2026 SO FAR - JANUARY/FEBRUARY/MARCH
SAULT - Chapter 1
Cleo Sol and Inflo's rotating (and often anonymous) roll-call of top-drawer musicians return with another mysterious minimal collection of tight gospelized funk and loose spiritual grooves, straight from the annals of soul history with more than a smattering of psychedelia and RnB colouring in the edges and the outlines. Highlights include the reflective opener God, Protect Me From My Enemies, the sparse string-driven Fulful Your Spirit and the shuffling hardbeat of Protector and while none of this outfit's 13th studio-album is particularly ground-breaking, they've got a formula that crosses enough musical boundaries to appeal to 'the heads' and the curious. If you like the instrumental side of Stax, served up with some Khurangbin, mixed in with early Minnie Riperton, Roy Ayers or Shuggie Otis, then add a little Sault into your life. ☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆
FATHER JOHN MISTY - The Old Law EP
It can be argued that Joshua Tillmans' nom-du-plume has been greeted with open arms in the UK just like back home in the States - five straight Top 20 studio albums in a row although something of a mixed reception to his most recent opus Mahashmashana - yet he's still not a household name in either territory. No matter - FJM's melodic Americana-pop oeuvre remains in demand with enough people to keep funding further releases. This shortform three-piece bundle carries on where the previous 2024 album left off, featuring a couple of songs from that period and breezy new song The Old Law. Those album tracks include the lyrical jamboree I Guess Time Just Makes Fools Of Us All, an eight-minute amble through musical territory formerly explored by Chris Rea, James Taylor or Doobie Brothers, and the robust earlier single Josh Tillman and the Accidental Dose. Seek it. ☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆
THOUGHT LEADERSHIP - IV of Cups
This is the third release by the anonymous Stockport multi-instrumentalist and possibly the most rewarding and absorbing. Named after a tarot suit, IV of Cups merely relies on roman numerals for track titles, adding to the mystery and giving nothing away about the music. So let's dissect it all a little bit. Musically, Thought Leadership pays respectful homage to Durutti Column, Dif Juz, Robin Guthrie, Pat Metheny, Bill Frisell and a few other ECM, Factory and 4AD players. The first half of this set certainly lends itself towards a rather more resplendent sound, but it's the final trio of extended pieces that truly glow. Music for twilight, sketches for Spring, elegies for kicking back with a long tall drink and zero worries. Limited 300 run from the marvellous Be With Records label. ☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆
SUGAR - Long Live Love
A two-track taster of the first new material from Bob Mould's post-Husker Du fuzz-rockers since 1995, the strongest of which is the a-side. It's classic Sugar - ear-bleeding guitar-pop with a biting message and a popcorn melody which will no doubt translate well when the band reconvenes for long-awaited live shows in the spring. Accompanying belter House of Dead Memories (from 2025) is no less impressive, with Mould's distinctive pipes in fine fettle, even when everything else is turned up to 12. There's still plenty of rock primed and ready to burst forth from this original power-trio and long may that continue. ☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆
STEVEN LINDSAY - Elsewhere
Despite the world going to hell in a fire-ravaged handcart, there's hope in the form of a new Steven Lindsay album approaching in the spring. To remind you, Lindsay fronted criminally-ignored '80s soulful-pop outfit The Big Dish and achieved little more than a handful of minor hits and three very treasurable albums - Swimmer is due a reissue in the autumn by the same enigmatic label that's handling this new solo work - before Lindsay jumped ship to live a life, paint (via Lime Tree Gallery, Bristol) and record two rather enchanting solo albums. And then nothing. Until now. Lindsay's plaintive croon decorates this eddying piece of acoustica, his first new issued song since 2007 and it's a comforting elegiac delight. Perhaps not unlike something Talk Talk's Mark Hollis might have recorded, Elsewhere is a hazy minimal ballad without the histrionics associated with the style. Bring on that album! ☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆ (pic:Steven Lindsay)
CRAVEN FAULTS - Sidings
Yorkshire's rocky wide-open spaces plays a huge part in the making of this album. For a start Craven Faults is named after the geological Craven Fault system in the Pennines, the lengthy cyclical drone tracks could almost soundtrack the bleaker, beautiful Dales and the gritter Sheffield outliers and not content with just popping Sidings out in standard formats, there's also a planned 4CD set version of this coupled with preceding works. Its creator is somewhat mythical and blends perfectly into the back catalogue of his current recording imprint, The Leaf Label (home of Laurence Pike, Decius, Snapped Ankles) - Faults' style can range from six minute comedown electronica to sixteen minute progressive glissandos, all very hypnotic and, in a good way, soporific. Lovers of Warrington-RuncornNTDP, Pye Corner Audio and the aforementioned Mr Pike should form an orderly queue right here. ☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆
SLEAFORD MODS - The Demise of Planet X
Wherever and whenever there is human fuckery on a global scale, there's a new Sleaford Mods album looming on the horizon. Brimming with satirical eloquence. This is the duo's 13th studio album in almost 20 years and heralds their fourth straight Top 10 on the bounce. As with recent long-players, there are guests (Aldous Harding, Sue Tompkins and Liam Bailey) but they add to the occasion, rather than detract - the Harding track Elitest G.O.A.T. is a highlight and Tompkins really goes for it on lead-off track (and single) The Good Life. But it's on deep cuts you can really appreciate the talents of ranter Williamson and beat-curator Fearn. Head to the title track, the sprightly single Megaton and the gnarly gutteral Gina Was and somehow there's a wide and wild old window into Williamson's world, which isn't entirely different to ours. Wonderfully caustic couplets include "You can't polish these turds, just roll us in glitter" and "same old punk shit, carping on 20 versions of the same shit, S and M leather kit but you can't get whipped...". ☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆