When they’re at their best, Australian indie folk outfit The Paper Kites are one of those bands whose music just feels like home. There’s a sense of comfort and familiarity to their sound that keeps drawing you back. With the warmth of its dreamy arrangement, and the affecting tenderness of its melodies, their latest single ‘Every Town’ is a shining example of that magic in action. Taken from their new album If You Go There, I Hope You Find It, out 23rd January, it has a gently uplifting energy to it that feels like being seen. Being known. That heartening hand-on-shoulder feeling you get when a friend says that something reminded them of you. When you return to an old haunt and they still remember your regular order. When you visit family for the holidays and you all slip into time honoured routines and traditions like it’s second nature. ‘Every Town’ feels like a celebration of all the small moments of love and connection that we carry with us. The ties that bind us, ground us, that persist through all manner of change, and time, and distance.
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Top Tracks: Amelia Coburn – Something Wild
Humanity likes to think of itself as evolved, civilised, elevated above the natural world, but in reality people are animals just like any other. We’re not a cut above the world we share, we are part of it, connected to it. We are of the wild, and the wild lives in us still. Yet so much of modern society’s expectations seem to revolve around taming that part of our spirit and putting us in neat little boxes. We’re told to grow up and bury our inner child deep within. Women are conditioned all their lives to be prim and proper, seen and not heard. But in trying to rise above our deeper nature, we lose touch of what makes us human. Anger, joy, sorrow, desire – they’re made to be felt, not hidden away.
Hot on the tail of last year’s singular debut record Between the Moon and the Milkman, rising star Amelia Coburn returns with her empowering new single ‘Something Wild’. An impassioned reminder to remain true to yourself, and break free of the shackles of societal expectations, it truly feels like Amelia’s best work yet. The gorgeous, sweeping string arrangements. The galloping rhythm that has all the momentum of a feral beast on the prowl. The striking video that flips the script on a classic fairy tale and sees Red Riding Hood release her inner wolf. It all adds up to make ‘Something Wild’ the most bewitching slice of gothic folk I’ve heard all year.
Top Tracks: The Belair Lip Bombs – Don’t Let Them Tell You (It’s Fair)
There are days when I’ve found myself listening to so much music, for hours on end, that it all starts to blend together. The same few trends being chased time and again, melodies so similar they could be long lost twins. I find myself longing to be surprised, but by its very nature it’s hard to search for the unexpected, you simply have to trust that it will find you. This time it arrives in the form of ‘Don’t Let Them Tell You (It’s Fair)’, the new single from Australian quartet The Belair Lip Bombs. Taken from their forthcoming album Again, out this Halloween, I find myself so awed by and enamoured with this track’s guitar work. So many gorgeous and varied moments – rock solid riffs you could set your watch by, bright soaring licks swooping in and out, light ethereal harmonics gently tinkling like raindrops – all of it just so casual and fleeting, not giving you a moment to process before the next dazzling flourish catches your attention. There’s an energy and playfulness here reminiscent of The Only Ones ‘Another Girl, Another Planet’, and a timeless quality that reminds me a little of Violent Femmes’ ‘Blister in the Sun’. This track is one of my favourite discoveries of 2025; like an open flame that leaves you mesmerised by the way it dances and flickers.
Album Review: Hannah Grace – Bigger Picture
Top Tracks: Ailbhe Reddy – Align
I can’t remember the last time I heard a song that so perfectly captures a feeling the way that ‘Align’ does. The music conjuring out of thin air the very emotion it’s trying to describe. In this case, the wave of bittersweet nostalgia that comes in the aftermath of a break-up. Somehow ‘Align’s expansive electronica embodies not only the warmth and comfort that comes with reminiscing on a happy memory, a precious moment shared that’s rapidly fading into history, but also the cold, detached emptiness that bubbles away within when the time comes to let it go. Sincerely wishing a life well lived to source of your heartache as you close the book on the chapter you once shared. This gorgeous new single from Belwood favourite Ailbhe Reddy sees her revel in the notion that “time makes all things feel alright” in the end. Those photos and keepsakes in a box under the bed, buried away like a time capsule – if left long enough, all the pain they bring now will have softened, all the wounds will have faded into scars. All that will remain is an echo of a happy memory, and gratitude for the brief time your life intertwined with another, even if it wasn’t meant to last.
Album Review: Wolf Alice – The Clearing
Live Review: Coldplay, Craven Park Hull, 19th Aug 2025

Though the band can often prove to be quite divisive, I’ve always been pretty Coldplay neutral. I’ve rarely found reasons to get excited about them, but nor have I ever quite understood the hate they garner from some corners. Yet even their most steadfast detractors will concede the point that they put on a great live show. Vibrant, colourful, collaborative, life-affirming. One of the grandest spectacles in live music, though not without the occasional quiet, personal moments to boot. With that in mind, I felt the most excited I’ve ever been about Coldplay, when I did a double take at the news that the band would be playing in Hull. It’s always a thrill when one of the biggest live acts in the world practically plays on your doorstep, in what is likely one of the more intimate settings they’ve played in recent years. What sealed the deal for me though was the announcement that a sizeable chunk of tickets would be reserved for local fans, and that a share of proceeds from the shows would go to support Music Venue Trust. Seeing a high profile band championing forgotten communities and grassroots music like that was something I felt the need to celebrate, and so I was one of the lucky few locals gathered for this special occasion. Continue reading
Album Review: Ezmay Grace – Lien Gwerin
Top Tracks: Lucifers Beard – Loveland
I love when an act is able to change their sound as easily as changing clothes. Able to reach into their musical wardrobe, grab a different style on a whim, put in on, and just make it work. When last I delved into the world of Lucifers Beard, this singular solo project was sporting a Royal Blood style full-blooded rocker sound, with a pinch of southern grit for good measure. ‘Loveland’ is another world entirely. This lush new single, the titular centrepiece of the new EP Welcome to Loveland, takes more of a funky, disco inspired approach. It feels like the work of a completely different ensemble – trading the leather jacket and cowboy hat for a glittery, mirrorball blazer and flared trousers. It’s a pitch perfect love letter to Let’s Dance era Bowie, with a few nods to ELO in its string accompaniment, and with a playful eccentricity that reminds me a little of Belwood Award winning art rockers HMLTD. Bright, grand, and indulgent, with an infectious dance rock groove, Lucifers Beard flaunts this new sound with real flair and panache.



