Back catalogue: Rock (All)

Review: 2022's stunning album Once Twice Melody was a fine example of Beach House doing what they do best - living bang up to that name, with intimate-but epic instrumentation falling somewhere between surf-y jangle and grand shoegaze. 'Become' is definitely on a similar tip, and as such feels much like an extension of the long form.
Dig a little deeper, though, and scratches begin to show. While the full-length record represented Beach House reaching for the stars, or at least the moon, and stepping into the role of festival headliners, here the sense of pure confidence and occasion is less pronounced. That may not be a bad thing, mind, because while Once came across like a finished article, refined and prepared, things here seem somehow rawer, as though we're sitting in on a session as oppose to getting the signed off product.

Review: On their eighth album, Mercury Rev has tapped into the long and illustrious history of 'landscape music' - works inspired by specific environments, whether natural or man-made. In the case of Born Horses, it's the former, with the band situating themselves in the wilds of upstate New York and delivering a set they describe as "glistening psych-jazz, folk, baroque-ambient". In practice, this means immersive, enveloping songscapes that make use of a vast range of acoustic and electronic instruments, both sung and spoken vocals, and a lengthy list of influences and inspirations that apparently included Vangelis, songs from Broadway musicals, movie soundtracks, Chet Baker and Miles Davis. That it sounds nothing like any of them, and is very much its own atmospheric sound world, is testament to the long-serving band's endearing quality. A genuine delight and arguably their best album for some time.

Review: Though prolific since emerging at the dawn of the millennium, White Denim have refused to settle into a specific sound, with main man James Patrelli flitting through styles, influences and inspirations (and band members) at a rate of knots. On the simply titled 12 - yep, the band's 12th album to date - Partelli and company subtly switch focus once more, this time with the help of his latest co-writer (and the band's synth player) Michael Hunter and a broad range of guest musicians. The results are bright, attractive and thoroughly enjoyable, with notes of tropical guitars and the work of highlife legend Ebo Taylor rubbing shoulders with nods to bossa-nova, Southern soul, jangling indie-rock and The Beatles circa The White Album.