Ben Tipple

London

Head of Digital & Social, Co-op Live and Writer at Freelance

Live music professional | Writing words and chewing ears off about alt-pop and rock | All opinions my own | 🌈 (He/Him)

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Articles

Slam Dunk 2025 epitomises both legacy and innovation as it blends the new with the old

5 days ago | diymag.com | Ben Tipple

The alternative mainstay event hosts standout sets from The Used, Finch and newcomers Winona Fighter. One year away from its 20th anniversary in its home city of Leeds, Slam Dunk is now a mainstay on the alternative calendar, with a predominantly pop-punk offering in comparison to the likes of Donington’s (traditionally) heavier counterpart or Outbreak’s hearty lean into hardcore.
Cliffords - Salt Of The Lee

1 week ago | diymag.com | Ben Tipple

5 Stars Far more than just hype. Released: 30th May 2025 Label: Soil To The Sun / Relentless Across four twisting love letters to their home town, Cork-raised upstarts Cliffords cement a time and place with precision well beyond their years. This second EP is a triumphant follow-up to last year’s already masterful ‘Strawberry Scented’, a release that introduced their impeccable blend of storytelling and emotion.
Blondshell - If You Asked For A Picture

1 month ago | diymag.com | Ben Tipple

4 Stars Far less direct than her debut, and more thoughtful. Released: 2nd May 2025 Label: Partisan Records In the two years since releasing her self-titled Blondshell debut, Sabrina Teitelbaum has not just broken out from the underground, but propelled herself to repeated (and lauded) late night television appearances, landed in both the US and UK Top 100, and sold out shows across the globe - both as headliner and supporting the likes of acclaimed superstar Liz Phair.
Car Seat Headrest - The Scholars

1 month ago | diymag.com | Ben Tipple

4 Stars A psychedelic, classic rock mashup that absorbs and expands on the sound Car Seat Headrest have claimed as their own. Released: 2nd May 2025 Label: Matador To follow newfound fame among young listeners with an hour-plus rock opera is a bold move to most, but for Virginia born Will Toledo and his expansive Car Seat Headrest project, it doesn’t fall a million miles away from the more epic moments peppered throughout his acclaimed catalogue.
Bon Iver - SABLE, fABLE

1 month ago | diymag.com | Ben Tipple

5 Stars Soulful, almost spiritual in its delivery. Released: 11th April 2025 Label: Jagjaguwar Musically, at least, Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon has spent the best part of two decades separating himself from the guy who holed up in a mountain cabin for the creation of the inarguably gorgeous ‘For Emma, Forever Ago’.
Lucy Dacus - Forever Is A Feeling

2 months ago | diymag.com | Ben Tipple

4 Stars An exploration of love through a tentative, poignantly relatable lens. Released: 28th March 2025 Label: Geffen Lucy Dacus has a lot to thank boygenius for on her fourth studio album, ‘Forever Is A Feeling’.
Perfume Genius - Glory

2 months ago | diymag.com | Ben Tipple

4-5 Stars Perhaps his most musically expansive record to date. Released: 28th March 2025 Label: Matador In the fifteen years since Mike Hadreas emerged with his brutally sparse debut ‘Learning’, Perfume Genius has grown into a sprawling, semi-autobiographical art piece, introducing a series of eponymous characters, spawning a contemporary dance piece and evolving into the ominous orchestral beauty of ‘Glory’.
Antony Szmierek - Service Station at the End of the Universe

Feb 26, 2025 | diymag.com | Ben Tipple

5 Stars Fundamentally British yet beautifully universal. Released: 28th February 2025 Label: Mushroom Music / Virgin To understand Antony Szmierek look no further than the title of his 2023 EP, ‘Poems To Dance To’, an apt depiction of the ex-English teacher’s rising blend of rhythmic spoken word and dancefloor ready production laying the backdrop for musings ranging from personal relationships to obscure places, and a poignant balance of fantasy and heavy realism.
FKA twigs - EUSEXUA

Jan 24, 2025 | diymag.com | Ben Tipple

5 Stars The hazy underground equivalent of BRAT summer with a massive injection of purified sex. Released: 24th January 2025 Label: Young Recordings / Atlantic “Words cannot describe, this feeling deep inside,” FKA twigs glides on the opening title-track of her third studio album proper, ‘EUSEXUA’, before establishing a deep-rooted collective mantra: “Do you feel alone?
Ethel Cain - Perverts

Jan 7, 2025 | diymag.com | Ben Tipple

4 Stars Another layer in an already haunting catalogue of writings, musings and visuals. Hayden Andehönia, the rising force behind Ethel Cain, wants to be more than a musician. She recently revealed her desire to be a filmmaker above all else, expanding her repertoire and with it Ethel’s world, comparing her art to Lord of the Rings and Legend of Zelda, rooted in narrative but with a seemingly endless series of offshoots and side-projects.