Tuesday 3rd June 2025

Music

Roots and rhythm: The living legacy of Dot’s Funk Odyssey

"Talent, friendship, and absurd levels of joy"

Metal becomes mainstream: Sleep Token breaks through

Metal is a genre that is certainly out of fashion. Gone are the days...

Oxide Radio is a breath of fresh, musical air

"This free station is worth a listen"

‘Step into Christmas’ with Out of the Blue’s Christmas charity single

Out of the Blue, an Oxford University a cappella group, has released its Christmas charity single for 2021. This year, the group is supporting...

Review: “Kid A Mnesia” by Radiohead

Kid A and its sister album Amnesiac helped introduce electronic instruments to alternative rock, and were a risky sonic departure from Radiohead’s guitar-based and immensely successful OK Computer....

“It is not for you”: Review of Adele’s 30

"We’ve got 19, 21, and 25 to hear Adele sing about growing up, breaking your heart, and the power of belonging. 30 is another project personal to a stage in her life, and regardless of whether it’s for everyone, it is a simply brilliant listen."

A Review of Cheryl Frances-Hoad’s everything grows extravagantly

"Clocking in at just under thirty minutes, this cycle was so absorbing that I nearly forgot the other songs with which the concert began."

Bilingualism in music: a cure or curse for monolingualism?

"In 2017, two of the most popular singles in America were bilingual: ‘Despacito’ and J Balvin’s club classic ‘Mi Gente’ which gained incendiary power thanks to a Beyoncé cameo. In both cases, the English-speaking singers made notable effort to acknowledge the dominance of Spanish-language pop by singing in Spanish. Indeed, despite the commercial benefits that these artists certainly received perhaps the most important outcome of their success is their cultural impact."

A House Divided: My dad and I can’t agree on Ben Platt’s album Reverie

"The lyric ‘you took my weed and two years of my precious time’ makes me laugh each time I hear it in the song ‘leave my mind’ – ironically, the song can quite easily leave my mind as soon as I’ve finished listening to it."

Willie J Healey: ‘I unashamedly want to take the world over’

"We met upstairs at the Jericho Tavern, Willie having taken some time out from watching the football at a pub down the road. Donning a tiny beanie, a different colour of which he’s worn at each tour date so far, and with a feather earring dangling from his left ear, he bears all the hallmarks of an indie songsmith - albeit, one who doesn’t take themselves too painfully seriously."

Don’t Look Back in Anger: The Rise and Fall of Britpop

"These songs hugely contrasted with the dark, depressing songs produced by American grunge artists such as Nirvana and Pearl Jam, and were generally more upbeat, optimistic and catchy. Damon Albarn of Blur said in a 1993 interview that: “If punk was about getting rid of hippies, then I’m getting rid of grunge!”."

Review: “Sometimes I Might Be Introvert” by Little Simz

"Simz takes the face (or rather, the voice) of British royalty and uses it to represent her own inner voice. But more importantly, it brings the exploration of womanhood and female consciousness to the forefront of the album. This is, after all, an album about women breaking out of their role and being more than one thing."

Nostalgia, Saxophones and Eighth Weeks: review of Take the Sadness Out of Saturday Night by Bleachers

"Listening to 'Chinatown' and '45', the first two singles from Bleachers’ latest album Take the Sadness Out of Saturday Night takes me right back to eighth week of my first term at Oxford. I spent that week wrapped up in a big grey coat and scarf (channelling Dark Academia as best I could), taking Main Character walks around the city, reading in the cafes that had finally opened again, and, most importantly, dealing with a lot of messy emotions that had been building up all term."

Review: Monsters by Tom Odell

"Monsters takes the listener on a whirlwind tour of raw human emotion. Whether you love or hate Odell’s marmite exposition of various moods, the album clearly provides something for everyone."

The Folk Music Revival Must Go On!

"There has been a surge in folk music’s popularity since artists like Phoebe Bridgers and Taylor Swift released albums devoted to the much-loved genre. They have proven that, while folk music is forever attached to its past, it is not incompatible with the now."

When streaming becomes scrolling

"Spotify promises to ‘soundtrack your life’. We must be wary of how it’s shaping it." Lucy Kelly questions whether Spotify could become the most addictive social media platform.

Hyperpop: the newest teen fad or pop music’s saviour?

"This juxtaposition characterises the genre: bright, happy elements of club hits mixed with a subversive sly irony that comes with introducing darker lyrical and aesthetic elements." Connor Connolly tackles the explosion in popularity of Hyperpop, and its effects on the music industry.

Review: “Beauty in Death” by Chase Atlantic

"The energy is less mosh pit, headbanging, and more vulnerable. There’s talk of heartache and relationships crumbling" Poppy Atkinson Gibson finds a different side to the Australian trio, Chase Atlantic, in their latest release, "Beauty in Death".

Album Review: “Great Spans of Muddy Time”//William Doyle

""Great Spans of Muddy Time" finds Doyle in new realms of abstraction, with a record that can feel formless, sometimes almost messy." Frank Milligan ruminates on William Doyle's latest release.

Self-growth, Sin Miedo: The Rise of Kali Uchis

"The potentially risky decision to produce a Spanish album to a predominantly English-speaking fanbase reflects Uchis’ consistent commitment to be authentic to herself." Ellie-Jai Williams explores Uchis’s brave Spanish new album, "Sin Miedo (del Amor y Otros Demonios)."

“We’ve come a long long way together” Liverpool’s ‘First Dance’

""I want to go again. It was just so so fun. It was such a nice atmosphere there.” The feeling of happy excitement of people heading out for their first night out post-lockdown definitely gave a boost of energy." Iona Neill discusses the recent trial rave at Bramley-Moore dock in Merseyside.

Review: Lana Del Rey’s Chemtrails Over The Country Club

"She walks this peculiar line of being both stronger and more self-assured but within that, being more unapologetically delicate and sentimental." J Daniels explores Lana’s 7th album, in all its assuredness, delicacy and sentiment.

Review: Ben Howard’s Collections From The Whiteout

"Howard has somehow transformed the usually significant divide between the ominous and the amusing into a fine line." J Daniels takes a look into folk singer Ben Howard’s latest album.

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