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Review: Where's My Utopia? is the follow up to the Leeds band's critically-acclaimed debut record The Overload, which arrived in January 2022. A co-production between Yard Act and Gorillaz member Remi Kabaka Jr., this latest album comes across as a meditation on the contemporary post-Fordist condition of the creative worker. Speaking about 'Dream Job', the band's James Smith said: "'Dream Job' feels like an apt introduction to the themes explored on Where's My Utopia? - though not all encompassing. In part I was scrutinising and mocking myself for being a moaning ungrateful little brat, whilst also trying to address how the music industry is this rather uncontrollable beast that hurtles forward unthinkingly, and every single person involved in it plays their part." Echoing the conflicted inner turmoil of reluctant bandleaders such as Mark E Smith of the Fall - "it's a constant battle" - and the sonic affect of Talking Heads, the album addresses a question central to our times: what do you do when everything you've ever wanted suddenly lands in your lap, but the questions still keep on coming? How do you handle fame and success, when your fans secretly resent the structures that elevated you to that status? Despite these contradictions, all this doesn't stop James Smith, Ryan Needham and Sam Shipstone from delivering a rip-roaring album as expected. If they can find the motivation to make such effective music despite their doubts (meditating on present conditions of poverty while keeping up a smile), then so, perhaps, can you.

Review: Where's My Utopia? is the highly anticipated follow up to Leeds post-punk darlings Yard Act's Mercury Prize-nominated debut LP The Overload, and continues their eccentric, whimsical and sobering assessment of life in modern day Britain with a cheeky smile plastered over decades of embittered rage. Following on from last year's bizarre Black Mirror-inspired eight-minute single 'The Trench Coat Museum', this sophomore effort succeeds at every turn a second album should. Linking up with Gorillaz' Remi Kabaka Jr to handle production, the move has led to a curious wading into influences that might have seemed obvious to outside ears, with a newfound embracing of new wave synth pop whilst tapping into the psychedelic sonic world and political ethos of Fela Kuti. Lyrically, taking the UK to further task for its endless shopping list of fuck ups, whilst also touching on their seemingly overnight ascension, and the irony that comes with being signed to a subsidiary of another monolithic, faceless corporation endorsing the myriad of issues completely at odds with the morals embedded into the Yard Act DNA, Where's My Utopia? sees the band beating everyone to the punch, both musically and topically.

Review: The return of Yard Act. Where's My Utopia? is the follow up to the Leeds band's critically-acclaimed debut record The Overload, which arrived in January 2022. Written in snapshots of time between a relentless touring schedule and produced jointly by the band and Gorillaz' Remi Kabaka Jr, the quartet's second act is a giant leap forward into broad and playful new sonic waters. Across the record, influences ranging from Fela Kuti to Ennio Moricone via Spiller's 00s pop smash 'Groovejet' make themselves known, signifying a significant shift onwards and outwards from the raw new wave/indie sound of its predecessor.

Review: On their third LP, British-Singaporean singer-songwriter Nat Cmiel is moving in a new direction - not only with a move from Bayonet Records to Ninja Tune, but also favouring a guitar-led indie rock sound, a departure from the critically acclaimed 'Serotonin II' and Danny L Harle produced 'Glitch Princess'. Lead single 'sulky baby' is a bright affair, distorted guitars circling Yeule's brand of gloomy lyrics sang with a smile. 'dazies' gets off the mark with a killer electric guitar lead, giving way to a plucked ambience with a computerised Nat ringing off a word association of a person kicked to the curb. When Kin Leonn isn't working their production magic, Yeule's self-production breaks the space. 'fish in the pool' is an ambient piano interlude with light-as-a-feather vocal adlibs, something that wouldn't be out of place in a Studio Ghibli production.

Review: The tide of (hyper)pop has ebbed into increasingly emo and indie directions and the frothiest edge of this fluid movement is perhaps best represented by the latest album from Yeule (Nat Cmiel). Softscars follows up Yeule's 2022 album Glitch Princess and continues the trend of ultra-glossy, CD-reflective, knife-edge sounds packed into the blueprint of downtempo dream pop, in which said gloss reflects Cmiel's own personal experience of healing from trauma. The likes of 'ghost', 'dazies' and 'sulky baby' are giving glitchy alternate-reality Green Day in their Boulevard Of Broken Dreams era, with a dash of ejector-jewel-cased lyrics and a sprinkling of George Clinton-esque production flavour.

Review: Art-rock auteur Yves Tumor occupies a headspace like no other, putting experimental noise, r&b and glam rock together in a bold, ever-escalating fusion, showing off a flair for simply making powerful Frankensteins out of their favourite styles. Praise A Lord Who Chews But Which Does Not Consume (Or Simply, Hot Between Worlds) adds yet once more this pot: it's a glistening, richly detailed, arguably ultimate expression of their vision, mixing such far-flung influences as My Bloody Valentine, Prince and The Smashing Pumpkins into a deep affector for the Gen Z-eitgeist.

Review: Yves Tumor's capacity to constantly stylistically evolve between each album once more makes itself evident on Praise A Lord Who Chews But Which Does Not Consume. Everything from goth-pop to experimental noise rock (usual styles for Yves Tumor) crop up here, hammering home ther increasingly crazed world after a directional shift following the EP 'Heaven To A Tortured Mind'.