina Simone. The album's standout track, 'Smooth Operator,' showed the band's penchant for crafting sophisticated, emotionally resonant music amidst a backdrop of serene instrumentation. Diamond Life navigates themes of love, commitment, and everyday struggles with an understated grace, epitomized by tracks like 'Hang On to Your Love' and 'Your Love Is King.' Sade's ability to convey depth and desire with concise lyricism and atmospheric melodies set her apart as a master storyteller in the realm of blues-infused pop. The album's subdued tones and atmospheric production create a stunning sonic landscape that remains impactful. Diamond Life made Sade a household name as a pioneering figure in minimalist soul, setting the stage for her illustrious career and leaving an indelible mark on the music industry.

Review: Promise solidified Sade's signature sound with lush, unhurried compositions that blended jazz, Brazilian pop, and soul. Building on the success of their debut, Diamond Life, this album established Sade as masters of mood music, transporting listeners with their sophisticated arrangements and Sade Adu's soft-touch vocals. The lead single, 'The Sweetest Taboo,' epitomizes the album's accessibility, with its infectious midtempo groove and breathy vocals. However, it's the opener, 'Is It a Crime,' that steals the spotlight, showcasing Sweetback's (the trio behind Sade) talents with Hammond organs and djembes, while Adu's vocals soar over big band-style crescendos. Throughout Promise, Sade explores the varied stages of love and relationships, with Adu's autobiographical lyrics conveying melancholy and introspection. Tracks like 'War of the Hearts' and Jezebel' delve into the complexities of human emotion, while 'Tar Baby' addresses themes of racial identity and unexpected pregnancy with sensitivity and depth. With each track, the band reaffirms their commitment to crafting music that moves and transports listeners - an approach that continues to resonate with audiences today.

Review: It's the anime that changed the format forever, from storytelling to character design - Neon Genesis Evangelion is still, to this day, one of the most beloved, divisive and iconic animated series of all time. From influencing 'Madoka Magicka', 'Serial Experiments Lain' or 'Kill La Kill' to its resurgence in popularity thanks to social media and the infinite memes that the show continues to spawn off almost 30 years later. Many will know 'Cruel Angels Thesis' and the bossa nova cover of 'Fly Me to the Moon' performed by J-Pop singer Yoko Takahashi, which are used as the intro and credit sequence songs, but don't neglect the electrifying orchestral composition from Shiro SAGISU that backsets the action sequences. This is the first time the full OST is pressed on vinyl. It comes in a beautiful gatefold featuring frames from the show inside, housed on black and blue vinyl to reflect the colour palette of this hugely influential show.

Review: Santana's Supernatural, turning 25, remains a landmark album despite its time-stamped sound. Released on blue vinyl, this Grammy-winning 1999 record catapulted Santana back into mainstream fame. The album's success is anchored by the ubiquitous hit 'Smooth' featuring Rob Thomas, whose infectious Latin rock groove still resonates. Tracks like 'Corazon Espinado' with Mana, and 'Migra' retain the classic Santana flair, blending Latin rhythms with rock elements. However, many guest-heavy tracks, such as 'Maria Maria' produced by Wyclef, feel more like a pop compilation than a cohesive album. While Supernatural may not be a favorite for fans of Santana's experimental 70s work, its commercial triumph allowed Carlos Santana the freedom to explore new musical territories in subsequent projects. This duality of artistic compromise and subsequent liberation makes Supernatural a pivotal album in Santana's illustrious career. One of the most successful albums of the past 25 years, this album is enjoyable regardless of what genre or style of music you like.

Review: Following on from the tragic Astroworld Festival crush of November 5, 2021, in which ten people lost their lives, it was always going to be a difficult rollout for the next full-length from hip-hop megastar Travis Scott. With any potential onus or responsibility placed on Scott being removed by a grand jury earlier this year, focus has since been re-directed to the highly anticipated Utopia; serving as the long awaited follow up to 2018's critically acclaimed Astroworld and 2019's JackBoys collaborative compilation with Cactus Jack. Clocking in at a beastly hour and 13 minutes and boasting a ludicrous array of guest features and producers including the likes of Drake, Playboi Carti, Beyonce, The Weeknd, Dave Chappelle, Young Thug, Kid Cudi, James Blake, Justin Vernon (Bon Iver), The Alchemist and Metro Boomin, the LP serves as yet another epic portrayal of why the MC continues to be heralded as one of the most forward thinking, single-minded and creative forces within the realms of modern hip-hop and trap.

Review: After the fatal crush of 2021's Astroworld Festival, which caused the death of ten people and saw several hospital admissions, any anticipation for trap giant Travis Scott's next album was always going to be mired in controversy. Acquitted of all blame in July of this year, attention has since turned to the much-anticipated Utopia; which serves as both the follow up to 2018's masterwork Astroworld as well as the 2019 JackBoys collaborative compilation with Cactus Jack. Arriving on the heels of the experimental anthology film Circus Maximus (featuring shorts directed by Nicolas Winding Refn, Harmony Korrine and Gaspar Noe), with a gargantuan 73 minute runtime and boasting a who's who of features from some of today's most vital artists and producers, including the likes of Playboi Carti, Beyonce, Drake, The Weeknd, Dave Chappelle, Yung Lean, SZA, Kid Cudi, James Blake, The Alchemist and Metro Boomin, the LP offers up yet another markedly impressive sonic display of why Scott (all controversies aside) continues to be heralded as one of the most progressive, single-minded and unique forces within the realms of modern hip-hop.

Review: Sia's sixth studio album 1000 Forms of Fear, released in 2014 and now reissued as a special 10th anniversary edition, delves deep into themes of vulnerability, introspection and overcoming personal demons. Known for her distinctive voice and emotive lyrics, Sia explores complex emotions through powerful ballads like 'Chandelier' which became a global anthem for resilience. Tracks such as 'Elastic Heart' and 'Big Girls Cry' continue to resonate for their raw honesty and dynamic production. 1000 Forms of Fear showcases Sia's ability to blend pop sensibilities with deep emotional depth, which is why it earned critical acclaim and solidified her reputation as a singer-songwriter capable of connecting deeply with listeners worldwide.

Review: Serving as follow up to 2023's acclaimed breakout third full-length Take Me Back To Eden, London's elusive, masked progressive metal mystics Sleep Token return with Even In Arcadia. Renowned for their genre-fluid melding of djent, metalcore, post-rock with further leftfield elements of post-classical, hip-hop, trap and indie-pop, the project led by the enigmatic Vessel has seen a massive expansion in popularity since the release of their last album. Set to headline Download 2025 before embarking on their first US Arena Tour, their newest endeavour promises to maximise all of their sonic abandon and outdo their own blueprint in the process, with lead single 'Emergence' starting life as a piano ballad before morphing into an ambi-trap groove metal anthem until fading with a lush, jazzy saxophone and piano finish. No doubt, this will be one of the highest selling/streaming/controversial/debated/talked about metal-centric titles to be released this year.

Review: In its time, which spans 16 years from the mid-1980s to the turn of the Millennium, Creation Records was incapable of misfiring. From Boo Radleys and Guided By Voices, The Jesus & Mary Chain to Bob Mould, Ride, Kevin Rowland, Teenage Fanclub and Super Furry Animals. Let alone Primal Scream. Renowned for a multitude of genres, but particularly shoegaze, suffice to say Slowdive, England's dream pop doyens, delivered some of the label's most seminal work. Souvlaki is a prime example. Although it narrowly missed a spot in the UK's Top 50 Albums Chart, peaking at 51 in 1993, retrospective attention has heralded this not just as a shoegaze classic, but also a true landmark of late-20th Century British music. "Quiet, moving, and aggressive simultaneously, mixing trance-like beauty with the deepest delayed guitar sounds around," Pitchfork once said. Now, if you've more to add, speak up.

Review: Sony Records has decided to reissue a slew of early albums from British shoegaze and dream pop sorts Slowdive, a band that has enjoyed a successful comeback since reforming late last decade. Here they take us back to the formative years of the Reading-born band and 1991 full-length debut Just For a Day. Recorded in leafy Oxfordshire (Abington specifically), the set is as lush, densely layered, effects-laden and gently psychedelic as you'd expect from a set that's (rightly) still regarded as one of the strongest shoegaze albums of all time. For proof, check the hypnotic, slow-motion pulse of opener 'Spanish Air', the low slung bass and hallucinatory textures of 'Catch The Breeze', the near-ambient immersion of 'Erik's Song', and the jangly sparkle of 'Brightness'.

Review: While now - rightly - hailed as one of the greatest shoegaze albums of all time, Slowdive's sophomore full-length Souvlaki was initially panned by critics - a fate that also befell the Reading combo's debut Just For a Day. Now remastered and reissued on CD for the first time in years, the 1993 set remains a pleasingly saucer-eyed, heavily layered and decidedly dreamy affair. Musically, it's generally brighter and more jangling than its predecessor, leaning more heavily into the dream-pop end of their sound whilst still retaining the reverb-heavy, suitably psychedelic guitar textures of shoegaze. Highlights include the funky, late 60s nostalgia of '40 Days', the dubby and spaced-out headiness of 'Sing' and the stretched-out heaviness of 'Souvlaki Space Station'.

Review: While recent breakout hit 'Stargazing' remains an undeniable earworm, this EP doesn't let it overshadow the rest of the tracks. From the infectious opening of 'Nice to Meet You' to the heartfelt closer 'Little By Little', Smith creates a collection full of memorable moments. His ability to blend folk-pop with emotionally charged lyrics shines through, especially on tracks like 'Wait For You' and 'Whisper', where the vulnerability in his voice adds depth to the storytelling. The brilliant collaboration with James Bay on 'Waste' brings an added layer of depth to the EP, with their voices complementing each other beautifully. Meanwhile, '3am' tells the feeling of loss with its haunting violin and introspective. A Minute... is a strong indication of Myles Smith's potential - a collection of songs that are both accessible and sincere. Fans of heartfelt pop-folk will find much to enjoy here and it's clear Smith is on the rise.

Review: There are very few albums across any genre that stand the test of time better than 93 'Til Infinity, the classic debut record from the Hieroglyphics Crew's very own Souls Of Mischief. In an era where gangsta rap and g-funk dominated the West Coast rap scene, Souls broke ground on a completely unique and thoroughly West Coast tip. While the Dres and the Snoop Doggs were garnering much of the mainstream attention of the day, Souls were quietly forging a charismatic, critically acclaimed and cohesively shaped record that when categorised, sounded much closer to a tribe called quest than N.W.A.. The resulting sound of their debut is characteristic of the distinct style explored by the collective, including a rhyme scheme based on internal rhyme and beats centered around a live bass and obscure jazz and funk samples.

Review: Bruce Springsteen's iconic album, Born in the U.S.A., celebrates its 40th anniversary with a stunning limited edition release on translucent red vinyl. This timeless classic, originally released in 1984, shows Springsteen's departure from the sombre tones of Nebraska to a more hopeful and radio-friendly sound. The album's themes of the American Dream and the struggles of ordinary Americans resonated deeply with audiences worldwide, propelling it to become Springsteen's most successful album to date. With synthesised arrangements and a pop-flavored sound, Born in the U.S.A. captured the essence of the era while maintaining Springsteen's trademark authenticity. This special edition includes a faithfully reimagined gatefold sleeve, a new 12-page booklet featuring an essay from Erik Flannigan and a four-colour lithograph.

Review: It's hard to believe The Strokes' debut album is 20 years old in 2023. Of course, it sounds very much like the band did at that time, with reviews upon release even celebrating the fact that they'd opted not to mess about with a musical formula that won legions of fans on their debut, Is This It. High speed, turbulent, angsty rock 'n' roll music that isn't just youthful, it's completely disinterested in growing up. Of course, this might be taken to mean a lack of new ideas, but that's precisely where the genius really shines through. Room On Fire is less a band regurgitating and getting 'found out', and more proof of a singular vision of what a guitar band should actually sound like. Really very loud, not at all comprising, and while comparable to many, entirely The Strokes.

Review: We have been quietly wondering when the dance music backlash will begin and popular trends will turn back to guitar music, and maybe a reissue of this classic album from The Strokes will provide the catalyst. It was one of three early albums from the band that made for an unreal run of records and it still sounds mega all these years later. The critically acclaimed, gold-certified First Impressions Of Earth was first released back in 2005 and debuted right in the top spot of the UK album charts. It packs a punch with hit singles like hit singles 'Juicebox,' 'Heart in a Cage' and 'You Only Live Once' all proving plenty of singalong joys.

Review: The Strokes's Comedown Machine is often said by fans to be one of the most consistent albums of the much loved band's career. It showed off once again their immaculate knack for irresistible hooks and catchy grooves, all of which had been present over four previous albums but perfected on another level here. Alongside the group's signature sounds are thought-provoking, strange and sexy themes. It wasn't promoted hard but the album still hit the Top 10 of the UK charts and the same over in the US. This limited edition reissue arrives on a lovely limited yellow and red marbled slab of wax.

Review: We all know that The Strokes' initial three album run of Is This Is It, Room On Fire and First Impressions Of Earth is the high watermark for their entire back catalogue. But that isn't to detract from their more latter day output, with 2011's Angles amassing a sincere cult following in the years since. Boasting one of their biggest singles to date, 'Under Cover Of Darkness', while showcasing the member's desire to begin toying with the sonic expectations from a band so tightly bound to their garage rock revival roots; deep cuts such as the watery synth-laden opener 'Machu Picchu', would take full advantage of their foray into MIDI electronics, subtly revitalising their formula in a manner many have only just begun to learn to appreciate in earnest.

Review: SZA's last album Ctrl in 2017 took the American vocalist into the stratosphere and so a follow up was always going to be a big challenge. But she rises to it and then some as the GRAMMY award-winning Top Dawg artist calls upon a top draw list of collaborators including Jeff Bhasker, Rodney Jerkins, DJ Dahi, Ant Clemons and Lizzo. The album went straight in at number one on the Billboard chart and was widely acclaimed by critics for its vocal performances and mix of r&b, pop and hip-hop styles. Plenty fo SZA's own innermost feelings are fully translated into this record, making it another absurdist, ambitious work.