Sam Walton

May 16, 2024 | loudandquiet.com | Sam Walton

A handful of adjectives seem to follow Beth Gibbons around. “Tortured”, “bleak” – they crop up again and again in descriptions of the singer, the combined effect being the construction of a sort of proxy personality to drape over that remarkable voice.

Apr 15, 2024 | loudandquiet.com | Stuart Stubbs |Sam Walton

Since Claire Rousay distanced herself from her Christian upbringing, where she played drums in an evangelical rock band, she’s evaded easy categorisation in the music she’s produced, and in how that music has been presented. I can’t tell you what number album sentiment is, because I can’t confidently gauge which of Rousay’s releases she considers to be albums. 2022’s everything perfect is already here did appear in our Album of the Year list, but it is a record made up of just 2 tracks.

Apr 2, 2024 | loudandquiet.com | Sam Walton

Here’s a thought experiment: if Mount Kimbie’s history wasn’t already known, and you had to imagine one that explains the contents of The Sunset Violent, what would it look like? A musically literate post-punk group going up through the gears of songwriting complexity over a series of albums, perhaps? Maybe a familiar story of a conventional rock band embracing the digital fringes of their genre a little more with each release? Both sound convincing, and would match the record’s sound.

Feb 12, 2024 | loudandquiet.com | Colin Groundwater |Sam Walton

Shane Lavers wants to get up close. He likes small, dark venues; events that feel more like parties than concerts. “Ideally, we’re not onstage, we’re level with people,” the Chanel Beads frontman says. “The intimacy becomes like a release.” That release comes as his voice rises, singing louder and louder as he prowls the floor right in front of your face. “I’m addicted to screaming at people now,” he says with a laugh.

Feb 4, 2024 | loudandquiet.com | Sam Walton

To date, Kali Malone’s albums have felt more like commemorations of live events than free-standing musical objects. All Life Long, however, has a greater sense of its own agency than hitherto: the 12 pieces here, written for choir, brass ensemble or pipe organ, feature recurring patterns that echo off each other as the album progresses, and a single-sitting listening is rewarded with a sense of monolithic completion, and a consequently satisfying calm.