New Album Alert

ANDY BELL (Erasure) Released His 3rd Solo Album With ‘TEN CROWNS’ Stuffed With Disco Crackers

Posted on by JL

2 May 2025

ANDY BELL, the vocalist of synth-pop duo Erasure (19 albums since 1985) featuring former Depeche Mode/Yazoo keyboardist/songwriter Vince Clarke has released his
3rd solo album, titled TEN CROWS

Press info: “The new album features 10 brand new tracks of dazzling, joyous pop,
inspired by the dancefloor and gospel, which includes an incredible collaboration
with Andy Bell’s idol Debbie Harry. Ten Crowns was written with, and produced by,
the Grammy-winning US producer, remixer and DJ, Dave Audé.”

TUTV: It’s back to the disco 80s with Bell‘s new longplayer. It’s stuffed with
familiar sounding electro pop sparklers that trigger your limbs and make
you put on your glittery outfit and run to the dance floor.

Simple tunes, but oh so zestful and enchanting, making it a pop-ular record
for nightclubbers. It closes with touching track Thank You, celebrating everybody
who joined him on his (long) musical ride.

SINGLE

ALBUM


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UK/US TOUR

Instagram – Linktree

STEREOPHONICS – Welsh Rock Heroes By Good Numbers On New Album

Posted on by JL

28 April 2025

Welsh rock legends STEREOPHONICS have launched their 13th longplayer,
titled MAKE ‘EM LAUGH, MAKE ‘EM CRY, MAKE ‘EM WAIT on April 25.

Press info: “Stereophonics celebrate over 25 years as one of the UK’s most loved
bands, with ‘Make ‘em Laugh, Make ‘em Cry, Make ‘em Wait’, Kelly Jones – who also
produced the record – continues to cement his place amongst the great British songwriters. Stereophonics have developed an enduring success and deep-seated
bond with their audience that is like few others.”

Clash Magazine says: “‘Make ’Em Laugh, Make ’Em Cry, Make ’Em Wait’ is full of hope
and feel good offerings. It really does embody the emotions captured in its title. Whilst
it’s not necessarily reinventing the wheel, it’s yet another triumph from the Stereophonics
who offer up a precise, assured and focused album that further cements their prowess at blending rock sensibilities with those glorious soaring melodies that keeps their sound as
vital and atmospheric as ever.”

TUTV: The Welsh heroes weren’t/aren’t about experimenting and doing things they never did before. They’re the Kelly Jones-fronted singer-songwriter band that always pop out and rock out with simple, easygoing tunes. Bittersweet songs for heart and soul. Melancholia all over this record, which only contains 8 songs, all solid ones, and finishes after 29 minutes. Maybe after 25 years, Jones thinks that less is more.

SINGLE

ALBUM


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TOUR

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DEERHOOF – San Francisco Veterans Released Their Enigmatic Dance Album ‘NOBLE AND GODLIKE IN RUIN’

Posted on by JL

New longplayers

26 April 2025


Photo by Satoru Eguch

Band: DEERHOOF
Who: Hard-working indie punk-rockers from
San Francsico who “keep it boxy and harsh since
1994”.

New Album: NOBLE AND GODLIKE IN RUIN
Their 19th one.

Press info: “For a band that seems to thrive on collapse, it’s simply amazing that
this US/Japanese quartet is now celebrating their 31st year. The inventive quartet
release new albums on the schedule of a young band still hungry for its first break.

As ‘Noble and Godlike in Ruin‘ reaffirms, each one discovers some previously unknown combination of candy-coated hard-rock riffs and free-jazz percussive freakouts, sideways
J-pop hooks and fearsome dissonance, trenchant social commentary and surrealist humor.

This music is joyful and foreboding, cybernetic and deeply human, carrying an implicit
note of defiant optimism in their refusal to bow to convention or received wisdom. Fronting it all is Satomi Matsuzaki’s inimitable alto, whose plainspoken calm can seem strangely outside of the band’s maelstrom. Deerhoof is defined by such paradoxes.”


New album artwork – That guy looks like Thom Yorke?

Pitchfork: “Noble and Godlike in Ruin is cluttered and dense, sometimes overwhelmingly so. Everything feels stitched together, almost surgical—like, well, a Frankenstein monster. When
the approach works, it’s exciting.”

TUTV: Sounds like some sort of prog-dance pop-rock party for mainstream disco and
R&B haters. Enigmatic tunes, jumping from left to right, forth and back. Sometimes trippy, sometimes ambient, but melodically, upside down most of the time. Satomi Matsuzaki‘s peculiar voice draws a lot of attention, as usual. You need a couple of spins to get into their puzzling bleep bleep bleep universe, well I did, and I’m still puzzled.

ALBUM


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Tour 2025

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VIAGRA BOYS – Swedish Mean Groove Machine Strikes Again With New 4th Album ‘VIAGR A BOYS’

Posted on by JL

New longplayers

25 April 2025

Band: VIAGRA BOYS
Who: Swedish punk-rock dropouts fronted
by the human tattoo Sebastian Murphy.

New album: VIAGR ABOYS
Not their smartest LP title, but
already their 4th one.

Press info: “The LP sees VB turn inwards, leaving the acid-laced, conspiracy-addled societal commentary of previous LP Cave World behind to journey into the acid-laced, conspiracy-addled landscape within. Absurd, intense and surprisingly tender, viagr aboys shuts out the noise to find that the important part of being alive in the big, stupid world is figuring out that the world inside of you that is equally big and stupid.”


Press photography by Fredrik Bengtsson

NME says: “Eclectic art-punk for the end times. The album is a fun, funny and wise portrait of contemporary anxieties. Perhaps this is the simple and stupid philosophical truth that Viagra Boys are getting at: love is the only thing that will stop us losing our minds in the face of reality’s horrors.” Score: 4/5.


Photo by Turn Up The Volume

TUTV: At their core, Viagra Boys still are the mean groove machine we know from
their swirling start. Whether they speed up, slow down or move somewhere in
between (except for the closing, tender piano ballad), they always have an intense
impact on your body’s movements.

Wordsmith Murphy still keeps on rattling and rap-like rolling non-stop, but the overall
sonic vibe is more varied this time. From catchingly capricious to one-direction punk crazy, to sultry saxy. I’m not sure all the time what Murphy rambles about, but our messed-up times are always in the middle of his bizarre stories. Ultimately, it’s all about love, the only answer to hate. Another great job, boys.

Singles: Man Made Of Meat / Uno II / The Body Bog

– MAN MADE OF MEAT –

– UNO II –

– THE BODY BOG –

ALBUM


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Instagram – Website

BEIRUT – Stream New Album ‘A STUDY OF LOSSES’

Posted on by JL

20 April 2025

American singer-songwriter Zach Condon‘s musical project BEIRUT
just released his 7th longplayer, named A STUDY OF LOSSES .

Press info: “The album originated in spring 2023, when Viktoria Dalborg, director at the Swedish circus Kompani Giraff, reached out to Condon, asking if he would be interested
to provide the music for their next project, a show based on an adaptation of a novel by German author Judith Schalansky.

The main themes in Schalansky‘s book and in the adaptation for the circus show deal with the concept of loss and the impermanence of everything known to us: from extinct animal species, lost architectural and literary treasures to more abstract concepts of loss through the process of aging.

A Study Of Losses, turned into a rather unexpected piece of music-at 18 songs and nearly an hour long, it is by far the largest album Beirut has ever done, and amongst some of their most beautiful work to date.”

Pitchfork: “For Zach Condon to write music for a troupe of acrobats might seem a little too on the nose, given his roots. But the results are the most effortless and surprising Beirut album in ages… A Study of Losses is an example of the peculiar magic that can happen under seemingly absurd circumstances.”

SINGLE

ALBUM


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Instagram – All Albums

THE UNDERGROUND YOUTH Release Soothing Night-In Soundtrack ‘DÉCOLLAGE’

Posted on by JL

8 April 2025


New album artwork

Manchester‘s psych post-punk mavericks THE UNDERGROUND YOUTH,
orchestrated by voice/face/songwriter Craig Dyer released their 12th LP,
titled DÉCOLLAGE.

Press info: Self-written, recorded and produced by Dyer, ‘Décollage’ is an exercise
in artistic deconstruction in both name and form, marking a decisive musical shift
for The Underground Youth.

Dyer about the new album: “Décollage is the art of creating an image by ripping, tearing
away or removing pieces of an original existing work. My idea was to apply this technique
to music. My idea was to apply this technique to music.


Serge Gainsbourg

“I built walls of static coated hip-hop drum samples, layers of Lee Hazlewood style string arrangements and Serge Gainsbourg inspired mellotron melodies, then I began tearing
away at these beautiful, chaotic walls of noise.”


Lee Hazlewood

It’s a trip-hop infused soundtrack to a collection of lyrics dealing with adoration, ancestry, originality, hallucinations of revolution and a hope that something better can be born from
the ashes of the horror that exists in our world.”

TUTV: Décollage doesn’t sound like a traditional record to my ears, it sounds more like listening to a film noir score with a friend, who came over on a lazy night for a drink and
a chat. Relaxing, charming and soothing music like this is the perfect match for such occasions.

Singles: You (The Feral Human Thunderstorm) / One of The Dreamers / Calliope

– YOU (The Feral Human Thunderstorm) –
Orchestral splendour

– CALIOPE –
Spine-chilling musing

– ONE OF THE DREAMERS –
Tantalizing romanticism

ALBUM


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Instagram – Bandcamp

PIGS PIGS PIGS PIGS PIGS PIGS PIGS – British Punk Screamers Are ‘DEATH HILARIOUS’

Posted on by JL

6 April 2025

Band: PIGS PIGS PIGS PIGS PIGS PIGS PIGS
Who: British stoner metal squad from
Newcastle upon Tyne.

New album: DEATH HILARIOUS
Their 5th longplayer.


Album artwork

Press info: The fifth album from Newcastle’s riff wizards is defined by calculated aggression and self-lacerating lyrics. Its startling bonuses include playful synth work
and the appearance of giant hip-hop star Ei-D with its title juxtaposing absurdity and seriousness, this is Death Hilarious.”

New Noise Magazine: “The variety in the styles and sounds is the real strength of Death Hilarious. Their blending of genres and timbres is masterful and really deserves some props. The trip through various sounds truly peaks with the single “Glib Tounged.”

TUTV: Pigs x 7 sound like a bulldozing battalion rolling all over your speakers.
Tons of hefty horsepower, heated exuberance, and merciless beatings keep
your whole neighborhood awake. They’re a non-stop vomiting volcano.

SINGLE

ALBUM


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Instagram – Linktree

BLACK COUNTRY, NEW ROAD – British Inventive Collective Return With New Bewildering Album ‘FOREVER HOWLONG’

Posted on by JL

5 April 2025

Band: BLACK COUNTRY, NEW ROAD
Who: Experimental 7-piece from London producing a hypnotic mix
of prog and math rock, jazz, post-psych-punk, and other musical roads.

The band made an instant impression with their 2021 debut full-length
For The First Time and repeated the feat with follow-up LP Ants From
Up There.

Dark clouds threatened the collective’s future as frontman and otherwordly
vox Isaac Wood left, citing mental health problems, shortly after the 2nd album
was recorded. But the band doubted not one second to go on without him and
with this new bewildering album, titled FOREVER HOWLONG, their decision is
one to cheer about, loudly.

DIY Magazine says: “‘Forever Howlong’ is so distinct from Black Country, New Road’s
past albums that you’d be forgiven for thinking it was made by a different band altogether. Through the redirection of their sound, lyrics, and indeed, vocalists, ‘Forever Howlong’ redefines who BCNR are. But if one thing remains constant, it’s their unwavering desire to reinvent what their music can be.

TUTV: With a range of unusual rock/pop instruments, such as a mandolin, clarinet, harmonium, harpsichord, timpani, lap steel guitar, banjo, and the traditional ones
(guitar, bass, drums) BCNR brew an inventive and singular sound that includes jazz,
pop, musical, opera, folk, post-punk and prog-rock. Somewhere between Black Midi
and Arcade Fire.

With no mainstream, yet accessible songs, wrapped in an organic package they attract thousands and thousands of fans. Georgia Ellery‘s riveting vocals make you (almost) forget that Isaac Wood‘s mystifying voice was a very significant force on the band’s first two LPs. BCNR overcame the loss and prove here that they have the far-reaching potential to be around for a long time.

Singles/clips: Besties / Happy Birthday / For The Old Country

– BESTIES –

– HAPPY BIRTHDAY –

– FOR THE OLD COUNTRY –

ALBUM


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Instagram – Bandcamp

HEISA – Belgian Post-Punk Crusaders Hit The Bullseye With Third LP ‘TROIS’

Posted on by JL

4 April 2025

Band: HEISA
Who: 3 Belgian noizzy
post-punk crusaders.

Album: TROIS

Press info: HEISA embarks on a new chapter with the release of their third album.
This album showcases an evolution in their sound, keeping the bombastic drums,
droning guitars, and dynamic vocals, but pushing further into melody and experimentation.

On this new record, Heisa brings their emotions to the forefront, revealing a raw, edgy intensity in tracks like “Lazar” and “Sad Dancer,” where vulnerability and tension intertwine.

TUTV: For a chance, I’ll start with my eager ears’ final verdict. Trois is without a shadow
of a doubt the most balanced, the most arousing and the most vitalizing noise rock record I heard in a very long time. No, never a dull moment. Heisa grab you by the throat for 40 wicked minutes, and you won’t protest for one second. The cliché all killers, no fillers is so accurate here. This magnum opus will show up in multiple end-of-the-year lists.

Les trois singles (Nandor / Flowers / The Harmonist) were the harbinger for something really special. Which we experience now. Every song stands as tall as the Eiffel Tower. There’s always an enigmatic anxiousness in the air that tests your nerves and boggles your mind.

On several occasions (Flowers / After Hours / Shifting / Sad Dancer) Heisa tease you with voltaic foreplay riffs before heading towards an orgastic burst of demonic hullabaloo. Primal screams out of the darkness, schizophrenic guitars and raw and rough post-punk dynamics work together to create a hell-raising turbulence. Think Fugazi and The Jesus Lizard .

No arty farty tricks, no unnecessary overdubs, no useless volume exaggerations.
The production is flawless, and is an instrumental factor for the overall organic
resonance of this expressive exploit. I’m quite sure that the late great Steve Albini
would have loved it.

Heisa is going places. Don’t miss them.
Embrace them. Join them. Love them.

Singles/clips:

– NANDOR –

– FLOWERS –

– THE HARMONIST –

STREAM ALBUM


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BRYAN FERRY And AMELIA BARRATT Surprise With Cinematic And Storytelling Album ‘LOOSE TALK’

Posted on by JL

2 April 2025


Photo by Albert Sanchez

Artists: BRIAN FERRY and AMELIA BARRATT
Who: The former Roxy Music luminary,
now 79, and a Scottish artist/writer/painter.

Album: LOOSE TALK


Artwork

Ferry: “The whole experience of making Loose Talk has had an interesting newness about
it. It seems to have opened a whole new chapter in my work. There’s a really strong mood
to the work that Amelia does and I was very conscious of not getting in the way of her words. Hopefully, together, we’ve created something neither could do on our own.

The nearest I ever got to doing pieces like this before would maybe be back in Roxy with
“In Every Dream Home A Heartache” and “Mother Of Pearl.” To some extent, those are
kind of spoken monologues.”

Barratt: “Loose Talk is a conversation between two artists: a collaborative album of music
by Bryan Ferry with spoken texts by me. It’s cinematic; music put to pictures. There’s possibility for experimentation within a frame. And there’s a freedom in knowing exactly what my part to play is, then being able to pass a baton, stretching out creatively and knowing there is someone on the other side to take it further. Nothing feels off limits.”

The Guardian (British newspaper): “Veering from the standard heritage-artist playbook,
Ferry pairs unearthed demos from across his career with cool narration from Barratt, to beautiful, unsettling effect… If the end results aren’t quite as holistic as the “duet” both parties have claimed it as, it still works. Barratt’s texts are striking enough that the listener doesn’t
long for an instrumental version; Ferry’s approach is intriguing and impressively original.
It’s a diversion, but one that transforms his past into something fresh.”

TUTV: It’s a bit weird to listen to a Bryan Ferry record on which he doesn’t sing a song.
But as it’s not a traditional, smooth Ferry pop album, it really doesn’t matter. Furthermore Amelia Barratt‘s spoken-word performance is absorbing and intriguing, making this sonically cinematic opus, work arrestingly.

It brings Laurie Anderson‘s latest album, coincidentally named Amelia. Loose Talk is the kind of ambient records I play to give my ears and my mind some rest from listening to lots of noizzz all day long.

SINGLE

ALBUM