The Fat Angel Sings

Roxy Music’s 1973 album, “For Your Pleasure” will be reissued in November in what represents the first major Roxy reissue campaign since the art-rocker’s eponymous debut was re-released back in 2017.

Regarded by many as their masterpiece; you could call it the ‘Godfather II” of studio albums, in that it’s at least as good as, if not better, than the first record. Their last long-player to feature Brian Eno, “For Your Pleasure” expands on what the band started a year earlier and features more elaborate production and experimentation.

Frontman Bryan Ferry remembers the expectations of delivering a second album:

It was a good pressure. Realising, now there’s an audience to write for. An intelligent audience. I felt a responsibility for the work that I hadn’t for the first album, certainly with regard to the lyrics. There was a hunger in the whole band to do more: a very strong urge to get back into a recording studio and make a better record than the first one. Bryan Ferry

Preceded by the non-album single ‘Pyjamarama‘ (the band’s second top 10 single in the UK), “For Your Pleasure” includes ‘Do The Strand’ which wasn’t issued in the UK as a single, but did get a limited release in Europe. Other highlights include ‘In Every Dream Home A Heartache‘ and the nine-minute ominous minimalism of ‘The Bogus Man‘.

The 2026 reissue is available as a 3CD+DVD box set, an exclusive blu-ray, alongside a 2CD edition and 2LP vinyl versions. As well as the album on CD 1, the box set features features a second CD of 20 unheard songwriting sketches recorded at home by Bryan Ferry, band rehearsals and studio outtakes newly mastered by John Webber at AIR Studios. A third CD is filled with live sessions, singles and instrumentals, including 14 previously unheard recordings. The DVD features rare TV and live performances from the 1972–1973 period, originally broadcast by the BBC, German and Swiss television networks.

The box set includes a 116-page book, complete with exclusive archive content, includes a 7000-word essay built from new interviews with the band, producers and creative team, and a 2500-word essay by Michael Bracewell. The book is illustrated with many rare and unpublished photographs, lyrics and work-in-progress lyric notes by Bryan Ferry, tape scans, tour dates, and a “For Your Pleasure” chronology. The book also includes an essay by Nick de Ville on Roxy Music’s visual world.

On top of all that, this blu-ray features over an hour of unreleased outtakes and Peel Sessions. 

The new issue of Uncut uncovers a different side of Joy Division, as band members, friends and fellow travellers revisit the group’s extraordinary rise through a series of revealing and often surprising first-hand accounts.. “You couldn’t take your eyes off Ian. But the vibe of the band was so powerful.” In shops from tomorrow!

Inside the mag: after decades of silence, one of the last surviving members of Jimi Hendrix inner circle finally reveals all… The mystical making of Van Morrison’s No Guru, No Method, No Teacher… the return of Americana adventurer Margo Cilker… the remarkable story behind Elliott Smith’s Either/Or… psychobilly pioneers The Cramps finally get their due…

Plus! Syd Barrett, Beck, Phoebe Bridgers, Steve Hillage, Sugar, The Tubs, Echo & The Bunnymen, David Bowie, The Roches, Bill Strings, James Taylor, Dollar Brand/Don Cherry/Carlos Ward, Nigeria 80, Bon Iver does Dylan, Nova 78, confessions of a Chicago taper and much more…

The Reds, Pinks & Purples reveal new EP, ‘True Love Daydream’, a companion release to recent full-length ‘Acknowledge Kindness’ (out 25th Sep). Listen to the first single ‘Heaven Of Love (Slow Version)’ and pre-order in Limited Edition Grey Shade Cassette.

Donaldson eloquently describes the EP as “a little boat set adrift off the shore of the main album.”

Here, separated from the album, the music has space to ebb and flow, lingering in shimmering ambience. Three of the songs on the EP are atmospheric instrumentals, a slight departure from Donaldson’s classic songwriting, yet retaining the emotional depth that makes the music so captivating.

The EP is preceded today with the track “Heaven Of Love” (slow version) about which Glenn Donaldson comments,

“This was the original version of this song. Some of the lyrics and melodies are totally different than the album version. When I came to the end of making the “Acknowledge Kindness” album, I felt there were too many ballads, so I re-arranged it as more of a pop song. But this might be the true form of this tune. The ending is more emotional. The song is more feeling than thinking, so it’s hard to explain what it’s about, but it’s true that sometimes we need to imagine there’s an Earthly heaven that’s just out of reach.”

With a mythology that spans from the clubs of Swinging London, through 1974’s gold-selling “Bridge Of Sighs” and onward into a vital post-millennial solo catalogue, Robin Trower’s place amongst the all-time greats is beyond doubt.

Yet while his ’60s peers have long softened into greatest-hits autopilot, this restless artist returns in 2026 with “Shine” a powerful, intimate new album where molten guitar solos drive songs urging us to meet the modern world head-on.

Self-producing while handling guitar and bass, the veteran was confident to delegate key duties to his trusty studio band, with drummer Chris Taggard driving the new material, while long-standing vocalist Richard Watts articulates each emotion.

The first track, “Live Your Time.” It’s a song about making the most of the time you’ve been given, and it features one of my favourite riffs I’ve written in a long while. I hope you enjoy listening to it as much as I enjoyed making it.

“Shine” is the latest thrilling evidence of a songwriter who chooses to forge ahead rather than rest on his laurels.

“Shine”, will be released on September 25th,

Hailing from Ludlow in the verdant green of Shropshire,  Versaints have created a powerhouse take on post punk in etienne with a thrilling visceral raw sound that somehow manages to reinvent the wheel – yes they are that good.

This is serious dark energy from a band of youthful guitar manglers who also bring a captivating melody to the melee that has been getting race notices from recent shows including a recent appearance at Blackpool’s Rebellion punk festival.

There’s a hint of recent titans of of high decibel like IDLES and Nirvana as well as those perennial gods of grunge Nirvana but Versaints have somehow managed to create their own unique space whilst writing a series of songs that already sound like potential anthems of a new jukebox generation.  

The latest single from Versaints, capturing a solemn atmosphere with gloomy guitar riffs, lyrics hiding secrecy and a punching rhythm.

It’s rare to get this level of intensity with this level of invention and they already have the songs – it’s only a matter of time before Versaints become the new byword band name to drop in proof of guitar musics ability to keep reinventing itself.

The Shropshire based band also hint of a pagan deep country and a mystic England but never take the foot of their pedals cranking mosh pit festival crowd sings of love and fury – this year is the calling card and next year they will storm all festivals.

I always design albums to be listened to straight through. It’s a huge relief to finally have “Fondness”,  available everywhere now for you to do that very thing. One of the by products of having a child is that you really get to see how much potential growth there is in a single year of life. My daughter has gone from slug to shift leader in what feels like no time, and it has put a lot of things in perspective.
Looking back, that is what “Fondness, Etc“. is about. They say that memory is like a game of telephone: each time you think back, you don’t remember the event itself you actually just remember the last time you remembered that event. A copy of a copy.

Long celebrated as one of America’s most inventive DIY singer-songwriters, Shakey Graves (born Alejandro Rose-Garcia) has built a singular career on experimentation and emotional honesty.

“Fondness, etc”. feels like a window into his most personal world yet – and a full creative reset – placing emphasis on lo-fi sound and analog warmth, packed with soft vocals, haunted guitars, experimental textures, and tender imperfections.

A long parade of small, important days and little moments fading and turning into sound bites.  All the sharp details will inevitably fade, making each one more precious than the last.  An artificial collage arranged by your phone.
Yet, one of the magical things about music is that, in some ways, it works as a proxy hippocampus, a save point in time. Hearing a song can flood you with so many different sensory emotions and memories, and repeat listens can bring you back to where you first heard it, what it made you think of then, and what its relevance is to you now.

Making the music adds another insane layer to it.These songs, for me, will always bring me back to this tenuous and sweet moment in life: watching my friends and family age. Looking at my hands for obvious signs of wear and tear. Recording in the mornings. Solving little stupid problems and dropping the ball on big life stuff. Being tired but happy. Futilely pouring boiling water on the ants in my yard to keep them away from my fat baby’s ankles.

All that will has been mashed up and put into your hands for you to create new memories with.
And somewhere down the line, when we hear this music, we will all meet up at different places in our minds, in the future, and wonder where all the time went.
Proud of where we have been, with no way back.
Only up, out, and forward.

Shakey Graves’ songs explore trying to do better and holding onto fleeting beauty in a chaotic world. The title is a twist on “absence makes the heart grow fonder,” delivered with classic Shakey self- effacing charm – capturing moments of life, love, and fatherhood with striking vulnerability and sonic exploration. An album built purely for joy, reminding us that the quietest moments often hold the most profound beauty.

 The Reytons  ‘A Right One’ to those from out of town) bring us their eagerly awaited debut album ‘Kids Off The Estate’.

Produced by David Watts at Chairworks Studios, deep in the heart of Yorkshire, this album is bursting with working man grit and tales from the local boozer.
The album opens with ‘Mind The Gap’, a raucous introduction to the 14 track pound-for-pound excursion. After making stops at ‘Slice Of Lime’, ‘Low Life’ and ‘Broke Boys Cartel’, the journey progresses through the ‘Trials & Tribulations’ of the everyday man.

Expect infectious riffs and refreshingly honest melodies that will travel round your mind for years to come.

Very clearly heavily influenced by the aforementioned Artic Monkeys, they bring a fresh new take on the early AM formula. I cannot recommend this album highly enough.

Off the back of a huge year, The Reytons return with their fourth album “A Love Letter To A Broken Town”, building on a rise that has seen them become arguably the U.K.’s most exciting and unstoppable independent band.

Releasing entirely on their own terms, with no label backing, the Rotherham four-piece have continued to defy expectations, storming the charts with “What’s Rock And Roll?” reaching No. 1 and “Ballad Of A Bystander” climbing to No. 2, cementing their place at the very top of the U.K. music scene.

From their breakthrough debut “Kids Off The Estate” in 2021 to selling out 20,000 tickets in Rotherham’s Clifton Park, iconic nights at Wembley Arena and making history as the first independent band to headline Tramlines Festival, their journey has been nothing short of remarkable, driven by word of mouth and a connection with fans that few can rival.

Rooted in the grit and honesty of everyday life, The Reytons continue to channel the spirit of their origins into everything they do. “A Love Letter To A Broken Town” stays true to their roots while pushing their sound forward, capturing both the raw energy of their early days and the confidence of a band at their peak.”

Taken from ‘A Love Letter To A Broken Town’ –

Formed in the Seattle/Tacoma, WA area in 2020 over a shared admiration of ’90s psych, classic shoegaze, and the underdogs of alt-country, TV Star is a band that feels both new and lived-in at the same time. Band members Ashlyn Nagel (vocals, keys), Bryan Coats (Guitar), Che Hise-Gattone (Guitar), Mark Palm (Bass), and Tucker Devault (Drums) bring their own instincts, idiosyncrasies, and musical histories to their music, resulting in a quilt of jangly-psych, garage grit, and soft-focus depth. In an era when so much music dissolves into algorithmic sameness, TV Star sounds defiantly human.

Every once in a while, you hear a band that feels both new and lived-in at the same time, and it stops you in your tracks. TV Star is that kind of band. Over the last few years, the Seattle–Tacoma, WA five-piece has been quietly gathering force—EP by EP, show by show—until “Music For Heads”, their long-awaited debut album, arrives and makes it plain: they’ve grown into something rare. A quilt of jangly-psych, garage grit, and soft-focus depth; these songs glow from the inside with a commanding originality. In an era when so much music dissolves into algorithmic sameness, TV Star sounds defiantly human.

Across the LPs ten tracks, the band sharpens the instincts they’ve been honing – folding together timeless pop sensibilities, psych-leaning jangle in the lineage of The Brian Jonestown Massacre, punk-economy rhythm sections, and vocals that drift with Mojave 3–level warmth, to create something distinctly their own. With “Music For Heads”, they’re not just tapping into music of the past, they’re pushing a new wave of it forward.

Forming in 2020 over a shared admiration of ’90s psych, classic shoegaze and alt-country underdogs, their inception occurred when someone pulled the Butthole Surfers’ 1996 Electriclarryland tape off the wall and pointed to the track “TV Star.” What followed was less a band forging than a small ecosystem taking shape. Ashlyn Nagel (Vocals, Keys), Bryan Coats (Guitar), Che Hise-Gattone (Guitar), Mark Palm (Bass), and Tucker Devault (Drums) brought their own instincts, idiosyncrasies, and musical histories into the room until the songs began to sound like all of them, at once.

Recorded in a constellation of cozy Northwest spaces – The Unknown in Anacortes, plus a handful of Seattle hideaways – “Music For Heads” sits at the intersection of jangly guitar music, psych-pop haze, and lived-in indie rock without leaning fully into any one lane. 

From the album, ‘Music For Heads’ out April 24, 2026 on Father/Daughter Records

TV Star is:
Ashlyn Nagel – Vocals, Keys
Bryan Coats – Guitar, Percussion, Harmonies
Che Hise-Gattone – Guitars
Mark Palm – Bass, Guitar
Tucker Devault – Drums, Percussion

Going by the alias of Searows, Alec Duckart the 23-year-old from Portland, Oregon, broke through last year with his groundbreaking debut ‘Guard Dog’ – an album that encapsulated his moving take on folk and indie.

Now, curled up on the sofa of his London Airbnb, a few hours before he takes to the stage as Abrams’ European support act, Duckart talks about the emotionally vulnerable themes on his new EP ‘End Of The World’ (released last November ). He also shares his his thoughts on being the first artist signed to Matt Maltese’s new label, Last Recordings On Earth – another accolade which has yet to quite sink in.

“I still have so much that I want to work on,” he says, sounding equal parts humble and determined. “I’m not at the stage where I’m releasing my first stuff into the world, but at the same time, it still feels like each thing I release is the first. I feel so new to everything still; I don’t yet feel like I am really seasoned in any of it.”

Still, as he delves into the deeply personal but fundamentally relatable inspiration behind his lyrics, it becomes obvious why his music is resonating with so many.

Searows, whose real name is Alec Duckart, is a 24-year-old singer/songwriter from Portland, Oregon. He describes his sound as “stereotypically Pacific Northwest,” and I must agree; there is a peaceful quality to his music that takes me back to the gorgeous forests of Washington State. Additionally, he cites Sufjan Stevens and Bon Iver among his biggest inspirations, two artists whose sounds are heavily influenced by the Great Lakes region. 

Duckart’s music feels like it’s made for a Chicago winter, those days that start with the warmth of the sun on your face and end with a snowstorm. Searows’ unique blend of hope and melancholy reminds me exactly of those days. “I Can and I Will” is my favorite song from his 2023 EP “End Of The World“, and it’s the perfect example of this feeling.

Given the right moment, that song can break me into a million pieces. However, once he sings, “There are hands to be held and drinks to be spilled/And I can and I will,” I’m always left with a newly found sense of warmth. 

I’ve seen Searows’ music described as resembling early-career Phoebe Bridgers. While I agree that their voices are eerily similar, I think Duckart’s music has a certain tone of maturity that Bridgers’ early music lacked—and I’m saying this as a huge Phoebe Bridgers fan. As much as I’d like his music to replace what I’m missing in this Phoebe Bridgers/Boygenius hiatus year, Searows has managed to carve a unique space for himself in the indie-folk scene. For an artist who writes ‘sad music,’ his discography, remarkably, lacks angst. His music has a unique undertone of acceptance within the melancholy, which is refreshing to find in a genre that tends towards pure sadness without enough complexity.

released January 23rd, 2026