Back catalogue: Pop

Review: This is a special Record Store Day 2024 release that rights a wrong for hardcore Madness vinyl heads.
With the exception of 'Baggy Trousers,' 'Embarrassment' stood as the sole Madness single from the 80s not to receive a 12" release. This year's annual waxy celebrations however present a special opportunity to own it on vinyl as the classic Motown-inspired hit gets the coveted treatment as part of this six-track EP. Also included is the original 7" mix alongside a previously unreleased instrumental version meticulously crafted by Clive Langer, which offers fans a fresh perspective on this iconic Madness track.

Review: Hunting High and Low, the 1985 debut album from A-ha, gets a reissue as a 6LP vinyl box set. Responsible for changing synthpop forever with their breakout 'Take On Me', the single's parent album here has been reissued numerous times, but this one aims to be the curtain call. With a whopping 64-page booklet detailing the band's origins thrown in on top of a mammoth four LPs, three of which contain a huge swath of unheard demos, B-sides and rarities, this is a cash-in on a much-beloved pop band we're sure will be eaten up.

Review: Joan Armatrading's latest release is a rich collection of songs that showcases her impressive skill as both a songwriter and a musician. Each track blends thoughtful lyrics with her signature melodic style and there's a refreshing mix of full-band arrangements and stripped-back instrumentals. Her guitar work stands out, adding a raw edge to the songs, while her lyrics explore personal reflections and universal themes, as always with honesty and depth. It's a release that reaffirms her place as a long-time favourite, offering both a nod to her past and a new chapter in her musical journey.

Review: ***B-STOCK: Sleeve split but otherwise in excellent condition***


Joan Armatrading's latest release is a rich collection of songs that showcases her impressive skill as both a songwriter and a musician. Each track blends thoughtful lyrics with her signature melodic style and there's a refreshing mix of full-band arrangements and stripped-back instrumentals. Her guitar work stands out, adding a raw edge to the songs, while her lyrics explore personal reflections and universal themes, as always with honesty and depth. It's a release that reaffirms her place as a long-time favourite, offering both a nod to her past and a new chapter in her musical journey.

Review: Newly reissued in expanded form, and originally released in 2001, Best Of The Corrs is a 21-track double platinum hits collection covering The Corrs' hugely-successful first three studio albums Forgiven Not Forgotten, Talk On Corners and In Blue, including such hits as Breathless, Runaway, What Can I Do, Radio, Dreams and more. The newly reissued collection features three new songs recorded in tribute to Fleetwood Mac's Christine McVie, following her passing in 2022. The band have recorded beautiful new versions of the classic songs 'Little Lies', 'Everywhere' and 'Songbird' - produced and recorded by Guy Chambers.

Review: English new wave legends Duran Duran were already up to album number nine by the time they dropped this one in October 1997. A full quarter of a century later and it gets a deserved 25th anniversary release which, actually, makes the first time it has arrived physically in this country. Back in 97 it was only released in North America, Latin America and Japan. Alt-rock, synth-pop and electronica all feature and the front cover has a painting of the band by artist Andrew Day. At the time the album wasn't received too well critically but that view has changed over the years.

Review: This is a new double vinyl version of The Very Best of Erasure, first released In 2015 as a limited-edition 3-CD hardback book edition and digital release, or a standard single CD edition. This wax version has all 20 tracks from the album and they span the entire length of the band's career from its start up until the point of release. It shows a subtle evolution in songwriting and sounds but always with that signature style that made the dance-pop icons so well-loved. Andy Bell and Vince Clarke are some of the most enduring and award-wining songwriting duos to ever come from the UK and this shows why.

Review: Daniel Johns is a bonafide Australian rock powerhouse - with or without bandmates. The primary songwriter, guitarist and frontman of Silverchair, an outfit who among other things claim more ARIA Awards than any other name in the ceremony's history, he's also one half of acclaimed duo The Dissociatives with Paul Mac and shares a second partnership with Luke Steel on the Dreams project.

All that aside, his first solo album, 2015's Talk, reiterated his ability to turn hands to almost any musical style, packing his oeuvre with a range of great ideas. Futurenever is the second lone wolf LP, and backs up the idea that he's insanely talented and relentlessly restless. Across the 12 tracks, we're given great pop in the truest sense ('D4ngersboy', 'Someone Call An Ambulance', 'Freaknever'), huge symphonic R&B balladry ('When We Take Over'), sexy funk ('I Feel Electric'), and stadium emo rock ('Reclaim Your Heart').

Review: Moving away from their two-tone tingles and sauntering silliness, 'The Madness' was a thorough rebrand for the band - exploring a new name, a new sound, a rejumbled lineup, and all the new electronic music tech that te late 80s had to offer. Sounding more like Duran Duran than Madness as we know them, 'The Madness' hears a smattering of guest musicians join the party, including The Specials' Jerry Dammers on piano. It was this LP that caused such a furore at the band's Madstock festival in 1992, that a small earthquake erupted at 4.2 on the Richter scale in the London locale of Finsbury Park. Now you can relive said tremors of excitement with this reissue.

Review: Acclaimed and now rather veteran singer-songwriter Katie Melua is back with her ninth studio album Live & Money this March. It comes after she had a fine 2022 that included an acclaimed collaboration with Simon Geoff called Aerial Objects and for this one she links up with sometime Ghostpoet, Brian Eno and Regina Spektor producer Leo Abrahams. The album was recorded at Peter Gabriel's Real World Studios while Melua was pregnant and finds her reflecting on her place in the world. "It's about the scene changing and being a woman in the music industry and how strange and lucky I feel to have a job I'm addicted to." It's a great listen.

Review: When Kylie's Fever came out in 2001, it was world-conquering in a way that surpassed the dizzying heights Australia's biggest pop icon had ever scaled before. That's saying something, but more than 20 years later 'Can't Get You Out Of My Head' remains a monumental slice of earworm magic, and that's just the tip of the iceberg. Tapping into that warm, disco-infected house wave that to be quite honest beats the likes of 'Get Lucky' to the punch, there is endless joy to be found in this pitch-perfect slice of millennial pop. The first pressings of this came around 2017 and are already worth a mint, so don't expect these ones to hang around for long either.

Review: Kylie keeps up her newfound 'Infinite Disco' brand with a special clear vinyl invitation to spacey joy. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the global pop megastar's Infinite Disco live performance was first broadcast online in 2020, accompanying her album 'DISCO', which showed off just what she could do with the style. Now, with the aid of the House Gospel Choir, Teemu Brunila, Sky Adams, and Maegan Cottone, she brings her take on the style further to life with live versions of all the hits from 'DISCO'.

Review: On her 2023 album Tension, Queen of Pop Kyle Minogue leant into dance music culture in a big way, delivering a set of bold, weighty and throbbing dance-pop singalongs rooted in EDM, Euro-dance and the more boisterous and forthright end of LGBTQ club culture (a theme that has been a significant part of her musical output from the earliest days of her career in the 1980s). As a sequel, Tension II is similarly framed - think catchy, effects-laden vocals, trance-adjacent synth stabs, bustling beats and plenty of nods to club sounds old and new. There are a few collaborations, too, most notably with The Blessed Madonna ('The Edge of Saturday Night'), Sia ('Dance Again'), and Orville Peck and Diplo ('Midnight Ride').

Review: Kylie Minogue returns with Tension II, her seventeenth studio album. This follow-up to 2023's Tension delves deeper into electronic and dance music influences, showcasing Minogue's mastery of infectious, high-energy tracks. 'Lights Camera Action', is a vibrant club anthem driven by pulsating beats and raving synths, setting the tone for a night of dance floor escapism. 'Edge of Saturday Night', co-produced with The Blessed Madonna, blends pop and house influences, creating a shimmering, feel-good track perfect for the weekend. Collaborations like 'My Oh My' with Bebe Rexha and Tove Lo lean into playful, flirtatious energy, while 'Midnight Ride' with Orville Peck and Diplo fuses country elements with festival-ready disco. The album culminates with 'Dance Alone', a pop-disco anthem featuring Sia, further capturing Minogue's signature style. Overall, Tension II is a dynamic, electronic-driven journey, filled with club-ready hits that solidify Minogue's timeless appeal on the dance floor.

Review: Kylie Minogue still remains just about Australia's premier cultural export. She is now up to a rather impressive 16th studio album with Tension, which is her first decent-sized body of new work since the 2020 disco, dance and pop album Disco. This one has a hint of electro-pop to it but it's still rooted in glossy, accessible, happy dance sounds that will be popular at weddings for decades to come. Dutch DJ and producer Oliver Heldens has linked with Kylie for one of the better tunes, '10 Out of 10', which is a mix of 80s, 90s and 00s eurodance.

Review: Kylie released Tension in September and shot straight to number one, reminding everyone who the reigning pop queen of all time really is. Capitalising on the snappy production that electrifies tracks like the breakout viral hit 'Padam Padam', this double-vinyl release provides extended versions of the album which lets the tracks ring out for the run time they truly deserve. It also means all 11 tracks are now in a form better suited to drawn-out blends, which will no doubt satisfy the DJs amongst Kylie's considerable fan base. '10 out of 10' indeed.

Review: Nena's second album, released in 1984 and now reissued on striking red vinyl, was a shift from the assertive sound of their debut, presenting a more romantic and introspective approach. The album cover, featuring a shadowy band photo against a black backdrop and a simple question mark as its title, hints at its deeper emotional themes. While the opening track 'Rette Mich' carries forward the energy of their first album, the overall mood embraces love and longing, with Nena's voice revealing a touching vulnerability. The music leans toward 70s Baroque rock, combined with the catchy simplicity of 80s pop, as all band members contribute to the songwriting, ensuring a rich tapestry of melodic sophistication. The title track, initially released as a mellow single, captures the emotional complexity of desire and resonated deeply with fans, further solidifying Nena's status in the German pop scene. Following the unexpected success of '99 Luftballons', which became a worldwide hit, this album helped elevate Nena and her band beyond the constraints of the Neue Deutsche Welle movement, marking them as a unique force in pop music history. Its timeless appeal ensures that Nena remains a classic in German music.

Review: Rita Ora recently described her hotly anticipated third album, You & I, as "like my diary of the last few years". Masterminded in collaboration with executive producer Oak Felder and featuring Ora as a credited co-writer throughout, the album has been trailed as loosely chronological musical wander through the highs and lows of relationships and falling in love. Ora is in fine form throughout, singing confidently (and sometimes passionately) atop backing tracks that offer a 21st century synth-pop take on dance music culture - as has been the fashion for a number of years. It also contains a genuine club anthem in the shape of 'Praising You', an inventive, hands-aloft, festival-friendly banger that makes extensive use of Fatboy Slim big beat classic 'Praise You' (for which he gets a 'featured' credit).

Review: Acclaimed singer-songwriter Rita Ora is back with her first album since signing a new partnership with BMG in 2022. This early awaited album You & I was teased with the lead single 'You Only Love Me' which was co-written by Ora and produced by Lewis Thompson. It is a track inspired by her personal experience of "feeling vulnerable at the very start of her romantic journey." The rest of the record features plenty of the emotive yet catchy pop tunes we have come to expect from Ora. Ora has 13 UK Top 10 singles and four UK Number One singles to her name already and is just as successful stateside. This new album is only likely to heightened that reputation.

Review: The Thompson Twins' Into the Gap, first released in 1984, remains a standout example of 80s synth-pop, and the newly reissued red vinyl edition for its 40th anniversary underscores its enduring appeal. The album features hits like 'Hold Me Now', 'Doctor! Doctor!' and 'You Take Me Up', known for their inventive arrangements and a unique blend of influencesiparticularly Arabic music. Tracks like 'The Gap', which addresses themes of cultural diversity and 'Sister of Mercy' exemplify the band's ability to blend socially conscious lyrics with captivating production. Despite the album's origins in the 80s, its music feels timeless due to its strong songwriting and avoidance of overly quirky synth effects that have aged less gracefully in other records from the same period. Into the Gap remains an fun and catchy listening, filled with energetic, uplifting songs that still resonate with people today. It's a new wave classic and the finest achievement in the Thompson Twins' catalog.

Review: The Thompson Twins' iconic 1984 album Into the Gap is getting a fresh, deluxe reissue from BMG this fall. Remastered by Frank Arkwright, this special triple-disc collection includes the original album, which features hits like 'Hold Me Now', 'Doctor! Doctor!' and 'You Take Me Up', plus 30 additional tracks. These extras include B-sides, single edits debuting on CD and unreleased remixes by Pete Hammond of PWL fame. Into the Gap marked a pivotal moment for the Thompson Twins, as they transitioned to a trio after reducing their lineup. Working with producer Alex Sadkin at Compass Point Studios in The Bahamas, the band embraced synthesisers and electronic instruments, moving away from traditional rock sounds. This bold, experimental approach resulted in a new sonic identity. The reissue's accompanying booklet includes rare photos and insights from the band members themselves: Tom Bailey, Alannah Currie, and Joe Leeway. Overall, a terrific edition to honour the 40th anniversary of the album.