The Smu Reviews

Jupiter Rising

Jupiter Artland

Striking just the right balance between a welcoming, family friendly atmosphere and an unapologetically daring lineup it proved to be the perfect way to enjoy some fantastic, and occasionally challenging, artists over a blissfully sunny, late-summer Scottish weekend.

Dawn Of Chromatica

Lady Gaga

If one trip to the planet Chromatica wasn’t enough for you then you are in luck, because Dawn Of Chromatica is beaming its way into our lives on September 3rd.

Jupiter Rising Festival

Jupiter Artland, Edinburgh

Festivals are a thing again! Read my preview for next week's Jupiter Rising on Louder Than War now to get you in the mood. I can't wait!

Powder Pink!

When world’s collide

Miley covering Shampoo for Gucci feels both completely surreal and totally perfect..

Sentient

Jackie Higgins

Our human experience of the senses is surprisingly limited when compared to the more curious corners of the natural world, but possibly not as limited as we think.

NO WONDER THERE’S PANIC IN THE INDUSTRY, I MEAN, PLEASE

The #FreeBritney movement goes mainstream, read my thought on it here

Passion Play

Kristian North

Former Babysitters’ frontman Kristian North is back with his second solo release, Passion Play, an eclectic and quirky sophisti-pop delight.

BLEAKSCAPES

The Dept. of Phantom Limbs

Transmissions on the midnight radio from Johnny Day, sole employee of The Dept. Of Phantom Limbs, a somewhat shadowy agency responsible for the broadcast of ‘cursed sounds, haunted recordings and anomalous audio’.

Gintsugi EP

Gintsugi

Gintsugi releases her eponymous debut EP, a beautifully crafted set of songs with an unsettling but elegant sound.

TL;DR: WTF? HMLTD NFTS FTW FYI

Musicians making (doge)coin

HMLTD announce that they are moving into the crypto sphere. Read my thoughts on this and techno art in general.

Small Flames

Dylan Blackthorn

Small Flames, the debut solo release by Dylan Blackthorn, is an energetic and entertaining album that should delight anyone who likes their country served with a dash of the unexpected.

It's really you but no one ever discovers

Dear Hannah, Love Miley.

Has there ever been a more perfect trip through the infinity mirrors of pop alter-ego than the love letter to Hannah Montana penned by Miley Cyrus this week?

Anaximander

Alex Gage’s Flagship

Tonight’s presentation will contain twists, turns, low drama, high comedy and at times…music.

Sufferin’ Safari

The Dead Freights

I caught up with frontman Charlie James and drummer Louis Duarte to discuss on-set near-death experiences, upcoming style choices and bringing the sexy back to rock & roll.

Don't go in the bushes

Everything you never needed to know about the Village People but will be glad I told you anyway.

Nick Cave's Bar

Aug Stone

Taking place in those strange, hazy, pre-internet times when travelling unprepared was a more perilous proposition there is a pleasingly shambolic quality that will be familiar to anyone who ever had a really great idea they didn’t quite think through.

CRYBABY

TASH

BIG BOYS DON’T CRY-AY-AY but that’s exactly what TASH expects of their man.

Dumb Enough

Kirin J Callinan

The enfant terrible of the Australian music scene and father of the screaming cowboy meme is back.

Edge of the Moon

Lauren Moon

As nocturnally ethereal as the celestial body itself.

Mechthild

Nero Kane

Nero Kane in collaboration with Samantha Stella.

Dying on the vine

Unify Separate

Continuing on from where Solitude & I left off, Dying on the Vine tackles the inescapable avatars of modern digital life.

Lioness

Stony Sugarskull

A fierce, feline mix of psychedelic, punk, shoegaze and kraut-rock fitting of its title

Fever and the Thunder

The Dead Freights

A last minute entry to my top singles of the year.

Elleven Women

Steve Kilbey

An inventive collection of songs with a neat and intriguing concept..

REBEL YELL

Miley Cyrus

It should be no surprise that pop’s own Rebel Queen might eventually go rawk but Plastic Hearts is in many ways a surprisingly grown-up affair.

Automatic Paintings

Mark Fernyhough

Read my review of the track and interview with Mark where we discuss the recording of his upcoming album, international film soundtrack projects and the collision of music and art.

JUNK-SHOP PUNK-ROCK GLAM-ROCK DISCOTHEQUE

Sarah Sunday

A riotous injection of day-glo, bubblegum pop punk right where we need it!

YOUR DISCO NEEDS YOU

Kylie Minogue.

Kylie and disco go together like glitter and sequins so this should be a triumph - and it very nearly is.

THINGS GO BETTER WITH A LITTLE BIT OF RAZZMATAZZ

iDKHOW

I Don’t Know How But They Found Me are exactly the kind of band who will annoy almost as many people as they will be adored by, and Razzmatazz is exactly the kind of album you would expect a band like that to make.

LONELY TOGETHER

Unify Separate

Is ‘pandemic pop’ a recognised genre term yet? Because if not then I think this is it..

SUCH STUFF AS DREAMS ARE MADE ON

Tempesst

Usually when sponsored ads stalk me on Instagram it leads to antipathy but in the case of the promo clip for sumptuous, retro tinged single ‘Mushroom Cloud’ it was an instant obsession.

POP MUSIC EMERGENCY. 911

Lady Gaga

After doing a three album (and one movie) tour of duty of the Gaga version of a midlife crisis, Chromatica has now beamed down to earth in all it’s tecno-pinkness to bestow us with some classic Stefani bangers.

CHILDREN OF NATURE

Alanas Chosnau & Mark Reeder

A fantastic tour of retro-tinged gothic electro.

AFTER FOUR YEARS, DON’T YOU THINK I’M OVER ALL THIS?

The 1975

Notes On a Conditional Form (or NOACF as its merch-ified) is a beast of an album spanning 22 tracks and despite being written whilst on one of their seemingly never ending tours it is an ambitious and uncompromising release.

MEET ME IN HAMBURG, MEET ME IN THE AFTERLIFE

HMLTD

Sonically diverse but also cohesive, if you like your rock and roll smeared in lipstick and accompanied by synths this is probably one for you.