Kacey Musgraves was born in Golden, Texas. She didn’t release her debut album until she was almost 25. Before that, she performed as Hannah Montana at children’s birthday parties and appeared on the talent show Nashville Star. In 2012 she…
Jessie Ware is the UK’s most likeable pop star. She’s charming where other mainstream acts leave me cold. Ware has a gorgeous voice, but she’s closer to Sade’s sophisticated poise than Celine Dion’s vocal histrionics. Ware’s dance-pop and blue-eyed soul…
The New Pornographers emerged in 2000, pooling talent from nationally successful Canadian bands like Zumpano, Destroyer, and Limblifter. While A.C. Newman is the group’s main creative force, the band spotlighted Neko Case’s warm, sumptuous voice and Dan Bejar’s offbeat songs…
Katie Crutchfield started playing music in high school with her twin sister Alison. Inspired by DIY punk and Rilo Kiley, they released two albums as P.S. Eliot. Crutchfield took the name Waxahatchee from an Alabama creek near where she was…
Jenn Wassner is talented and prolific. She’s a member of Wye Oak and Bon Iver, and she’s collaborated with Titus Andronicus and Dirty Projectors. She also releases solo music as Flock of Dimes. Flock of Dimes’ three albums are all…
The United Kingdom’s most likeable pop star, Jessie Ware is charming while other mainstream acts leave me cold. She has a gorgeous voice, but she’s closer to the sophisticated poise of Sade than the vocal histrionics of Celine Dion. Ware’s…
British soul collective Sault have broken almost every rule of album-making during their brief career. Debuting in 2019, they’ve already released 12 studio albums. Yet they’ve only played live once and have never given an interview. Their already sizeable catalogue…
Every New Zealand #1 single… 7 Gangnam Style by Psy Topped the NZ chart for 6 (non-consecutive) weeks from 24 September 2012. Psy He doesn’t fit the standard K-pop idol image of being incredibly young, good-looking, and able to carry…
Wolf Alice started in 2010 as an acoustic duo when singer Ellie Rowsell and guitarist Joff Oddie met on an internet forum. They added drummer Joel Amey and bassist Theo Ellis in 2012. They released a couple of EPs, before…
The members of The 1975 met at Wilmslow High School in their teens, playing at gigs organised by a local council worker. They started as a punk band, with Matt Healy, the son of two prominent actors, on drums. With…
Every New Zealand #1 single… 9 Love the Way You Lie by Eminem featuring Rihanna Topped the NZ chart for 4 weeks from 19 July 2010. Eminem Missouri-born rapper Eminem broke through to the mainstream with his alter ego, Slim…
On this site, I have a list of my favourite album for every year from 1963 to the present. The only artist to appear more than once is Big Thief. The band formed in Brooklyn in 2015, although leader Adrianne…
Kathleen Edwards was born in Ottawa, but a diplomat’s daughter, she grew up in Korea and Switzerland. She learned the violin and listened to Tom Petty, Neil Young, and Bob Dylan. After high school, she started a career as a…
When I started this site, I wouldn’t have considered reviewing a country-pop teenage starlet, but Taylor Swift has enjoyed a phenomenally successful career where she’s transcended genre boundaries. Named after James Taylor, even as she’s left the country genre, Swift…
Moscow-based artist Kate NV was born Eaterina Shilonosova in Kazan, Russia’s fifth largest city. She’s a woman of many talents – she also serves as vocalist for the post-punk band Glintshake, and has also worked with a collective of avant-garde…
Gob Nation are a South London-based group of musicians who live in a former care home and play in different band configurations. The bands trace their origins to the 2010s punk band Joanna Gruesome, whose name plays on indie harpist…
Michelle Zauner was born in South Korea and started her music career with Philadelphia emo band Little Big League. She took a hiatus from Little Big League to care for her terminally ill mother and wrote songs as therapy. She…
Sparks are the world’s longest-running cult band. The only constant members are siblings Ron and Russell Mael, who grew up in Pacific Palisades, California. They emerged with the glam movement of the 1970s. Their single ‘This Town Ain’t Big Enough…
It feels as though Taylor Swift has been around forever, but she released her seventh album, 2019’s Lover, while still in her twenties. Swift started young, releasing her 2006 debut at 16, and has used her marketing savvy to keep…
Texas-born Miranda Lambert occupies her own zone between the current mainstream country and the more rootsy sounds of Americana. As she explains, being a major-label artist involves compromise. I love raw albums. I’d love to record an album in a…
Tamara Lindeman, also known as Tamara Hope, was a notable actor before she became a musician. She grew up in a family of pilots and was a licensed snowboarding teacher in her teens. Lindeman played the lead roles in the…
Jason Isbell joined Patterson Hood and Mike Cooley as a guitarist and vocalist in acclaimed Southern Rock band, The Drive-By Truckers, in 2002. He contributed songs like ‘Outfit’, which details his father’s advice upon joining the band (“Don’t worry about…
If you’re an old man, shouting at the clouds about how modern music isn’t the same as it was in your heyday, you’ll probably enjoy the Americana of Jason Isbell. Isbell’s music could have been made any time in the…
9 Party Rock Anthem by LMFAO (featuring Lauren Bennett & GoonRock) Topped the NZ chart: for 11 weeks from 4 April 2011. The two members of LMFAO are descended from musical royalty. Redfoo is the youngest son of Motown Records founder…
Porter Weston Robinson grew up in Chapel Hill, a town in North Carolina that also produced James Taylor, George Hamilton IV, and Ben Folds Five. The son of an attorney, Robinson was a debater at school. Self-taught, he started producing EDM…
A trio of sisters from California, HAIM take their name from Este, Danielle, and Alana’s surname. The group grew up playing in a cover band, Rockinhaim, with their parents; their father Mordechai was a professional soccer player in Israel. Danielle toured…
Every New Zealand #1 single… 8 Just The Way You Are by Bruno Mars Topped the NZ chart: for 2 weeks from 4 October 2010. Peter Hernandez was born in Honolulu to parents with Filipino, Jewish, and Puerto Rican heritage.…
Solána Imani Rowe was born in St. Louis, Missouri. She grew up with a Christian mother and a Muslim father. She studied marine biology at the University of Delaware, dropping out during her last semester. SZA created her stage name…
The Decemberists rode the wave of early 21st-century Indie to success, attracting attention with their predilection for historical epics and olde English folk music. They hail from Portland, Oregon, but the band was named for the Decembrist Revolution in 19th-century…
British pop maverick has enjoyed her most successful album release cycle yet with her eighth album Brat. It’s sold well in the UK and US and enjoyed critical acclaim. It’s even become part of the US political landscape – democratic…
Dawn Richard was born in New Orleans, of Louisiana Creole and Haitian descent. Her family moved to Baltimore after they were displaced by Hurricane Katrina. Richard’s father was the percussionist for Chocolate Milk – a funk and soul band that…
Taylor Swift is a megastar, and her celebrity profile sometimes overshadows her musical abilities. Opinions on Swift are wildly diverse. In some quarters, she’s dismissed as disposable music for teenage girls. In others, she’s highly respected as a songwriter and…
Every New Zealand #1 single… 2 Freaks by Timmy Trumpet and Savage Topped the NZ chart: from 17 November 2014 for five weeks After years of bickering over the racehorse Phar Lap, pavlova, and Crowded House, ‘Freaks’ is a lovely…
Vampire Weekend were formed by students at Columbia University. Frontman Ezra Koenig named the project after a vampire movie he started making in college. The group were interested in African music and punk rock, influences that are clear on their…
Milwaukee-born Julia Holter bridges musical worlds. She is classically trained and merges avant-garde ideas with electronic sounds and indie chamber pop. Impressively, she played all the instruments and self-produced her early albums. Holter is Influenced by esoteric musicians like Alice…
Ariana Grande pivoted to a music career after four seasons on Nickelodeon teen comedy Victorious. She released her debut, Yours Truly, in 2013 at the age of 20. It showcased a beautiful voice with a four-octave range, warm tones, and…
Julia Holter was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Her family moved to Los Angeles when she was young. She studied music at The University of Michigan, earning a degree in composition. Inspired by avant-garde composer Michael Pisaro, she studied at CalArts. After…
Every New Zealand #1 single… 5 Love Yourself by Justin Bieber Topped the NZ chart: from 7 December 2015 for 10 weeks. Canadian pop singer Justin Bieber was discovered via YouTube. His mother had uploaded videos of Bieber singing onto…
Burna Boy’s seventh album, I Told Them…, recently topped the UK charts. It feels symbolic, with the Nigerian-born artist the first African to top the UK charts. It’s the culmination of a decade of hard work, where he’s released seven…
Japanese-American indie-rock musician Mitski is one of the most interesting figures currently working in popular music – Iggy Pop famously labelled her as “the most advanced American songwriter that I know”. While guitar rock can sometimes feel stale in the…
Introduction Amber Bain’s big break came in 2012 when she was introduced to The 1975’s Matt Healy. Still a teenager, she was signed to the band’s label and attracted attention with her mysterious first releases. Her voice is androgynous and…
Jenny Lewis’ musical career is the second act in her working life. She first achieved fame as a child star, appearing in commercials then movies like The Wizard and Troop Beverly Hills. She largely quit acting in the mid-1990s to…
Caroline Polachek has enjoyed a breakout year, enjoying critical adoration for her second solo album, Desire, I Want to Turn Into You. Her 2019 single, ‘So Hot You’re Hurting My Feelings’ turned into a sleeper success via TikTok, paving the…
My 8-year-old daughter decided that it was her turn to write this weekend, offering to prepare a post about Parry Gripp. Thankful for a weekend off, to celebrate my 15th wedding anniversary, I agreed. She’s even more succinct than I…
Hayley Williams moved to Franklin, Tennessee, in 2002, to escape from her abusive stepfather. She formed Paramore at the age of 15, joining forces with Josh and Zac Farro, whom she met at a music program for homeschooled students. She…
Born in a nomad camp, Niger’s Mdou Moctar first came to prominence after the release of his debut album, 2008’s Anar. Its songs were hugely popular throughout the Sahel region of Africa and traded on cell phones. Thanks to the compilation Music…
Newcastle Upon Tyne’s errant folkie Richard Dawson is prolific, releasing a deluge of material as a solo artist, in collaborations like Hen Ogledd, and under the alter-ego Eyeballs. His rough-hewn guitar and freewheeling vocals are distinctive. Japan’s David Sylvian recently…
The sophisticated monologues of London electronic duo Real Lies have an obvious precedent. It’s hard not to compare them with 1980s synth pop-duo The Pet Shop Boys. Among other similarities both bands feature former music journalists as lead singers. Real…
Carly Rae Jepsen is pigeonholed as a one-hit-wonder. Her 2012 song ‘Call Me Maybe’ is one of the most ubiquitous hits of its era. If you haven’t been paying attention since, you may be surprised to learn that Jepsen’s become…
As a teenager, Tirzah Mastin was on the path to becoming a classically trained harpist. Attending music school, she found more joy in the songs she created with classmate Mica Levi. After finishing school, Tirzah worked as a print designer,…
Elizabeth Woolridge Grant made an immediate impact on popular culture with her 2011 debut single ‘Video Games’, released under her stage name Lana Del Rey. Her haunting lower register and cinematic feel, chronicling a one-sided relationship. the single immediately established…
Brooklyn’s Taja Cheek comes from a family entwined in the music business – her grandfather ran a jazz club and her father worked in record label marketing. Like Sade, L’Rain is both Cheek’s stage name and the name of her…
Singer-songwriter Angel Olsen hails from St. Louis Missouri, where she was raised by a foster family. Because of the age difference between herself and her foster family, she often wondered about their childhood. Her interest in the 1950s has trickled…
Rachel Ann Morris took the stage name Rae Morris, a strange choice given that she shares her handle with a well-known Australian makeup artist. She was born in the seaside resort town of Blackpool, also the birthplace of Graham Nash,…
Canadian pop treasure Carly Rae Jepsen achieved peak cultural saturation in 2012 with the inescapable hit ‘Call Me Maybe’. ‘Call Me Maybe’ started as an acoustic song, but dressed up with some synth strings and endorsed by Justin Bieber, it was…
Charlotte Emma Aitchison took her stage name from her teenage MSN Messenger handle. Of part Indian heritage, Aitchison experiences sound-to-colour synaesthesia, where she sees sounds as colours – a phenomenon shared with other notable musicians including Duke Ellington, Billy Joel, Oliver…
Ariana Grande-Butera was born in Boca Raton, Florida to an Italian-American heritage. She started her career in musicals and as an actor, appearing on the teen series Victorious. She transitioned into a recording career, releasing her debut album Yours Truly…
Carly Rae Jepsen placed third on Canadian Idol in 2007, performing songs by Janis Ian and Rickie Lee Jones. She made a likeable coffee-shop pop album in 2008, which was released only in Canada and which featured a cover of…
Tyler Gregory Okonma, better known as Tyler, the Creator, has enjoyed a rapid career evolution over the last decade. He’s of Igbo ancestry on his father’s side. He started as a brash teenager, gaining attention with his provocative lyrics for…
Math-rock band tricot formed in Kyoto in 2010, releasing their debut album in 2013. Tricot spent time as an all-female trio, but drummer Yuusuke Yoshida was added in 2017. Yoshida provides the engine for the twin guitar attack of Ikumi…
When Lana Del Rey emerged with the viral single ‘Video Games’ in 2011, she wasn’t someone who I expected to enjoy a long career. ‘Video Games’ had a unique atmosphere, a cinematic ballad with nostalgic Hollywood glamour, but it pigeon-holed…
Little Simz is a London-based rapper, singer, and actor with Nigerian heritage. She became a public figure in her mid-teens; in 2010 she appeared in the TV series Spirit Warriors and released her first mixtape Stratosphere. Her first full-length albums, released…
Ella Marija Lani Yelich-O’Connor was born in Auckland, New Zealand, the daughter of a poet and a civil engineer. She grew up immersed in poetry and literature. She built a profile through SoundCloud and talent shows, and in June 2013,…
From Richmond, Virginia, Lucy Dacus is the daughter of a music teacher. She was raised in a Christian family, and her grappling with faith – a fervent believer in her early teens, she’s now a lapsed Christian – is a…
Julien Baker grew up in Tennessee, attending Church and learning on her father’s guitar. She played in bands named Star Killer and Forrister, before she recorded demos that didn’t fit her band. At barely 20, these demos became Sprained Ankle,…
Janelle Monáe Robinson is an intimidatingly talented auteur. As a musician, she’s a capable singer, rapper, songwriter, producer, and dancer, as well as a record label owner. She also makes conceptual albums; her first EP and albums are based around…
Natalie Prass was born in Cleveland, Ohio, and grew up in Richmond, Virginia. She went to Berklee College of Music and served as a keyboardist in Jenny Lewis’ backing band. Prass signed with Matthew E. White’s Spacebomb Records and released…
The 1975 formed as a high school band in Wilmslow, Cheshire, where a council worker organised frequent gigs for teenagers. Vocalist and guitarist Matty Healy, the son of prominent actors, was joined by guitarist Adam Hann, bassist Ross MacDonald, and…
Congratulations to Sheik Yerbouti, who scored a perfect 20/20 in last week’s quiz. There were lots of strong 18s and 19s too. I apologise in advance if this week’s quiz is a little tricky for some regular quiz participants –…
Rosalía Vila Tobella was raised in a small town in northern Barcelona, Spain. She was singing with her father at the age of 7, although she mostly listened to music in English and didn’t discover flamenco until she was 13.…
Jessie Ware is the UK’s most likeable mainstream pop star. I struggle with mega-sellers like Adele and Ed Sheeran, but Ware’s low-key personality is adorable. She packed her 2012 debut Devotion with great songs. But she suffered from diminishing returns…
Nigeria’s Burna Boy was born Damini Ebunoluwa Ogulu. He’s connected with Nigerian musical royalty – his grandfather once managed Afrobeat legend Fela Kuti. His star is on the rise. He’s guested on a UK number-one hit for Stormzy, while African…
Brandy Clark was born in Morton, Washington, a small logging town. She grew up enamoured with country music, naming the Patsy Cline movie Sweet Dreams as a particularly vivid influence. She took time out from music in her teens, attending…
Chicago’s Jamila Woods is a writer and a recording artist, and as such she’s able to sing eloquently about racial issues. Her second album, 2019’s Legacy! Legacy!, was a neo-soul masterpiece, so recently I’ve gone back to her 2016 debut…
Chicago’s Jamila Woods is a recording artist and writer. She graduated from Brown University with a B.A. in Africana Studies and Theater & Performance Studies. Her poetry has been featured in anthologies like Courage: Daring Poems for Gutsy Girls. Both…
Welcome to the final batch of 2019 reviews. One record I thoroughly enjoy, but only picked up on year end lists a couple of weeks ago, while the other two I’ve had on the backburner for months. These New Puritans…
It’s important to be a lifelong learner. At the age of twenty I would have unequivocally hated all of these albums. Now mainstream rock seems stagnant, and lots of the interesting action is in genres that I would have dismissed.…
Indie folk and Americana band Big Thief are based in Brooklyn, but their sound recalls the rustic feel of The Band, Gillian Welch, and Neil Young. Along with songwriter, guitarist, and vocalist Adrianne Lenker, Big Thief’s current lineup also includes…
Here are three 2019 albums that are quirky and full of exotic sounds. I’ve ordered them in magnitude of weirdness, with the least eccentric first. Enjoy! Cate Le Bon Reward Cate Le Bon was discovered by Super Furry Animals front-man…
I’ve been chewing through 2019 releases with three more album reviews. Two of these albums could have come straight from the 1970s – the soul of Michael Kiwanuka and the retro country of Michaela Anne. FKA Twigs’ Magdalene has a…
Nigeria’s Burna Boy was born Damini Ebunoluwa Ogulu. He’s connected with Nigerian musical royalty – his grandfather once managed Afrobeat star Fela Kuti. After four albums, his star is clearly on the rise; he’s currently at UK number one for…
This week’s reviews of 2019 albums covers indie releases. Indie is a nebulous word – technically it means releases from an independent label. But it’s come to define a specific approach as well – often music with shades of artiness…
So I don’t clog up your Wordpress feeds, I’ve combined 2019 album reviews for three US artists into one post. They all mine different genres, but they’ve all achieved significant commercial success this year, reaching #1, #2, and #3 on…
English folkie Richard Dawson is onto his sixth album and pushing forty, but he’s certainly not a household name. Instead, he’s beloved by music critics but too much of an acquired taste for most. His folkish guitar playing is rough…
Chicago born poet and singer-songwriter Jamila Woods dedicated her second album to twelve of her heroes. Each of the tracks is named for one of Woods’ role models, and are intended as self-portraits of these ground-breaking creative forces. Legacy! Legacy!…
Born in a nomad camp, Niger’s Mdou Moctar first came to prominence after the release of his debut album, 2008’s Anar. Its songs were hugely popular throughout the Sahel region of Africa, traded on cell-phones. Thanks to the compilation Music…
Caroline Polachek grew up in Connecticut and was formerly the vocalist for the indie-pop duo Chairlift, who had a surprise hit in 2008 with ‘Bruises’. She’s previously flirted with a solo career, releasing albums under the aliases Ramona Lisa and…
The saddest story in popular music this year probably belonged to David Berman. The former leader of Silver Jews had taken a ten year hiatus from music, during which he sought to undo the damage to society caused by his…
Genre: Pop Pop star or pop maverick? Charlotte Emma Aitchison is talented enough to go in either direction, and her entire career to date has felt like a struggle between the two camps. 2014’s Sucker focused on radio-friendly pop/rock like…
Genre: Folk-rock, Singer-songwriter New Zealand is presently enjoying a very strong crop of female asinger-songwriters. Along with Hollie Fullbrook of Tiny Ruins, we also have the weirdness of Aldous Harding and the imagery-laden writing of Nadia Reid. Pop superstar Lorde…
The New Pornographers are successors to vintage pop/rock acts like The Beach Boys, The Beatles, and The Zombies. All of these groups could write brilliant pop songs that incorporate memorable melodies, beautiful harmonies, and intricate arrangements. The Canadian super-group have…
Indie-folk band Big Thief started recording Two Hands five days after completing U.F.O.F. (released in May 2019). U.F.O.F. was recorded in a cabin in Washington state, and has a mystical backwoods atmosphere that recalls The Band. In comparison, Two Hands…
Ezra Koenig and drummer Chris Tomson started playing together in a rap collaboration named “L’Homme Run” while attending Columbia University. The pair were interested in punk and African music and named their band after a short film Koenig attempted to…
In 1985, four male country superstars – Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, and Kris Kristofferson – teamed up to make their first album as The Highwaymen. The group took their name from a song by Jimmy Webb, and the…
When Lana Del Rey emerged with the virally successful single ‘Video Games’ in 2011, she wasn’t someone who I had pegged for a long career. ‘Video Games’ had a unique atmosphere, a cinematic ballad with nostalgic Hollywood glamour, but it…
My expectations for Taylor Swift‘s seventh album, Lover, were low. Her previous album, Reputation, was disappointing, with its defensive lyrical stance and dark textures. The first two songs released from Lover were both concerning – lead single ‘Me!’ seemed designed…
