Parlophone Schallplatten & CDs

Review: Everyone's favourite "virtual band" returns with its eighth studio album, the Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett-helmed project's first for three years. In keeping with the project's loose, collective concept, the ever-present Albarn - whose voice provides the focal point on the majority of tracks - there's an impressive cast-list of guest musicians present, with Thundercat wielding the bass on the purple funk-influenced title track, Stevie Nicks handling lead vocals on 'Oil', Beck providing a standout turn on 'Possession Island' and Bootie Brown and Tame Impala excelling on album highlight 'New Gold'. As usual, this is hooky, well-made pop that proudly dips its toe in all manner of styles and sub-genres, while sneakily avoiding the pitfalls of shamelessly radio-friendly music. Fans will love it.

Review: Who would have thought that'll these years later the cartoon band that is Gorillaz would still be going, still be popular, and still turning out great music? Well, they are. They have kept details of this new album under tight guard for a while but what we do know about Cracker Island is that it features a truly all-star lineup of heavyweight guests such as Thundercat, Stevie Nicks, Tame Impala, Bootie Brown, Adeleye Omotayo, Bad Bunny, and Beck. As always the sound is alternative indie and electronic with a playful sense of character.

Review: When rapper and multi-instrumentalist Mac Miller died of an accidental overdose in 2018, he left behind an unfinished two-part album project. The first of the two sets, "Swimming", was released last year; now its bittersweet companion, "Circles", has arrived to complete Miller's discography. It's a musically diverse and mostly introspective affair, with Miller shuffling between styles wearily and switching roles (singer-songwriter, rapper, multi-instrumentalist, beat-maker) seemingly at will. While such role hopping could have resulted in a sonic mess, the set sounds surprisingly coherent, not least because the thread running through it all is Miller's painful soulsearching and well documented mental health issues. As a posthumous full stop to a life ended all too soon, "Circles" certainly hits home hard.

Review: When rapper and multi-instrumentalist Mac Miller died of an accidental overdose in 2018, he left behind an unfinished two-part album project: "Swimming" (released last year) and "Circles", which has now landed on wax after getting a digital release earlier in 2020. It's a musically diverse and mostly introspective affair, with Miller shuffling between styles wearily and switching roles (singer-songwriter, rapper, multi-instrumentalist, beat-maker) seemingly at will. While such role hopping could have resulted in a sonic mess, the set sounds surprisingly coherent, not least because the thread running through it all is Miller's painful soul searching and well documented mental health issues. As a posthumous full stop to a life ended all too soon, "Circles" certainly hits home hard.