Back catalogue: Rock (All)

Review: We are still being treated to superb albums that were written during the Coronavirus pandemic lockdowns and this is one of them. It took shape across a two-year period in New York, Seoul, and London and finds the highly rated Yaeji looking closely at her relationship with anger. In something of a shift away from the sound of previous work, she brings in rock and hip-hop elements as well as her signature house style. The lyrics in English and Korean are dark and self-reflective, while the artist also employs live instrumentation for the first time. Guests include K Wata and Enayet, plus vocals from London's Loraine James and Baltimore's Nourished by Time.

Review: Known as one of house music's contemporary darlings, Yaeji returns to XL Recordings with a concept album certain to prove her worth as an artist well beyond hip, 4x4 vocal bangers. With A Hammer is an album with full cross-continental appeal, hearing Yaeji channel her regional affinities with Seoul, London and New York into a righteously angry comeback. Across it, Yaeji is accompanied by her metaphorical hammer friend - Hammer Lee - whom she uses proudly to smash the many heterodox expectations foisted on her and her community, and which have conspired to keep her down in the past. With signature bilingual vocals and an updated slick sound, the album also brings together tunes made with K Wata, Enayet, Nourished by Time, and Loraine James.

Review: Two years on from the release of her acclaimed mixtape-style full length debut, What We Draw, Kathy Yaeji Lee returns to XL Recordings with her debut studio album With a Hammer. Conceived (lyrically at least) as an examination of the singer-songwriter-producer's relationship with anger, the album sees Lee expand on her house/hyper-pop-influenced trademark sound via nods to trip-hop, rock, drum & bass and more, with the addition of - for the first time in her career - live instrumentation. Of course, amongst the musical tweaks and collaborations (Lorraine James, Nourished By Time, K Wata and Enganet all feature), there are still plenty of nods to her pop-leaning productions of old, not least bi-lingual vocals (she often sings in Korean as well as English) and a sense of sonic style that has always been one of the aural hallmarks of Lee's work.

Review: As Radiohead tour the world and then regroup to record their new album, Thom Yorke releases his own record, 'The Eraser' on XL Recordings. A collection of nine new songs, the record was written and played by Thom and was produced by Nigel Godrich. Variously hailed as "The Best Band In The World" (Q Magazine), "Rock's Best Live Band" (Rolling Stone) and the band were placed at number 1 of Spin Magazine's 40 most influential artists, Radiohead has arguably become the most acclaimed and adventurous force in modern music. Over six studio albums the group have proved that it is possible to make massive creative leaps whilst continuing to grow in worldwide stature. Their records set new benchmarks for others to aim towards, whilst their live shows reach levels of intensity and exploration that few can match.

Review: It's taken a while, but finally Thom Yorke's impressive third solo album, "ANIMA", is available on wax (and in a fetching shade of orange, too). A future classic that continues the legacy he started with XL Recordings back in 2006 (with his solo debut The Eraser), ANIMA is well worth picking up, as Yorke and co-producer Nigel Godrich offer up evocative, off-kilter songs built around the twin attractions of the Radiohead man's distinctive vocals and skewed backing tracks rich in layered electronic noise, body-bending sub-bass, discordant synthesizer parts and intriguingly jaunty drum loops. Highlights are plentiful throughout, from the creepy, lo-fi ambient swirl of "Last I Heard (...He Was Circling the Drain)" and "Dawn Chorus" (a blissfully dewy-eyed early morning soundscape), to the low-slung, post-trip-hop hum of "I Am A Very Rude Person" and the fizzing, jazz-fired thrust of "Impossible Knots". Melancholic, yes. Deep and self-effacing, of course. Nihilistic, not really. Percussive futurist sub-pop is back.

Review: Given his innate ability to craft intensely atmospheric and often fundamentally unsettling music, it seems apt that Thom Yorke has finally got around to producing a film soundtrack. It's fitting, too, that said soundtrack is for Luca Guadagnino's weirdo remake of 1977 Italian horror flick "Suspiria". Yorke nails the brief, delivering a string of chilling, otherworldly instrumentals that not only draw on his well-established love of dark ambient and gruesome electronica, but also foreboding neo-classical movements and sparse, wide-eyed arrangements. There are a smattering of superb vocal moments, too, with recent single "Suspirio" - described by one broadsheet reviewer as "the saddest waltz you'll ever here" - standing out.