The Fat Angel Sings

Howling Bells return with their first new album in over a decade. The Australian trio’s version of hypnotic indie-rock always stood separate from the pack and very much a reflection of their unbreakable union. Equal parts sepia-toned romance and gritty rock’n’roll thrills. Together with long term collaborator Ben Hillier, in the producer’s chair

Howling Bells release “Strange Life”, their first album in over 12 years, on the 13th February 2026 via Nude Records. They have shared the album track ‘Chimera’, laced with evocative synth motifs, glimmering riffs, and the elegant vocals of Juanita Stein. It’s dipped in yearning that details the lows, before sailing into a swelling, airy 80s-echoing chorus that bristles with hope despite the struggle. 

Juanita explains: “Chimera” is a strange word. It means a few different and curious things; in this context, however, I’m using it to mean something of an absurd nature, unattainable, a fantasy. Such is the relationship we have with music at times. This song speaks to my experience as a musician, surviving the perpetual ups and downs of the game. But if you’re lucky enough, you have someone who can cut through the noise and help you realise that the fantasy is half the joy. That the longing is part of the journey and that our achievements along the way are deeply meaningful. At its core, ‘Chimera’ is a song about hope and relinquishing control”.

Howling Bells have announced a series of UK in-store shows in February, followed by a headline UK tour in March and April.

‘Strange Life’ is an album that harnesses the unique musical perspective that pricked up the music world’s ears back in their beginnings, but transposes it onto a lifetime’s more experience, ‘Strange Life’ is both familiar and new; a record that will unfurl like an old friend to long term fans whilst speaking in a language that only hard-won experience and a few more trips around the sun can understand. It may be a ‘Strange Life’ and a weird old world, but it sounds better with Howling Bells back in it.

Thursday 19 March – Bodega – Nottingham

LIFE are an alternative band from Hull: a creative, tightly connected four-piece who remain proudly independent and driven by a strong DIY ethos rooted in community.

One of Hull’s finest bands, LIFE are back with album number four, following on from the highly critically acclaimed joy of 2022’s “North East Coastal Town”, which saw their eclectically sharp guitar-laden music blossom into a bouquet of emotional pop, with a leap of maturity from records one and two.  “Abstract/Natural” leans into this emotion even further, beginning with the pair of recent singles launching the album, the simple, insanely catchy ‘Wild Grasses‘ and the purposeful conviction of ‘The Dollywaggon‘, their knack of never doing the same thing twice on show in this pair, the latter seeing singer Mez spitting out what seems to be a string of consciousness, before the juddering guitars become more harmonious and the restlessness of the chorus line “I never wanted to leave myself, but I’m leaving now” becomes more urgent. ‘Drinking Games‘ perfectly encapsulates the two eras of the band, its slow-burning beginning exploding into a fireball of indie pop, the drums and guitars doing all the heavy lifting.

The merry shout-along of ‘Buried Giant‘, has Mez doing his best Mark E. Smith snarl, before the righteous gloom of ‘Morning Fog‘ brings down the curtain on an eclectically satisfying three quarters of an hour, an experience you will want to then enjoy again and again. It’s a body of work that feels both atmospheric whilst remaining intimate, a real experimental step forward that should sound fantastic live, a band at the height of their powers, and hopefully this record will see them attract a bigger audience to their output. They say life gets in the way, you should make sure that nothing gets in the way of exploring LIFE. 

As its title suggests, the record fuses the abstract with the organic, weaving lyrics steeped in folklore, myth, geography, place and time. These elements converge into universal themes of escapism and journey, creating a vivid world in which the band broaden their creative lens. The result is a bold step forward, experimental and story-rich yet still charged with LIFE’s unmistakable dynamism. The album captures a band writing for themselves and for the community that forged them.

LIFE’s fourth album, blending abstract storytelling with organic, nature-inspired themes, released on 19 June 2026.

Bristol psych-rock outfit Dreamwave release a double E.P. featuring Drifter and Moon Dogs, marking the next step in their collaboration with Stolen Body Records. The release follows a run of major live moments, including supporting Frankie and The Witch Fingers at The Garage, standout festival appearances at Wild Paths and Down Stokes, and three packed-out sets at Left of the Dial, including highlight performances at De Doelen and V11 in Rotterdam. Sharing stages with Wine Lips and The Bug Club, Dreamwave have quickly become one of the most exciting and fast-rising live acts in the UK psych scene. Two EPs, one essential 12″—”Drifter” on one side, “Moon Dogs” on the flip.

Dreamwave’s new album, technically their debut recording, brings together their two EPS – “Moon Dogs” and “Drifter”, and the two releases actually segue rather well into each other, so it does actually stand up as a singular work in its own merit. “Drifter”, which makes up the second part of the record, begins thunderously with the brilliant ‘Moon Buggy’ and it’s so psychedelic,

Not for nothing is it called ‘Moon Buggy‘ I guess. Not only that, but the guitar riffery is something that Tony Iommi would have been proud of in his early seventies Black Sabbath meanderings, while ‘Web Weaver‘ feels like the band have taken you even further into space. This one has a melody that is more akin to The Specials‘ classic ‘Do The Dog‘, but totally psyched out to the point of not really being recognisable as such.

‘Space Debris‘ is more comparable to the more creative side of Blur, particularly around the period of Modern Life Is Rubbish, before ‘Murmurs On The Dunes‘ unleashes its brutal assault on your ears. The noisy fuzz of the guitars here have their roots in My Bloody Valentine‘s Loveless without actually sounding anything like them, or it, but you definitely get a similar kind of feeling.

‘Over You‘ really does sound like BRMC though. Not a bad thing though – it’s brash and exciting and they incorporate some late sixties psych-rock into proceedings too, so they do make this sound their own, in the best way possible.he tracks from the “Moon Dogs” EP, which are almost as great, with the sound of Glam Rock pulsing through ‘Polystyrene Irene‘ and the unexpectedly commercial ‘Seeking To Remain‘ This song is as catchy as the latter single was and more, and ‘Wide Shooter‘ is like a wild cross between Devo, Sparks and Boney M‘s ‘Ma Baker‘! This is a wonderfully unpredictable, absolute blast of an album. They ought to be huge.

Ora Cogan’s debut for Sacred Bones, Hard Hearted Woman, is a record about toughness, but not the obvious kind. It isn’t interested in defiance for its own sake or in tired statements about survival. Instead, it examines what it means to stay open when the world keeps giving you reasons not to.

Across the album, hardness feels less like armour than a protective layer grown slowly over time. A thicker skin that still allows feeling to pass through. Ora Cogan’s music is alchemical: part instinct, part ritual, and always born from the edges where life feels sharpest. “Hard Hearted Woman”, her debut for the incredible label Sacred Bones, arrives as a spell for anyone trying to stay wild in a world that keeps hardening. Mixing haunted folk, psych rock, and a shadowy strain of country, Cogan builds a realm where catharsis feels lush, mysterious and vital.

Cogan has always worked in in-between spaces. Her songs draw from folk, country and psych rock, but they rarely settle comfortably within any one of those traditions. Percussion sits forward with tactile clarity, while bowed strings move in and out in soft washes. Spidery electric and classical guitar tones blend like weather patterns rather than defined lines or hooks. The effect is one of patient unravelling: songs unfold gradually, at their own unhurried pace.The album’s tone is established immediately with ‘Honey’. Warm strings and loose, grounded percussion gather beneath Cogan’s steady vocal. Written in response to anti-trans legislation, the song carries anger, but it is tightly contained, filtered through empathy rather than confrontation.

The titular “Hard Hearted Woman” emerges not as an antagonist, but as someone themselves trapped in their own hate.Elsewhere, Cogan’s writing consistently holds back just enough to make us lean in. For example ‘Limits’ circles a melody without settling into it, creating a persistent sense of suspension. That kind of structural uncertainty is most pronounced on ‘Division’, one of the record’s starkest moments. The arrangement opens into reverberant space, her voice hanging almost alone before the instrumentation slowly gathers weight. 

“Cogan’s gift is her formlessness: her absolute refusal to bow to convention, as she tirelessly shifts and strives for something bigger – something we never expected.

What ultimately distinguishes Hard Hearted Woman is its discipline. Even at its bleakest, the record resists easy cynicism. Instead, Cogan does the more difficult thing holding open a dark space long enough for light and curiosity to flicker inside it. Resilience lies not in becoming impenetrable, but in finding ways to feel more alive without breaking altogether. 

released March 13th, 2026

All songs written and arranged by Ora Cogan

The debut album of gothic rock and country shaded indie/alternative rock from the Australian group gets its long-awaited vinyl dues.

On limited-to-500 copies vinyl with a 7’’ featuring four unreleased tracks and a signed art print.

Emerging from the garage rock and post-punk revival scenes of the mid-2000s, the Sydney and later London group drew acclaim for their debut release back in ‘06. ‘Howling Bells’ was lauded for its filmic noir atmospheres, scene-setting vocals and darkly romantic lyricism, and guitarwork moving between blues, folk, dream pop, and Americana.

Howling Bells celebrate the 20th anniversary of their acclaimed self-titled debut with its first-ever vinyl release. Originally released in 2006, the album introduced the Australian band through Juanita Stein’s distinctive vocals, darkly romantic songwriting and expansive guitar sound.

Critics were unanimous in their praise. Pitchfork hailed Stein’s voice as “confidently strange” and “immediately commanding”, while NME called it “an extraordinary album”. The Guardian, MOJO and Clash also singled out its songwriting, emotional weight and unforgettable vocal performances.

The first vinyl release for their debut follows the Stein sibling and co.’s anticipated comeback album ‘Strange Life’ which dropped earlier in the year.

Produced by Ken Nelson (Coldplay, Gomez, The Charlatans), it quickly established itself as one of the standout alternative rock debuts of the era.

Introducing Vault package #69: Sly and the Family Stone – Turn Me Loose: Live at the Fillmore East 1968

Recorded in October 1968 over two nights at Bill Graham’s legendary Fillmore East in New York City, “Turn Me Loose: Live at the Fillmore East 1968” compiles all four of the band’s incendiary performances onto a single LP, highlighting the most explosive moments from each concert. Along with the four LPs – each pressed on 180-gram colored vinyl evocative of the mood of the evening at Third Man Record Pressing in Detroit, MI –

In addition to four LPs and a gatefold showcasing the historic performance shot by Amalie Rothschild, Vault package #69 comes complete with a top notch slip mat featuring artwork from the legendary Joshua Light Show projected at the Fillmore East in 1968, the hallmark liquid light look that became the backdrop of an era. And to tie it all together, two 6” x 6”, luster-finish photo prints made from unarchived studio portraits shot by Bob Cato, printed by Third Man Photo Studio in Nashville, Tennessee.

Vault #69: Sly and the Family Stone – “Turn Me Loose: Live at the Fillmore East 1968” is available now through July 31st

Two years after their blockbuster 1981 LP “Architecture & Morality”, Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark released “Dazzle Ships”, a dark and experimental work about the Cold War. The world didn’t rapturously respond—critics initially panned “Dazzle Ships”, which saw a 90% decrease from “Architecture & Morality’s” sales—though many now consider it OMD’s masterpiece.

The album is noted for its experimental approach, incorporating musique concrète, shortwave radio recordings, interval signals, speaking clocks, and news bulletins. These elements explore themes of war, socialism, technology, and the Cold War, reflecting the geopolitical tensions of the early 1980s 

Influences from electronic pioneers like Kraftwerk are evident, and the band used innovative instruments such as the Emulator sampling synthesizer, toy piano, typewriter, and Speak & Spell machine

Building upon Kraftwerk’s Radio-Activity (an album itself themed around nuclear radiation and radio communications), OMD intersperse conventionally structured songs with musique concrète pieces. Unmistakably synthetic sounds and bleak atmospheres complement dark lyrics about industrialization, societal failure, and communications systems, with Andy McCluskey’s vocal performances theatrically presented but deeply desperate.

Layered and manipulated snippets of Eastern Bloc radio stations and Emulator samples further contribute to the record’s cold nature, which to say the very least has aged remarkably well.

Critics found its sound challenging and unconventional. Over time, however, the album has been re-evaluated and is now regarded as a cult classic and a major influence on electronic, rock, and hip hop artists . The album spawned two singles: “Genetic Engineering” and “Telegraph”

Other tracks feature a mix of conventional synthpop songs and experimental sound collages, reflecting the band’s exploration of new musical directions. Its experimental nature and forward-thinking production have earned it recognition as an album ahead of its time.

 The American foldover jacket doesn’t have the UK original or new reissue’s die-cut gatefold cover, but still includes a printed inner sleeve.

Ea Othilde mines the beguiling elements of 90s alt rock and shoegaze to cut a cathartic swathe that’s feather-light tone still bristles with frustration and catharsis. Leaning further into the rawer elements of her guitar-led sound, with sliding bar chords merging into a squealing fuzz pedal riff and twitchy drums, all the while daubing it with the vivid intimacy and emotional heft of her previous songwriting. It reminds one of elements of the heart on the sleeve sound of Soccer Mommy or the widescreen dynamics of Juliette Hatfield or early Smashing Pumpkins, yet this is deft song writing all of her own. ‘I Forgot You’ is the final release before her new EP ‘You’ll Leave The City’, offering one last taste of this direction ahead of its arrival.

“I Forgot You” gives me a bitter feeling. I wrote the song about someone who was portraying me as the bad person in the story after a bad ending to things. I still feel like his reaction was very unfair and the song represents that frustration and anger.“

Ea Othilde, 21, from Oslo, has quickly become one of the most compelling new artists in Norwegian music. With the critically acclaimed releases “Mary, Aren’t You Tired?” (2023) and “I Will Not Be Like That” (2025), both nominated for Norwegian Grammys, she has built a steadily growing audience. She has also made a strong impression live, with appearances at festivals such as Øyafestivalen, Pstereo and by:Larm.

The EP explores life as a young adult without anything steady to hold on to. The songs revolve around relationships, insecurity, longing, and trying to understand yourself in your early 20s.

Musically, the release moves between alternative rock and shoegaze. The arrangements are patient and uncompromising, carrying a sense of weight and presence that stands in contrast to the restless pace and short attention span of today.

The EP is produced by Hans Olav Settem and Marit Othilie Thorvik, with mixing by Mikko Gordon (The Smile, IDLES, Elias Rønnenfelt, Geese, Arcade Fire and more

t’s a strange thing to say about one of the most prolific artists of his – or any – generation, but Jack White has been undergoing something of a career renaissance of late. After firmly establishing himself as one of the most beloved and defining figures of 21st-century rock with his early-00s blues duo the White Stripes, White seemed to get bigger and bigger over the next decade-plus, releasing albums with well-liked side projects the Raconteurs and the Dead Weather, dropping a couple of fine solo albums, and helping spark the music industry’s vinyl revival with his label and pressing plant Third Man Records.

But, at some point in the mid-2010s – around the release of his third solo album, 2018’s “Boarding House Reach”, White’s influence and celebrity seemed to be outweighing his actual output, Record plants the world over became backed-up, thanks to pop stars releasing dozens of gimmicky vinyl variants of their own albums, resulting in months-long delays for indie artists – hardly a problem White was responsible for but certainly the result of a craze he had helped spark.

White has spent the past couple of years proving that reputation isn’t all that important if the music slaps. In 2024, he released his sixth album “No Name” with little fanfare – unlabelled copies were slipped in with purchases at his Third Man stores, which is a kind of fanfare, to overwhelmingly great response. Wholly comprised of the kind of mean-mugging blues-rock that he had made his name on, “No Name’s” lean, raw songs were a welcome reminder that, beneath the huckster magician vibe, White was still deserving of his stature.

“Frozen Charlotte”, White’s follow-up to “No Name”, finds the 51-year-old digging his heels in further, wholly embracing the more brutal, squally and squalid side of the 70s blues rock that’s always informed his work. Opener “GOD and the Broken Ribs”, a bolshie, ridiculous retelling of the Genesis story, sets the terms, with White rapping over a muscular blues chug, between histrionic guitar solos: “Watch me rock, then I roll baby / And it’s let me out, let me out, let me shout / Right from my soul, with salt and coal / Now listen to me roll with it.”

The 40-odd minutes that follow are loud and ostentatious and seemingly more focused on production and instrumentation than the witty, political “No Name”. Heavy delay effects give “Raising the Grain” a wobbly, enjoyably destabilised atmosphere, as White sings about how he’s going to “boil in linseed oil” before he enters “the catacombs where the river flows”. “You’ll Never Fix Me” is an old-fashioned White garage barnstormer, its vaguely defiant lyrics seemingly less important than the immense sense of rebellion that seeps through in White and his band’s nasty, anarchic riffs.

As on “No Name“, it is enjoyable to hear White back in this no-frills mode, with a fury and meanness in his voice that really sells a line like “click clack, back track, tick tock, smack talk”. This is a pure form of fan service, but it’s preferable to the overblown White solo records that preceded “No Name”, and will probably feel a whole lot better live than anything from, say, 2022’s “Fear of the Dawn”.

Even so: while “Frozen Charlotte” is fun, and rarely feels laboured, it can be a lot. Unlike No Name, there is little stylistic variance between songs, and by the time you reach “She’s in a Frenzy“, you start to wonder if the album has simply looped back to the start, and you’re listening to the same overdriven guitar solos and sneery punk-rap from earlier. “Frozen Charlotte” works best when leaving this zone, as on “Neighbors Blues“, a genuinely bonkers potboiler.

The simmering aggression renders the track far more effective in creating tension than many other songs on the record, which tend to play their hands early, neutering White’s great sense of dynamics. It’s an ironic quirk of the album as a whole: this record may be part of White’s stripped-down renaissance, but it might have been helped by an even more back-to-basics approach.

Released July 10th, 2026

This new retrospective set captures the Minneapolis post-punk legends at their prime in 1985, following the release of their acclaimed album, “Zen Arcade”, a year earlier. “The Miracle Year” contains Hüsker Dü’s complete set from the legendary club First Avenue, as well as additional live cuts performed during the band’s tour that year. 1985: The Miracle Year is a previously unreleased live set from Minnesota punk trio Hüsker Dü and it is honestly absolutely brilliant. The recordings were intended for a live album but were shelved, then thought to be lost forever in a house fire, but thankfully unearthed and man alive, do they ever kick like a mule! There is something about their SST years (also Minutemen) that feel as eerily relevant as they must have done forty years ago.

This all-new 4LP/2CD edition includes Beau Sorenson’s restoration of an entire January, 30th 1985 set, twenty extra live tracks from the year’s touring schedule, and a deluxe booklet detailing twelve months of history-making music. They are wonderful things.

Hüsker Dü. Live. 1985. Need we say more? Witness the transcendent Minneapolis punk trio tearing into the most incendiary year of its existence, captured live on stage at First Avenue in perhaps the highest fidelity recordings of the band’s lauded SST era.

This 4-LP/2-CD edition includes Beau Sorenson’s restoration of an entire January 30th 1985 set, 20 extra live tracks from the year’s touring schedule, and a deluxe booklet detailing twelve months of history-making Hüsker Dü. What is the sound of a legend being written?

Considering the late-Jan 2011 fire that consumed a precious portion of the Dü archive, it has to be reckoned as a kind of subordinate miracle that the 1985 1st Ave tapes survived at all. They deliver peak Husker Dü at full gallop through already beloved material, still years shy of fully cementing their status as a blueprint for the alternative rock skyscraper to come. This set celebrates these tapes, strikingly perhaps the highest fidelity Hüsker Dü recordings ever produced during the band’s lauded SST years.