Top Tracks: The Paper Kites – Every Town

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.

Top Ten Album Covers of 2023

Another year draws to a close, and what a jam-packed twelve months it’s been. 2023 may well be the most exciting year of new releases since Belwood began. Delights, surprises and new discoveries at every turn. I’ve never been more thrilled to celebrate and share some of the best new music around with you all. This year’s edition of Listmas has been a delight to assemble, and as tradition dictates we begin as ever with my favourite end of year collection; a deep delve into the year’s most memorable and arresting artwork. Continue reading

Live Review: The Paper Kites, Manchester Academy 2, 17th Feb 2023

I like to think we all have bands we listen to that are inexplicably hit and miss. They’ll have some songs that you adore with all your heart, as well as songs that you’re honestly pretty indifferent to… but on paper, somehow there’s very little that separates the two. Try as you might, you can never quite put your finger on whatever magical secret ingredient it is that makes certain tracks shine brighter than those around them. They just do; it’s some law of the universe. Australian indie outfit The Paper Kites are a prime example of such a band for me. Some songs barely making a ripple, while others have such a hold over me that they appear in nearly every playlist I make. Their studio albums a little inconsistent, but if you brought the right tracks together as a ‘greatest hits’ I would struggle to ever pull myself away. Keeping my fingers crossed that their live setlist would bring all my favourites together in just such a way, I made my way to catch them in Manchester hoping that elusive magic would be in the air. Continue reading

Best Songs of the 2010s (#25-1)

songs2It’s time to live in the past for just one brief moment longer before we fully embrace the future. Time for one last shot of nostalgia as we look at the very best songs of the past ten years. Songs that dominated the airwaves and became anthems for millions, and the ones that formed the backbone of our playlists and became the musical lifeblood of a more personal journey. Songs that have hyped us up ready to take on the world and ones that helped us escape into daydreams, ones that have given us goosebumps and some that have even brought us close to tears. So, assuming you’ve caught up with part one, let’s get to it! Continue reading

Top Ten Album Covers of 2018

album coversWe’ll be starting this year’s list season with a brand new one. They say you can’t judge a book by it’s cover, but often album covers can say a lot about the music within. Many times I’ve bought a record simply because the artwork has drawn my eye every time I see it, and not once have I come away disappointed. As great as these albums are however, we’ll be ranking them solely on how eye-catching, unique and memorable the cover is. Continue reading