Writers take a beating as Lana Del Rey’s Lust For Life album cover delivers more than a thousand words with one simple gesture: she is smiling. Her loyalty to pained poise, seductive pouts, and wounded glares has faltered and the joyful precision on her face ushers in a new artistic … Continue Reading →

As a fan, I’m not sure I really needed a fifth and final TLC album. Thinking back over the legacy of their career, from their debut, Ooooooohhh… On The TLC Tip, to their pinnacle with “Waterfalls”, T-Boz, Left Eye, and Chilli were already firmly etched in my mind as one … Continue Reading →

The sophomore record for any artist is riddled with the anxiety of having to top the debut record, in proving one’s worth to be a continuing card-carrying member of the priority artist club, where big budgets and marketing campaigns flow in a guaranteed return on investment, because after all, it’s … Continue Reading →

If three really is the magic number then recording artists better run for cover as trio London Grammar work their British voodoo on new album Truth Is A Beautiful Thing. Pulled from the hat following 2013’s acclaimed debut LP If You Wait, their new release flirts with evolution more than … Continue Reading →

Days before the untimely demise of Biggie Smalls, being gunned down in Cali, he sat down with Rap City host, Joe Clair, to give what would become his final televised interview to promote his second album, Life After Death. That was twenty years ago, yet the wounds of his unsolved … Continue Reading →

Weather-worn Willie Nelson offers his wrinkled soul to the heavens with his first album of new songs in three years – God’s Problem Child. Aged 83 (this album was released a day before his 84th birthday) the Sheriff of Country has reached a spiritual upland and nearly every song on … Continue Reading →

If the song “Sorry” from Beyonce’s Lemonade album represented a complete genre, and “Middle fingers up… Tell him boy, bye, boy, bye!” was a whole album within the genre, Mary J. Blige has just come with the fire! By now, anyone who has even loosely followed Mary’s career can run … Continue Reading →

Here’s the lowdown: if you have (and love) Father John Misty’s previous couple of albums, go ahead and buy this one too. It is good. Not quite as enjoyable as his previous ones, but good nonetheless. If, on the other hand, you’re not familiar with any Father John Misty and … Continue Reading →

Everybody doesn’t have to be the same type of artist to be successful. This is Leela James’ philosophy on the music industry she still finds challenging to navigate after over ten years in the business. Regardless, this month she releases her sixth studio album, Did It For Love, a follow-up … Continue Reading →

The blues that the sultry Ghanaian-German songstress Y’Akoto radiates has matured into its next incarnation of musical whimsy on her third studio recording, Mermaid Blues. Whereas 2014’s Moody Blues explored the duality of her West African and European roots, this year Y’Akoto transcends the troubled seas of love and acceptance … Continue Reading →