AROOJ AFTAB
Night Reign
VERVE
9/10
Late-night tales from Pakistan-born, Brooklyn-based chanteuse
You could list and number the many traditions that feed into Arooj Aab’s music – the rich instrumentation of Indian classical, the mystic devotionals of qawwali, the aching jazz soul of Billie Holiday. But in practice, her songs feel so neatly woven that they deny all attempts to tease them apart. Listening to Night Reign, you mostly find yourself focusing on Aab’s voice – a rich and smoky thing, gentle and openhearted on “Whiskey”, reaching back through the centuries on “Na Gul”. But it also shows she has a keen eye for a collaborator: James Francies adds sparkling piano to a take on jazz standard “Autumn Leaves”, while Moor Mother makes a spine-tingling cameo on “Bolo Na”. LOUIS PATTISON
JO BARTLETT
Ghost Tapes 1 To 9
INDIE THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS
8/10
Alluringly understated electro-pop from It’s Jo & Danny co-founder
Ingenuity has been crucial to Jo Bartlett’s creative life, be it starting her own club night, record label or festival (Green Man, with partner Danny Hagan). Fittingly, Ghost Tapes… is an entirely self-recorded, laptop-made journey into minimal electronica, relaying tales of vulnerability, resilience and the restorative pull of music. A spare, funky groove undercuts the personal crisis of “Floating”; “Drawing A Line” is a gently rhythmic hymn to positivity; the nostalgic “She’s Got The Music” doubles as pledge of commitment: “I toured with Daniel Treacy, never looking back/Every day, in every way, still planning my attack”. ROB HUGHES
BMX BANDITS
Dreamers On The Run
TAPETTE
8/10
Endlessly alluring pensive pop classicism
For the group’s 12th album, Bandit-inchief Duglas Stewart envisioned a melodic clash of two worlds, the reverie escape of music tempering the harsh realities of everyday life. The title track sets the tone, rich in David Axelrod ambition and wide-eyed romance, and pastoral orchestrations also permeate the reflective “What He Set Out To Be” and “Things You Threw Away”, the latter intermittently veering into Randy Newman territory. The peppy “Setting Sun” recalls the guitar jangle of the band’s early days, but for the most part this is a bold and seductive exploration of symphonic pop that relishes pushing envelopes at will. TERRY STAUNTON
BEEN STELLAR
Scream From New York, NY
DIRTY HIT
7/10
New Yorkers repurpose the familiar to thrilling effect
“We like music that can only exist in one place,” guitarist Skyler St Marx has said of these newcomers, and they join a long list of groups who’ve tapped New York City’s singularity. Sonically, though, they draw on different sources: their debut fuses shoegaze with darkly furious post-punk and grunge, with reference to Smashing Pumpkins and MBV. There’s an Afghan Whigs homage in (the admittedly exhilarating) “Passing Judgment”, but despite the band’s unabashed borrowing, it’s hard to deny a song as huge as “Sweet”; the record’s obvious smarts and dynamic wallop carry it. SHARON O’CONNELL
BELBURY POLY
Fellfoul
MULGRAVE AUDIO
7/10
Fantasy audio drama, touched by the hand of Ghost Box
Founded in 2023, Mulgrave Audio is a microlabel on a mission to release dramatised recordings of original weird fiction from the north-east. Fellfoul, written by the Durham-based author and designer Andrew Orton and narrated by actor Aja Dodd, tells an entertaining yarn of a girl who stumbles on a fantasy enactment that takes a strikingly real turn. The soundtrack is provided by Jim Jupp, Ghost Box co-founder and the man behind Belbury Poly. His audio – also provided separately – channels the low-budget, high-ambition scores of ’80s film and TV, a mix of grand medieval court music and dramatic interludes played out on guitar, bass and digital synth. LOUIS PATTISON
AMANDA BERGMAN
Your Hand Forever Checking On My Fever
THE SATCHI SIX
8/10
Respected Swede’s affecting, inviting second solo album
It’s not only striking opener “Wild Geese, Wild Love”, about her father’s death, that suggests an older, wiser Mary Margaret O’Hara teaming up with Springsteen on 1987’s polished, sentimental . Bergman’s melodies, albeit less singular, pursue unexpected routes – consider “The World Is Tired”’s hush – and her
