Back in stock: Rock (All)

Review: Already on their seventh studio album, synth-pop kings Everything Everything return to the fore with Mountainhead, a concept album critiquing modern-day zealotry, economic warfare, and narcissism, centring on the idea of mirrors at the top and snakes at the bottom. A primeval analogy for the modern psychic climate in fourteen-track form, the topic at hand certainly sounds ominous; but the music is nonetheless always as enjoyable as EE's music usually permits. In contrast to prior albums Man Alive and Raw Data Feel, both of which made rigorous use of Artificial Intelligence to generate and effect sound, Mountainhead is deliberately processing-shy, with the band publicly avowing their not using any plugins and effects. Whether this represents an appeal by the band for their audience to downshift and embrace a less future-obsessive life, you be the judge. A powerful metaphor for the economic warfare of everyday life, Mountainhead is an urgent message wrapped in a chart-topper.

Review: Morrissey is arguably the most divisive British pop artist working today. Some loathe him, others stand by amid countless controversial statements. Few would deny his place in the pantheons of music, though, even if you feel it's really about The Smiths, creating an unusual quandary for the listener - dividing their own opinion, not just separating that from others who don't think the same way. In many ways 'I Am Not A Dog On A Chain' is the album he needed to make, revealing an artist known for egotism as finally accepting some limitations and realities. 'My Hurling Days Are Done' and 'The Secret Of Music' both lament the passing of time, for example. But then in many ways, musically speaking, what's here is his most bold and striking album in decades. A real testament to the broad understanding of what makes a powerful track powerful, to say the least.