Gigwise

If you think you know what you’re getting from a Birdy album, think again. Expecting intimate piano ballads, I was swept into the synth filled opening track ‘Paradise Calling.’ A burst of energy, and an upbeat assertion of ‘all I ever wanted was something to believe in’, Birdy throws you …

Wholesome at times, brutal at others Sometimes you need something undoubtedly raw and vulnerable, something with a tenderness that makes you feel a little more human again. A palpable reminder of what it’s like to feel a lump slowly boil up in your throat. Dizzy are pretty good at that, …

In July 2022 BIMM Institute was granted its official university status, being one of the most popular music universities due to its accessibility, previously the colleges awarded their degrees under the University of Sussex’s name but now when receiving a qualification it will be rewarded by BIMM University — doesn’t …

What goes on where? With Glastonbury 2023 around the corner, we’re here to equip you with a guide to the festival’s main stages Glastonbury is one of the biggest festivals in the world and, probably because of that, getting tickets is what can only be described as utter carnage. However, …

Music’s worst kept secret is making headlines, again. In the hallowed annals of press recovery, we find words “allegedly”, “claims”, even “real victim” sewn into a fodder stew satiating and silencing that one conversation we all love to side-step when it comes to people we like. Surprise, surprise, it’s sexual …

Girli is reckoning with the messiness of life on Why am I like this?? Refusing the tie herself down, the alt-pop singer sets out to capture the multitudes of herself. The EP is easily at its best when Girli tackles her own insecurities head on. Brutally forthcoming, witty, and sharp, …

Featuring: - My single review of 'Opaque' by Chappaqua Wrestling

Four albums into her career, Billie Marten is not reinventing herself. On Drop Cherries, Marten is instead, turning further inwards. Examining, musing, and ruminating on love, Marten makes introspection her own. Opening track ‘New Idea’ feels like a wistful entrance into the imaginative space of the album. Simple hums and …

Celebrating the life and work of a rock icon on his birthday On what would have been his 81st birthday, Lou Reed remains one of the defining figures in alternative music. Both as a member of the Velvet Underground and a solo artist, his music challenged and changed conventional ideas …

Shame’s third album, Food For Worms, puts the London five-piece back at the forefront of the alternative scene with a fresh and forward-thinking sound. They’re a band who were there in 2018, when punk revivalism was taking its first strides to become the dominating sound in the UK’s underground. Their …

Something to get you excited... 2023 is already looking like a great year for music, with several big acts set to be making their comebacks by dropping new albums after years without a new release. After an uncertain few years following the pandemic, we can expect there’ll be tonnes of …

Looking back at 2022's biggest moments in music: Fred again's status-cementing Boiler Room set.

The band talk Christmas singles, passing the 100 gigs mark, meeting the president of Luxembourg and water park mishaps on tour.

At various stages of anxiety, confidence + love Beach Bunny’s sophomore album Emotional Creature sees the group finding their feet both musically and individually. The album is an exploration of the need to grow, adapt and change, finding beauty in the vast kaleidoscope of human emotions. Arriving with a brash …

From the moment the saxophone riff of 'Run Away With Me' rang out, endorphins were no longer optional.

Taking you on an emotional journey If I Saw You Again is a vulnerable and honest debut album from Violet Skies that sees the singer-songwriter finding her own voice. The stripped-back and intimate record is a collection of melodic piano and guitar tracks with each song feeling like an invitation …

Sydney’s Body Type have made their mark and planted the seeds of success for a promising future with their debut album Everything Is Dangerous but Nothing’s Surprising. From rageful and cathartic 'The Brood', to the wading bedroom reality of 'Couple Song', Body Type have produced an album full of bites …

Reflecting on Fontaines D.C's debut ahead of their 3rd album next week One of the most anticipated albums of the year is quickly approaching as Fontaines D.C. — praised as the best band in the world — release their third studio album 'Skinty Fia' next week. With each release their …

Dynamic + adventurous

Walt Disco’s debut album is a melodramatic and self-explorative step out onto the stage. A stage show in two acts, Unlearning, pulls together entrancing production and sprawling soundscapes to interrogate love, flings, heartbreak and identity. As much of a product of our times as it is of musical legacy, Unlearning …

Emerging from the battle-royale of London’s unforgiving circuit alive, Folly Group have been praised as one of the next best things to dare show what they have to offer in the capital. Now they’re running it back again: their second EP Human and Kind is much more immersive an experience …

Don Broco opened up this year's Teenage Cancer Trust event with a full orchestra Don Broco, orchestrated, at the Royal Albert Hall was a special one. In aid of Teenage Cancer Trust they played a set truly worthy of such an important cause. With this being the first TCT show …

Babeheaven’s latest album sees the band leaning into a much more eclectic range of influences and sounds, melding elements of R'n'B and electro-pop into their dreamy indie sound. Atmospheric and ethereal, Sink Into Me is a melodic delve into disillusionment, loss and yearning for human connection. Babeheaven enter Sink Into …

Lauded as one of the first groups within metal to fuse hip-hop with nu-metal, (not that they need the introduction), Korn are a notorious asset to the evolution of metal. Set to unleash their fourteenth studio album Requiem via independent label Loma Vista this Friday (4 February), Requiem welcomes honourable …

Ireland is pure class. While history books, stereotypes and the general lack of road signs may contest this greatness, Ireland’s cultural landscape shows nothing but prosperity. Beyond the rich literary circles spouted, musicians continue to make their mark on our wee island and beyond.

A lot has happened since Jay Watson, a.k.a GUM, put the finishing touches on his fifth and latest solo album. Recorded a year ago, he has since become a father and seen the music industry almost entirely shutdown amid the coronavirus crisis. Now Out In The World, the 10-track album …

“After my last album I didn’t want to write a record abut the end of the world,” admits Beans On Toast wryly. Now, thanks to nine weeks and counting of enforced lockdown amid the coronavirus pandemic, the Essex-born singer-songwriter is facing that very scenario. With two singles – ‘Strange Days’ …

Not even a pandemic is strong enough to halt Lewis Capaldi’s unlikely rise to pop superstardom. Having survived his own bout of illness - described graphically early on in his set - there was barely a suggestion that the 23-year-old Scot would call off either of the two sell-out nights …

If you’re going to bring the curtain down on a defining period of your music, this is the way to do it. Billed as the last shows from their So that you might hear me era and ten whirlwind months on from the release of their third studio album, Bear’s …

'An album that rewards long-time listeners but is equally comfortable at sharing its heartbreak to newcomers' An album that rewards long-time listeners but is equally comfortable at sharing its heartbreak to newcomers, Leif Vollebekk’s New Ways is a startling, intimate record that delves deep into the musician’s world. Starting with …