tue 22/07/2025

New Music Reviews

The Mystery of the Bulgarian Voices with Lisa Gerrard, Queen Elizabeth Hall review - voices from another world

Tim Cumming

A hushed expectation filled the Queen Elizabeth Hall on Friday night in advance of the return on stage of the legendary Le Mystère des Voix Bulgares (now rebranded as The Mystery of the Bulgarian Voices), who graced Kate Bush’s 1989 classic The Sensual World with their astonishing style of throat singing, combining drones, quarter tones and complex rh

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Alfredo Rodriguez and Pedrito Martinez, Ronnie Scott's review - Cuban wizards of piano and percussion

Sebastian Scotney

Percussionist Pedrito Martinez is one of those musicians who forces you to re-think what instruments are capable of – while making you wonder if there is actually anything he can’t do. He plays congas, batá drums and bongos with breathtaking facility and flow. He sings everything from Yoruba chants to “Quizás”. He dances.

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theartsdesk at Red Rooster Festival 2019 - bustling Suffolk stately home hoedown

Thomas H Green

Only those who’ve just popped in from an early 20th century Tennessee cotton field will have recently observed more pairs of dungarees in one place than at Red Rooster. It’s a festival that prides itself on a rich diet of Americana alongside a defiantly retro aesthetic.

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Bon Iver, All Points East festival review – powerful, poignant and a little bit weird

Ellie Porter

With thousands of people trooping in to see headliners including The Strokes, Bring Me the Horizon, Mumford and Sons and, tonight, Bon Iver, this corner of London’s beautiful Victoria Park has become a bit of a dustbowl – and the dust certainly gets kicked up as the 10-day festival concludes.

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Reissue CDs Weekly: Jeanette

Kieron Tyler

Jeanette’s “Porque Te Vas” is a prime example of a type of Europop which – beyond a brief flirtation around 1968 to 1971: think Clodagh Rogers – Britain had little time for. It’s not quite schlager, but still has the tell-tale martial rhythm. The singing voice conforms with the breathy stereotype still favoured in France.

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Michael Bublé, O2 Review – an entertainer second to none

Sebastian Scotney

“How did all these people get in my room?” the greatest crooner of them all once quipped, as he threaded his way through the Count Basie Orchestra and out onto the stage at The Sands in Las Vegas. But whereas Sinatra in 1966 had to convince an audience of just 600 people that they were seeing an intimate show, Michael Bublé sets himself the task of doing the same for 20,000.

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Emmy the Great, King Tut's Wah Wah Hut, Glasgow review - emotions recollected

Lisa-Marie Ferla

“I appreciate the irony of me singing this in my mum jeans,” says Emmy The Great, whose five-month-old is travelling with her on this tour, before playing “We Almost Had a Baby”. Despite its jaunty little riff the song, from her 10-year-old debut album, is a desperately sad one, about a pregnancy scare.

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Mélanie De Biasio, QEH review – six years after 'No Deal'

Sebastian Scotney

“Alexa, play Mélanie De Biasio”... and you know exactly where you’re headed. The Charleroi-born singer has created a sound-world, a place which is instantly recognisable.

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Neneh Cherry, Brighton Festival 2019 review – beloved bohemian

Nick Hasted

Neneh Cherry’s matchless bohemian life has perversely secured her pop position. The crowd tonight is maybe three-quarters female, and as unconcerned by a setlist almost wholly drawn from new album Broken Politics as Cherry is by the long lacuna in what you could hardly call a career.

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Peter Perrett, Concorde 2, Brighton review - it’s a family affair for the former Only One

Guy Oddy

It’s been a couple of years since Peter Perrett, the former frontman and creative force behind the much loved but commercially under-performing Only Ones decided that he’d had enough of being a mere legend and got back into the musical ring.

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