wed 03/09/2025

New releases on CD & DVD

Album: Saint Etienne - International

Kieron Tyler

International is Saint Etienne’s 13th album. It is their last. According to the promotional material, it was written while recording their last album, 2021’s I’ve Been Trying To Tell You. The trio – Sarah Cracknell, Bob Stanley, Pete Wiggs – must have known back then they were planning to bow out.

Blu-ray: The Graduate

John Carvill

Can a film’s classic status expire, or be rescinded? If it can, I’d say The Graduate is a potential candidate.

Album: Brad Mehldau - Ride into the Sun

Sebastian Scotney

Brad Mehldau’s three trio concerts in the UK in June showed what it is he does so brilliantly. The group (with bassist Felix Moseholm and drummer...

Album: Sabrina Carpenter - Man's Best Friend

Ellie Roberts

Following the success of 2024’s flirtatious Short n’ Sweet, Sabrina Carpenter has fully committed to her pin-up popstar status with Man’s Best Friend...

Album: CMAT - EURO-COUNTRY

Kathryn Reilly

Queen of the earworm Ciara Mary-Alice Thompson has had quite the summer, capturing imaginations and sparking indignation. The brazen hussy has the...

Subscribe to theartsdesk.com

Thank you for continuing to read our work on theartsdesk.com. For unlimited access to every article in its entirety, including our archive of more than 15,000 pieces, we're asking for £5 per month or £40 per year. We feel it's a very good deal, and hope you do too.

To take a subscription now simply click here.

And if you're looking for that extra gift for a friend or family member, why not treat them to a theartsdesk.com gift subscription?

Album: The Hives - The Hives Forever, Forever The Hives

Guy Oddy

No power ballads, no acoustic interludes - just speedy rock’n’roll all the way

Album: Benedicte Maurseth - Mirra

Kieron Tyler

Haunting, intense evocation of Norway’s uplands and its wildlife

Blu-ray: Finis Terrae

Graham Rickson

Bleak but compelling semi-documentary, filmed on location in Brittany

Album: Nova Twins - Parasites & Butterflies

Tom Carr

Exciting London duo turn inward and more introspective with their third album while retaining their trademark hybrid sound

Album: Blood Orange - Essex Honey

Joe Muggs

A triumph for the artist who doesn't clamour for attention but just keeps growing

Album: Wolf Alice - Clearing

Joe Muggs

Ten years from their debut, Wolf Alice once again make magic from the familiar

Album: Deftones - Private Music

Ibi Keita

Deftones give us a glimmer of hope, but that's all...

Album: Eve Adams - American Dust

Kieron Tyler

Taking inspiration from the Californian desert

Blu-ray: Who Wants to Kill Jessie?

Graham Rickson

Fast-paced and visually inventive Czech comedy

Album: Adrian Sherwood - The Collapse of Everything

Guy Oddy

The dub maestro stretches out and chills

Album: Dinosaur Pile-Up - I've Felt Better

Thomas H Green

Heavy rock power pop trio return after an unwanted lengthy break

Album: Tom Grennan - Everywhere I Went Led Me To Where I Didn't Want To Be

Thomas H Green

British pop star's fourth exhibits ultra-pop oomph with mixed results

Album: Emma Smith - Bitter Orange

Tim Cumming

The award-winning jazz singer brings new life to some classic standards

Album: Marissa Nadler - New Radiations

Kieron Tyler

The Nashville-based singer-songwriter explores disconnection

Album: Rise Against - Ricochet

Guy Oddy

Have the US punk veterans finally run out of road?

Album: Alison Goldfrapp - Flux

Joe Muggs

The synth diva in her comfort zone - maybe getting a little too comfortable, though

Album: The Black Keys - No Rain, No Flowers

Tom Carr

Ohio rockers' 13th album improves on recent material, but still below mainstream peak

Album: Ethel Cain - Willoughby Tucker, I'll Always Love You

Joe Muggs

Relatively straightforward songs from the Southern Gothic star - with the emphasis on 'relatively'

Album: Black Honey - Soak

Thomas H Green

South Coast band return with another set of catchy, confident indie-rockin'

Blu-ray: Two Way Stretch / Heavens Above!

Graham Rickson

'Peak Sellers': two gems from a great comic actor in his prime

Album: Molly Tuttle - So Long Little Miss Sunshine

Thomas H Green

The US bluegrass queen makes a sally into Swift-tinted pop-country stylings

Album: Mansur Brown - Rihla

Joe Muggs

Jazz-prog scifi mind movies and personal discipline provide a... complex experience

Album: Reneé Rapp - Bite Me

Thomas H Green

Second album from a rising US star is a feast of varied, fruity, forthright pop

Album: Cian Ducrot - Little Dreaming

James Mellen

Second album for the Irish singer aims for mega mainstream, ends up confused

newsletter

Get a weekly digest of our critical highlights in your inbox each Thursday!

Simply enter your email address in the box below

View previous newsletters

The future of Arts Journalism

 

You can stop theartsdesk.com closing!

We urgently need financing to survive. Our fundraising drive has thus far raised £49,000 but we need to reach £100,000 or we will be forced to close. Please contribute here: https://gofund.me/c3f6033d

And if you can forward this information to anyone who might assist, we’d be grateful.

latest in today

'We are bowled over!' Thank you for your messages... ...
The Guest, BBC One review - be careful what you wish for

Why isn’t Eve Myles a superstar? Though well known for her appearances in the likes of Torchwood, Broadchurch and the brilliant...

Born with Teeth, Wyndham's Theatre review - electric sp...

The title refers to a line in Henry VI, Part III: the future Richard III boasts that midwives cried, "Oh Jesus bless us, he is born with...

Album: Saint Etienne - International

International is Saint Etienne’s 13th album. It is their last. According to the promotional material, it was written while recording...

BBC Proms: Barruk, Norwegian Chamber Orchestra, Kuusisto rev...

Every year, the Royal Albert Hall proves complicit in the magic of the quietest utterances if, as Barenboim put it, you let the audience come to...

Blu-ray: The Graduate

Can a film’s classic status expire, or be rescinded? If it can, I’d say The Graduate is a potential candidate.

...

BBC Proms: Alexander’s Feast, Irish Baroque Orchestra, Whela...

Many Londoners would already have experienced the musicality incarnate of Peter Whelan and his Irish Baroque Orchestra. A smaller ensemble rocked...

Album: Brad Mehldau - Ride into the Sun

Brad Mehldau’s three trio concerts in the UK in June showed what it is he does so brilliantly. The group (with bassist Felix Moseholm and drummer...

Music Reissues Weekly: The Outer Limits - Just One More Chan...

The Outer Limits were from Leeds. Active over 1965 to 1968, the...

BBC Proms: Moore, LSO, Bancroft review - the freshness of mo...

11am concerts do take some getting used to. The BBC Proms season has no fewer than...