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As Marmite Morrissey returns, let’s talk about the actual music
When news broke of a new Morrissey single and album last week (both titled Make-Up is a Lie), one thing was assured: it was going to get people talking. Perhaps the most “Marmite” artist of all time, it’s hard to find an artist who divides opinion as much as Morrissey. To some, he is so…
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Anthology 4 shows there’s still more to discover about the Beatles
A lot can happen in three decades. Since 1995, we’ve seen nine different UK prime ministers, the birth and death of the Minidisc, iPod and DVD. Manchester City sank to the third tier of English football then rose to become champions of Europe. One thing that hasn’t wavered, though, is the popularity of the Beatles.…
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The five most terrifying songs ever recorded
As plastic skeletons enter the shops, pumpkin spice flavourings spread through coffee houses like Japanese knot-weed and jumpers are dug out of drawers, music fans’ playlists also begin to shift, with “spooky sounds” replacing “sunshine mixes”. And, just as Christmas means endless repeats of Mistletoe & Wine and Fairytale of New York, the arrival of…
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The ten best songs under one minute long
Life is busy these days, so when you manage to get some well-earned free time, it’s important to use it wisely. You could, for example, invest a spare ten minutes listening to King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard’s song Crumbling Castle (2017) or Taylor Swift’s All Too Well (Taylor’s Version) (2021). Alternatively, you could listen…
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Black Grape: It’s Great When You’re Straight… Yeah at 30 – one of music’s greatest comeback stories
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Shaun Ryder had the world at his feet. His band, The Happy Mondays, had been key players in the UK “Madchester scene” and had scored a platinum selling album with 1990’s Pills ‘n’ Thrills and Bellyaches. Bands everywhere had tried to imitate the new “baggy” sub-genre it had…
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The four best non-lyrical vocal moments in pop music – from la la las to duh duh duhs
My professional life revolves around the academic study of song lyrics. So it may seem like a strange move to write about how some of the most powerful and emotive vocal moments in popular music have come when singers reject words. But it’s impossible to ignore that sometimes a song needs something more universal, more…
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Will the Oasis reunion usher in a Britpop summer – or is it just a marketing ploy?
The trend for naming summers has become something of a cultural phenomenon. Think for example of 2019, which was branded a “hot girl summer”, inspired by rapper Megan Thee Stallion’s song. In 2021 there was the much-ridiculed “white boy summer” (named after a song of the same name by Tom Hanks’s son, Chet). Then 2022…
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The critical response to Miley Cyrus’s Something Beautiful exposes pop’s gender double standards
With her latest album Something Beautiful debuting at number four in the Billboard 200 and in contention to reach the top of the UK album charts, Miley Cyrus’s commercial appeal appears as strong as ever. Something Beautiful is Cyrus’s 9th studio album, described by the singer-songwriter as an attempt to bring the divine into the…
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Four records that embody the joy of the double album – from the Beatles to Outkast
In the summer of 1966, a race was on between two very different opponents. On one side was Bob Dylan, the established and bestselling folk artist. On the other was new act The Mothers of Invention, a genre- (and mind-) bending band led by avant garde composer Frank Zappa. The aim? To release the first…
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Who Believes in Angels? by Elton John and Brandi Carlile shows the power of true collaboration
Having collaborated with the likes of (deep breath) John Lennon, Aretha Franklin, George Michael, Rod Stewart, Little Richard, Luciano Pavarotti, Eminem and Leonard Cohen, it’s fair to say that Elton John likes to work with other artists. The news, then, that he has embarked on another joint musical project, this time with Grammy-winning American superstar…
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Glenn Fosbraey 