UK band Black Honey announced their fourth album, “Soak”, set for release on August 15th. The announcement came alongside their new single “Dead.” Following their previous records influenced by Quentin Tarantino and Wes Anderson, “Soak” takes a Kubrickian approach with retro futuristic and unsettling visuals. The album promises dynamic shifts between gothic and psychedelic sounds, all led by frontwoman Izzy B. Phillips.
Phillips, now two years sober and working as a tattoo artist, brings deeper self-understanding to her songwriting. She describes the album: “Soak” is me processing a decade of touring and creating music and art as an addict. It’s me picking at the layers of messy, romantic, confusing, woozy, beautiful and fucked up things. Who I thought I was, who I was supposed to be and who looks back at me now are all so different but I’m kind of here for it.”
The announcement follows their previous single “Psycho,” which featured a dystopian video depicting Phillips escaping from artificial realities—a commentary on our digital lives in 2025.
new album ‘Soak’ will be in your hands on August 15th
The New Studio Album! from the Legendary space-rock pioneers Hawkwind return with their latest studio album, “There Is No Space For Us”. Following 2024’s critically acclaimed “Stories From Time And Space” and recent triple disc live album “Live At The Royal Albert Hall“, this new release develops the dystopian themes of recent albums and the cosmic, almost metaphysical perspective on humanity’s place in the universe through expansive soundscapes and electrifying psychedelic rock.
When Hawkwind recorded “Stories From Time And Space” last spring, the song writing process yielded nearly 40 minutes of leftover material that just needed arranging – making “There Is No Space For Us” a sister album of sorts.
Since 2019’s “All Aboard The Skylark”, the group have sounded rejuvenated; and the new record is another instalment rich in immersive sonic detail, with considerable power and momentum allied to a vivid, panoramic sound.
Blending hypnotic rhythms, immersive synths, and driving guitar riffs, “There Is No Space For Us” takes listeners on an interstellar voyage from the synth laden thunderous opening track “There Is Still Danger” begins with Tim ‘Thighpaulsandra’ Lewis and Magnus Martin’s dancing sequencers and upward arcing synths. Dave Brock enters like an Old Testament prophet delivering judgement on our collective folly: ‘There was a moment in the past/When we could have changed our lives at last,’ he intones, prompting the band to launch into an urgent two-chord riff.
There to the eerie, atmospheric depths and outstanding heights of “Space Continues (Lifeform)“. The album extends Hawkwind’s recent tack of mixing familiar elements with some stylistic surprises. Synth pulses act as a springboard for Richard Chadwick’s syncopated snare patterns on the instrumental with Brock’s guitar characteristically weaving in and out of the chord sequence, then a horn section emerges from out of the cosmic whoosh before it culminates in a mosaic of echoed keyboards.
Tracks like the acoustic led “The Co-Pilot” (a song which transforms multiple times across 8 minutes) starts with three minutes of a near-Latin groove and tuned percussion lines, before taking off with a tried-and-tested four-chord riff with added heavenly vocal chorales. and title track “There Is No Space For Us” (the definition of what a “space western” should sound like) showcase the band’s signature fusion of chugging guitars, electronic rhythms, and grand science fiction vision of human destiny. Another stand-out moment is the frenzied theremin laced freak-out of “Neutron Stars“, while A “Long Long Way From Home” delivers a melancholic yet powerful crescendo, reflecting on the fragile nature of existence in an ever-expanding universe.
Elsewhere, “Changes” is a not-so-distant cousin of “Doremi Fasol Latido’s” “Down Through The Night“. Over its nine-minute course Doug MacKinnon introduces a monster riff, his bass roaming like Lemmy’s on “Born To Go”, while Lewis’ flamboyant synth solo gives an added dimension.
On 1971’s “We Took The Wrong Step Years Ago”, Brock reflected on how we’d strayed onto a path that led to environmental catastrophe. Here, on the similarly acoustic title track, it sounds like he’s run out of patience; in an apocalyptic mood he sings of ‘devastation of our land… Is this the epitaph of man?’ And with the human race gone, he adds, life on Earth will be rebooted in ‘a new creation,’ as the full band bring it to an uneasy conclusion.
The finale is the bittersweet, melodic “A Long Way From Home“, its sole lyric being Brock singing the title line at its close. He’s 83 in Earth years now, and he’s addressed his mortality in recent songs, so maybe that’s a feeling of resignation in his voice.
Another classic album to add to the Hawkwind canon, “There Is No Space For Us” is presented by Dave Brock, Richard Chadwick, Magnus Martin, Doug MacKinnon and Tim “Thighpaulsandra” Lewis on both CD and double vinyl (the vinyl features a bonus two recent live rehearsals) and will be released to coincide with live shows in the spring and summer.
It was May 1981: Birmingham, band Au Pairs released one of the great underrated post-punk albums, their debut ‘Playing With A Different Sex’, on indie label Human Records; dealing largely with sexual politics (mixing humour & righteous anger), it contained their stage fave “Come Again” (a song about faked orgasms), a cover of David Bowie’s “Repetition”, a re-recorded version of their single “It’s Obvious” & “Armagh” (touching on allegations of rape & torture of Irish women imprisoned in the city of Armagh in Northern Ireland); it received a five-star review in British music weekly ‘Sounds’…
Heavyweight vinyl is always that much more satisfying to hold, so hats off to Au Pairs and their team for issuing their classic first album in this sought-after format. Musically, Au Pairs were at their most overtly post-punk here, with funky rhythms and scratchy Gang Of Four-esque guitar stylings. ‘We’re So Cool’ sounds like the best that moments of Hanover underground group 39 Clocks; ‘Repetition’ sounds like it could have influenced Goat Girl’s first moves as a band signed to Rough Trade; while ‘Come Again’ is up there with anything by The Slits, and ‘Love Song’ is reminiscent of Entertainment!-era Gang Of Four.
The most striking cut here, however, is ‘Headache For Michelle’, which sits beautifully in the middle of the album and offers a bit of respite from the generally high-octane rhythms. It’s a dreamy cut, seemingly about drugs and government overreach. The following stinging, bitter lines, delivered with so much heart, bring this epic number from a cracking album to a beautiful close: “They are closing down – communications / They’re taking control – of our situations.”
For years, Greet Death’s music got better as their personal lives became more hopeless. The “suicide summer” incantations of their 2017 doomgaze debut, “Dixieland”, were downright cheery compared to the existential crises lining “New Hell“, the Michigan band’s heavier, more poignantly pretty 2019 follow-up, which situated them at the forefront of the nascent shoegaze renaissance.
“Die In Love” is a beautifully melancholic album by Greet Death. The band’s dizzying melodic nature shines throughout its nine tracks, featuring delicate acoustic shimmers, somber percussion, and high-volume post-everything fuzz. Greet Death with their third album, “Die In Love“, due out June 27th via Deathwish. It’s the follow-up to 2019’s “New Hell” and their 2022 EP “New Low”, and they recorded it in Harper Boyhtari’s parents’ basement in Davisburg, Michigan.
The album includes Greet Death’s 2024 single “Same But Different Now,” and they’ve shared another new single, “Country Girl,” which Harper says is about “identity, alienation, and detachment. It’s like trying to solve a murder mystery and finding out you were the killer the whole time.” Watch the video, directed by Kelly Ngo,
On the smouldering “Punishment Existence,” Logan Gaval sang about coming home from work just to crawl into bed and stare at the ceiling contemplating death. His co-vocalist/guitarist, Harper Boyhtari, put her all-encompassing dread even more succinctly on the hauntingly beautiful “I Hate Everything,” a song so riddled with apathy and numbness that if you received the lyrics in text form then you’d have grounds to call in a wellness check on whoever sent them your way.
A reasonable listener would hear “New Low” and wonder, “How could life possibly get worse for these people?” Well, it did. In the three years since its release, Gaval and Boyharti each endured a string of family deaths, forcing them to quite literally make uneasy acquaintance with the subject they’ve spent their whole adult lives singing about. For a while, they felt encumbered by the stark reality that all their relationships are terminal. However, mixed in with the unfortunate finales were a slew of new beginnings for Gaval and Boyharti. New jobs, new identities, new band members, and new realizations about the function they want their art to serve.
Greet Death is: Logan Gaval, Harper Boyhtari, Jim Versluis, Jackie Kalmink, Eric Beck
Three years on from the release of debut album ‘caroline’, London-based eight-piece caroline announce new album ‘caroline 2’, to be released on May 30th via Rough Trade Records.
The group spent 18 months working across various writing sessions in the UK, with recording primarily taking place at Big Jelly Studios in Ramsgate. The album was produced by the band’s own JasperLlewellyn, Casper Hughes and Mike O’Malley, engineered by Syd Kemp, mixed by Jason Agel and mastered by Heba Kadry in NYC.
Returning with ‘caroline 2’, the eight-piece collective embrace a bolder, more expansive sound. Going beyond their debut’s explorations of repetition, slowness and space, the new album pushes further into dynamic contrasts — organic and electronic, raw and refined. Launched with the striking single ‘Tell me I never knew that’, featuring Caroline Polachek’s unmistakable vocals, “caroline 2” showcases a fearless interplay of layered instrumentation, warped vocal processing, and moments of both euphoria and melancholy. Intentional and immersive, this next chapter solidifies caroline as one of the most innovative voices in contemporary music.
Launch single ‘Tell me I never knew that’ features Caroline Polachek and its accompanying video self-shot by her and the band. The band explain how the song evolved:
“We used to call this one ‘Backstreet boys’ because the opening top line felt like a Backstreet Boys song. The main riff was written by Casper on acoustic guitar and stuck out as a really catchy, bouncy, hypnotic thing. We wrote the opening top line together and straight away we thought ‘this sounds like a melody that Caroline Polachek might sing’ in its hooky-ness. We sort of joked that we’d ask her to sing it but didn’t think it’d actually be on the cards, until about a year later when we sent her the half-finished song and she was up for it!”
Perth’s finest, Psychedelic Porn Crumpets, continue their onslaught on 2025 with the release of a brand new single & announcing details of their 7th record due in May 2025. ‘Carpe Diem, Moonman’ promises to be another weird & wonderful journey through the mind of Jack McEwan, the talisman of the Perth 5-piece. It’s announced alongside brand-new single ‘Weird World Awoke’, another ferocious blast of inimitable rock & roll, with a lyrical rollercoaster to keep pace with the relentless tempo & guitar slaloms.
McEwan himself had this to say about the new record: “Carpe Diem, Moonman” is an entanglement of chaos, the bi-product of excessive touring, an explosion of doubt, wonder, excitement, dog bites, Greek philosophy, death, weekend benders and a partridge in a pear tree, a mongrel of sorts.
There’s so many genres, flavours, cream crackers and fairground amusements packed into CDM. It blasts out the gates, takes you for a spin then leads you off into somewhere beautiful, fun and enthralling. I want people to come back and find something new with each listen.”
‘We’re Dr Feelgood, son, and we haven’t had any dinner.’ What was pub rock, when did it happen, and why? Read all about it in the new Record Collector, out Thursday. Also! Smokey Robinson discusses Motown majesty and orgasms with Rob Hughes, we meet Opeth and Blue Aeroplanes, Daryl Easlea picks the greatest ever 45s from Southend and environs, Gang Of Four’s Jon King elaborates on the soundtrack to his life, Dr Strangely Strange tell us where they’ve been, Scaffold and Hawkwind discuss their latest records, and more. The (Ducks) deluxe music monthly.
On June 6th, Chicago’s Lifeguard will release their debut album ‘Ripped and Torn’ on Matador Records. The youthful trio of Asher Case (bass, baritone guitar, vocals), Isaac Lowenstein (drums, synth), and Kai Slater (guitar, vocals) have been making music together since they were in high school, nearly a quarter of their lives. Noisy and immediate, cryptic but heartfelt, they draw inspiration from punk, dub, power-pop and experimental sounds, and bring them all together in explosive cacophony.
Today, listen to the blistering d-beat driven first single “It Will Get Worse.” The band has also announced a full slate of UK, EU, and US tour dates, which will kick off in June.
Recorded last year in Chicago with producer Randy Randall (No Age), the album captures a claustrophobic scrappiness that evokes the feeling and energy of house parties and tightly-packed rooms, where ears are easily overwhelmed, and ragged improvisations connect with the same force as melodic hooks.
This Friday, April 18th, two of music’s most iconic young songwriters Julien Baker (boygenius) & TORRES will release their highly anticipated debut collaborative album, “Send a Prayer My Way, via Matador Records. “Send A Prayer My Way” has been taking shape since Baker and TORRES shared a stage for the first time in 2016. After the show, one turned to the other and said, “You know, we should make a country album.” That offhand comment became the spark—a kind of origin myth—for a collaboration rooted in mutual respect and a shared commitment to honest, elegant songwriting. Both artists are known for laying bare their struggles in ways that resonate deeply with fans, and this album is no exception. Like the most enduring country records, “Send A Prayer My Way” offers both solace and strength, a reminder that none of us are ever truly alone—and that music can be one of life’s most loyal companions.
“Bottom of a Bottle,” taken from ‘Send A Prayer My Way’ the debut album from Julien Baker & TORRES out next Friday on Matador Records.
The Fat Angel Sings 