Back catalogue: All genres

Review: Indiana singer-songwritern Lisa Germano's 1994 moody dark indie rock masterpiece has been remastered at Abbey Road Studios in London. This expanded edition - released as part of 4AD's Record Store Day spread - includes 'The Mirror Is Gone' and the five-track EP 'Inconsiderate Bitch', making it a bumper version of one of the key albums of the 90s. Germano's voice is a thing of wonder with lyrics that cut through the noise. The sonics underpinning her voice are often sparse and atmospheric, allowing us listeners to really feel the intimacy of feeling. It's no wonder the likes of Eels, Bowie and Iggy Pop called her in to guest on their records.

Review: Inspired by her personal experience of the COVID-19 pandemic, which involved becoming obsessed by perfumes and fragrances, Jenny Hval's first solo album in three years is noticeably tactile, intimate and sensory. Effectively a hard-to-pigeonhole mood piece full of uniquely realised songs and immersive, deeply layered musical soundscapes, Iris Silver Mist (named in honour of a 'steely' French perfume) sees the Norwegian musician, producer and author variously join the dots between icy electronica, string-laden synth-pop, offbeat trip-hop, kaleidoscopic ambient pop and wonderfully enveloping electronic maximalism.

Review: Up there with other shoegaze trailblazers like Lush, My Bloody Valentine and Slowdive, Pale Saints set the bar for dreamy, eerie and atmospheric guitar music and have influenced countless bands sketching out similar sounds since. This third album of theirs, which is now getting the full re-release treatment after being long out of print, saw them achieve new pop heights. The three-minute banger 'Angel (Will You Be My)' and 'Under Your Nose' are particularly strong in this regard, with singer Meriel Barham sounding like she laid the foundation for what The Orielles would go on to become. Elsewhere, 'Henry' - a more than ten-minute epic - shows a more harrowing, dark side of theirs with slow and tuned down tones leaning more towards sludge metal. Pale Saints' ability to express themselves so diversely puts them up there as hallowed forefathers of shoegaze who will never lose relevance.

Review: The influential German band Xmal Deutschland are overhead rafters in the great mead hall of goth. Their propulsive successes throughout the 1980s meant the genre likely couldn't've done without them. A large band come music collective, made up of at least eight members at any given time, Xmal's formation in Hamburg and would presell audiences on a stalwart performance rep, thanks to an early tour and gig residency in support of dream pop preeminents Cocteau Twins. Rallied to fame by their goth classics 'Incubus Succubus' and 'Qual', this 2xCD review conjoins two of the earliest and most pivotal albums on which both of said singles were housed - Fetisch and Tocsin - along with tracks from other key releases, such as Incubus Succubus II. Helping blacken an otherwise dreamy time, these LPs highlight the gloomier soils of a superficially bright 1980s soundfield, which otherwise roseated by shoegaze. Photography by Kevin Cummins, Paul Slattery, Sheila Rock and more all capture the spirit.