Review: Take That's seminal 1993 album Everything Changes reissue brings back a lot of memories for many. Featuring iconic singles like 'Relight My Fire', 'Babe', and 'Everything Changes', this album encapsulates the British boy band's peak era, blending dancepop and ballads with an unmatched energy. The album, which topped the UK Albums Chart and was the third-best-selling of 1993, showcases Take That's evolution from their debut's high-energy dance tracks to a more mature sound, driven by Gary Barlow's songwriting. Certified 4× Platinum in the UK and with over three million copies sold worldwide, Everything Changes highlights Take That at their most influential. The release is accompanied by animations from classic videos on a zoetrope picture disc, offering a nostalgic trip back to the early 90s and celebrating the group's enduring impact on pop music.
Review: Tears For Fears return with Songs For A Nervous Planet, their first-ever live album. This 22-track collection captures the band's iconic live performances from their 2023 tour, with recordings from a show at FirstBank Amphitheater in Franklin, Tennessee. Spanning their career, it includes classics like 'Shout', 'Everybody Wants to Rule the World', 'Mad World', and 'Head Over Heels', as well as several tracks from their 2022 album, The Tipping Point. The album also features four new studio songs, including the lead single, 'The Girl That I Call Home'. Written by Roland Orzabal as a love song for his wife Emily, the track blends dreamy synths, soft drums, and tender vocals, showcasing the band's warmth and emotional depth. Curt Smith remarked, "Many don't realize we're a strong live band," while Orzabal noted, "This album is 40 years in the making."
Review: Comicon attendees take note, Smilebit: Technorider Tammy 2 is now in stock and by all accounts is going to be shift quickly. Ultra rare, ultra weird, ultra intense and aurally colourful, if you're unfamiliar this is one of many cult works from the acclaimed and hugely influential video game and electronic music composer Shinji Hosoe, mastermind behind tracks for titles like Ridge Racer, Final Lap, Galaxian 3, and Bushido Blade. A man who rose through the ranks at groundbreaking development house Namco to become one of the company's lead musicians. Smilebit: Technorider Tammy 2 is actually one in a series of electronic mini-albums Hosoe made during the early noughties, and it's pretty indicative of how batshit his output could be. Bold, brash, hyperactive and like the record equivalent of diving into a sea of neon signs, this is a release many have been waiting for on vinyl and supplies are limited, making for a bonafide collector's item.
Review: Pop's newest sensation Teddy Swims drops his latest project I've Tried Everything But Therapy, evoking to the New Zealander's unquenchable thirst for the outbound excesses of life. Intended, in his own words, as his last music project before he goes into therapy, the album mixes plodding pop ballads, pristine vocal deliveries, and motivational highs-and-lows to produce a confident array of songs in the key of life. All the tracks are massive cinematic uplifts, a mood which ensured by its booming production, and themes dealing with heartbreak, baggage, memory and exigency.
Review: Teddy Swims' rise continues with I've Tried Everything But Therapy (Part 2), the follow-up to his hit-packed debut album's first half. 2024 has seen Swims soar, especially with his chart-dominating single 'Lose Control' which reached #1 on Billboard's Hot 100 and #2 on the UK charts, amassing 2.3 billion streams and securing spots in Spotify's "Billions Club." Swims' blend of vintage soul, classic rock and pop, honed through years fronting Atlanta bands, finds new depth here with tracks that balance raw emotion with modern production finesse, establishing Swims as a star to watch.
Review: Teddy Swims' voice is the star of the show hereiwarm, gritty, and effortlessly soulful. As the tracks unfold, there's a clear commitment to balancing raw emotion with polished production. It's the sort of album that delivers heartfelt, introspective lyrics, yet never lets go of a sense of accessibility. The instrumentation keeps it grounded, with lush arrangements that never overpower Swims' delivery. With a balance of light and dark, this part of his journey hints at something more substantial ahead, capturing moments of vulnerability without overstating them.
Review: The difficult second from Senior Templeman takes his short but pretty sweet back catalogue in a bold new direction. Acid pop? Maybe. Theatrical soft rock? Possibly. Something else entirely? Definitely. Shades of glam guitar cool? For sure. All that's by the byes though, really - we could spend a lifetime splitting hairs about genre and still not quite hit the nail on the head. Featuring production from the legendary Nile Rodgers, super-cool Karma Kid, Oscar Scheller, Will Bloomfield, Justin Young, Josh Scarbrow and Charlie J Perry, this is a restless but rewarding listen, rarely hanging around in one stylistic place before moving on to another. What's remarkable about this soul-inflected, funk-fuelled, psychedelic hued odyssey, though, is just how natural the whole thing feels.
Review: This is a festive stunner from Thalia that mixes up traditional holiday melodies with her signature Latin pop style. With a mix of heartfelt renditions of classic Christmas songs, this album evokes both warmth and nostalgia while infusing the music with a touch of melancholy. Thalia's emotive voice brings a unique depth to each track and captures the vibes of the holiday season with a blend of joy, longing and reflection. The album features a range of instruments and arrangements from orchestral strings to Latin rhythms which make it a rich and beautiful listening experience.
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