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The Line of Best Fit

The Line of Best Fit has been ahead of the curve in new music discovery for over 15 years.

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Featured Writers

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Lottie Woodrow

Freelance Culture and Lifestyle Journalist | Sub Editor & Features Writer at The Handbook | NCTJ Accredited | BA(hons) English Literature and Media

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Ben Miles

Freelance journalist specialising in new music and football. Bylines include Breaking the Lines, The Line of Best Fit, CLASH and So Young.

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Valerie Magan

Valerie is a music journalist and photographer with 4+ years of writing experience. She is currently a staff writer at Substream Magazine, previously Editorial Intern at Bandsintown, and has contributed …

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Joseph Smith

I'm Joe, 21, from Leeds, West Yorkshire. I study English Literature at Newcastle University. I mainly write music based articles and spend my spare time, listening to and reading about …

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Caitlin Chatterton

I am a fast-track NCTJ trainee with News Associates, the UK's top journalism school. I recently graduated from University College London with a degree in History. I have previously worked …

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Oliver-James Campbell

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Latest Articles

FIZZ let loose on gleeful debut The Secret To Life

“I get the feeling that lately you’ve been looking for something to inspire you”, says a smoothly robotic voice, atop a wobbling track of perfectly infuriating hold music. “Something to lift you up and get you out of that funk / an escape from reality.” Her prescribed remedy? The Secret …
By Caitlin Chatterton
• The Line of Best Fit

Hot Milk party through the pain on A CALL TO THE VOID

A CALL TO THE VOID is a record laced with anthemic choruses and mosh-pit-ready beat drops that rails against the suffocating nature of the human condition. Ever stood atop something really high, peered over the edge, and realised that nothing could physically stop you from leaping off? That discovery of …
By Caitlin Chatterton
• The Line of Best Fit

Unreal, Unearth is a characteristically charming third instalment from Hozier

Andrew Hozier-Byrne’s first and self-titled album led with the unexpected runaway hit “Take Me To Church” – a deceptively radio-friendly protest against the Catholic Church that overshadowed a debut packed with treasures, and was still obscuring reactions to his sophomore offering Wasteland, Baby! five years on. His cult following, however, …
By Caitlin Chatterton
• The Line of Best Fit

EVERGREEN is a victory lap for PVRIS’ evolved sound

“No one gives a damn shit 'less you're dead / or you're seventeen”, Gunnulfsen laments on EVERGREEN’s closing, titular track. The shimmering number – railing against the industry's habit of sensationalising youth and flash-in-the-pan success – circles back to the frustration of opening song “I DON’T WANNA DO THIS ANYMORE”. …
By Caitlin Chatterton
• The Line of Best Fit

Broken By Desire To Be Heavenly Sent proves Lewis Capaldi had nothing to worry about

Caricatured as the heartbroken court jester, Lewis Capaldi has mastered a very Adele-coded juxtaposition: pairing self-deprecating, bone dry humour with a catalogue of startlingly earnest, determinedly woeful love ballads. The formula proved a hit in 2019, when Capaldi became a household name and his debut album, Divinely Uninspired To A …
By Caitlin Chatterton
• The Line of Best Fit

Sad Boys Club: Lullabies From The Lightning Tree Review - coming of age indie | Indie

The euphoric choruses the band exhibited on previous releases remain a focal point here. Tracks like the indie-drenched “To Heal Without a Scar (Is a Waste of a Good Wound)” – possibly the album’s standout moment – and “Something Else” – a song of cathartic bliss – are key examples …
By Adam Wright
• The Line of Best Fit

Eloise: Drunk On A Flight Review - blissful pop-infused jazz | Jazz

Now, after four years of artistic development, the 23-year-old has landed on solid ground for her first full-length album. Drunk On A Flight develops her sonic palette and makes a defining mark on the scene she emerged from. The record compiles a plethora of experiences – both lived and observed …
By Adam Wright
• The Line of Best Fit

HMLTD bring their ambitious vision to life on The Worm

The product of two years’ work and almost fifty collaborators, The Worm is an album as eclectic as its influences: from the Neon Genesis Evangelion anime to Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales; Stravinsky’s “Rite of Spring” to Nina Simone’s “Sinnerman”. Overarching its jazz, gospel, and spoken word components, there’s a natural theatricality …
By Caitlin Chatterton
• The Line of Best Fit

MEET ME @ THE ALTAR give pop punk a Gen Z makeover on Past // Present // Future

Its recent resurgence has, thankfully, brought greater diversity: the likes of Nova Twins, Hot Milk, and Meet Me @ The Altar. With them, the unattainable women have been swapped out for discussions of political activism, mental health, and online harassment. The latter inspired “Say It (To My Face)”, the raucous …
By Caitlin Chatterton
• The Line of Best Fit

Pile: All Fiction Review - existential creativity runs riot

Beginning life as a series of ideas in 2019, eventually frontman Rick Maguire galvanised the band together in the studio in 2021. The additions and effects from this time have yielded Pile's most adventurous album yet. Layered synths, air duct samples and a string quartet accompanied erratic drums to create …
By Adam Wright
• The Line of Best Fit

Truth Decay finds You Me At Six remaining steadfast and fun

There were fears that seven albums would be their lot, but luckily 2021’s SUCKAPUNCH – along with an anniversary re-release of the iconic Sinners Never Sleep – seems to have re-injected enough lifeblood to bring about their eighth offering, Truth Decay. There’s a tried and tested recipe for a You …
By Caitlin Chatterton
• The Line of Best Fit

Anti-Flag: Lies They Tell Our Children Review - | Punk

Featuring several guest appearances from numerous artists, the record sees the band broadening their creative palette. Six of the 11 tracks feature guests, an approach that adds creative dexterity and moulds a dynamic sonic makeup. The result is a mashup of grunge, punk-rock and heavy rock sensibilities that combine to …
By Adam Wright
• The Line of Best Fit

Loud Without Noise is a triumphant next instalment from CRAWLERS

At least, if you’re familiar with TikTok, you’ll have come across the catchy middle eight from “Come Over (Again)” that went viral and catapulted them to notoriety. Loud Without Noise is their first project since then, tasked with consolidating the band’s success and proving they aren’t just ‘that bridge from …
By Caitlin Chatterton
• The Line of Best Fit

Dylan offers up post-mortem views on love and relationships with The Greatest Thing I’ll Never Learn

Across this debut mixtape, rock’n’roll influences from a childhood with her dad have diluted to give Dylan’s pop a grittier edge. Laced with snarling guitars and powerful drums, they particularly come into their own on “Blisters,” a lament about unrequited love. Although the track’s pop commitments soften the blow, the …
By Caitlin Chatterton
• The Line of Best Fit

5 Seconds Of Summer demonstrate a matured self-awareness on 5SOS5

It has, somehow, been a full ten years since 5 Seconds Of Summer put out their debut EP. Somewhere New, the charming four-track record, was followed up by their heady pop-punk-inspired full-length, a resident slot supporting One Direction, and a meteoric rise to cult status not seen since, well, One …
By Caitlin Chatterton
• The Line of Best Fit

FLETCHER finally falls in love with herself on Girl of My Dreams

Taylor Swift might have been dubbed the queen of break-up songs, but she’s got nothing on Cari Fletcher. Heartache, healing, clandestine make-ups and complicated feelings have saturated pretty much all her discography to date, and the same broken heart bleeds well into the first half of her Girl Of My …
By Caitlin Chatterton
• The Line of Best Fit

YUNGBLUD steps away from the boundaries on third album

This isn’t the first self-titled release from YUNGBLUD - the pink sock, silver chain, and smudged eyeliner wearing caricature of Dominic Harrison. His debut EP in 2018 carried the same name, as did the accompanying unplugged and live versions – he isn’t going back to his roots on this record, …
By Caitlin Chatterton
• The Line of Best Fit

Hayley Kiyoko makes a welcome return with second album Panorama

2018 (or #20GayTeen, depending on which corner of the internet you inhabited) saw something amounting to a queer renaissance in mainstream media. As the first seasons of POSE and Queer Eye were hitting our TV screens, and as Love, Simon entered cinemas, music was welcoming exceptional records from the likes …
By Caitlin Chatterton
• The Line of Best Fit