Interview - Baxter Dury
Baxter Dury by Tom Beard
Across a 25-year career and 9 studio albums, Baxter Dury has carved out a singular place in British music.
His unmistakable vocal delivery, a kind of idiosyncratic sprechgesang, has become his calling card, steeped in a weary, world-wise tone that is unmistakably him.
Yet while his voice has remained a constant, Baxter Dury has long been adept at shaping soundscapes that serve his character-driven vignettes, moving between sparse, noirish backdrops and lusher, groove-heavy arrangements.
With his latest album Allbarone, he makes his boldest stylistic leap yet.
Here, the Londoner leans into the pulse of dance music and the textures of electronica, building a shimmering, restless framework for his storytelling resulting in a fizzing cocktail of loosely connected tracks gathered under what he himself dubs a, ‘Romantasy’: a quasi-dystopian space where irony, melancholy and euphoria collide.
https://www.live4ever.uk.com/baxter-dury-live4ever-interview/
Suede - Antidepressants
Galvanized by the energy from 2022’s Autofiction tour, Suede follow up their ‘punk’ album with – appropriately – their ‘post-punk’ album, with the influences said to include the music of their youth such as The Fall, Joy Division and Siouxsie and the Banshees.
As such, where Autofiction bristled with raw urgency and livewire energy, Antidepressants is a darker sequel: more neurotic but also more ambitious.
Most explicitly, on June Rain Mat Osman’s bass gothically aligns with guitarist Richard Oakes’s Bansheeisms while also fusing early U2 with The Chameleons’ etherealism.
Sadly, its elegant shimmer is cut short after just one chorus, the adage of ‘leave them wanting more’ expertly applied.
Primal Scream - XTRMNTR at 25
Released at the dawn of the 21st century, Primal Scream’s XTRMNTR was less an album than a sonic uprising, a visceral, noisy declaration of war presumed to be designed against political apathy, corporate greed, and cultural complacency.
Yet curiously, Bobby Gillespie claims it’s not a political work but a reflection of where the band were at in the late ‘90s – namely, embroiled in the UK drug culture. However, it’s a hard idea to countenance, even if it was released at the peak of neoliberalism (Blair and Clinton were at their height), an idea that now seems blissfully naïve.
Despite Gillespie’s view, XTRMNTR can be viewed as little else than a howl against systems of control and the cultural numbness that allows them to thrive. It was prophetic too, arriving just over 18 months before 9/11 and the subsequent wave of global paranoia.
The band’s evolution during the turn of the millennium (Vanishing Point to Evil Heat), was arguably Primal Scream’s most experimental yet, with XTRMNTR marking the zenith. And what a cast list; Kevin Shields, Mani, Bernard Sumner, and The Chemical Brothers all added depth and unpredictability, helping shape an abrasive but immersive sound.
https://www.clashmusic.com/features/primal-screams-xtrmntr-remains-a-howl-of-caustic-sonic-rage/
Paul Weller - Find El Dorado
Back in 2004, Paul Weller released his first covers album, Studio 150. Depending on the source, it was either the nadir of a turn-of-the-century rut that the former Jam man was working through (Both 2000’s Heliocentric and Illumination two years later were met with a muted response) or the creative spark required to set him on to a (brand) new start.
21 years later, much has changed. Still very much in the same purple patch, Weller isn’t hankering for new ideas but taking a side step after some serious crate-digging. Where ‘Studio 150’ included interpretations of several classics (‘Close To You’, ‘All Along The Watchtower’), on Find El Dorado, he’s harkening back to attempt to harness the vibe from a specific, largely-British era. As such, perhaps only ‘I Started A Joke’ (by the Bee Gees, here given a grandiose quality) is recognisable to Joe Public.
https://www.clashmusic.com/reviews/paul-weller-find-el-dorado/
Wet Leg - Moisturizer
Much like any indie-rock band of the last decade, Wet Leg return with a slight weight of expectation following their wildly successful debut, which bagged them three Grammys and two BRITs. Yet rather than reinvent their sound, the Isle of Wight five-piece have astutely built upon their strengths, bolstering rather than overhauling everything that made them such a refreshing presence when they debuted in 2022. The result is a confident, exuberant record that solidifies their status as one of the UK’s most distinctive musical voices.
While the band’s irreverent spirit and playful, impish vocal delivery remain central, there’s a noticeable expansion in thematic depth and musical texture. This second effort is driven by a newfound willingness to explore emotional vulnerability, particularly in the form of love songs, territory co-founder Rhian Teasdale once regarded with scepticism. Here, however, Wet Leg skew the well-trodden terrain through their now-trademark sardonic outlook.
Oasis - Live at the Principality Stadium, Cardiff - 4th July 2025
Oasis at Principality Stadium by Big Brother Recordings
There we were. Now here we are.
After the world stood still in August last year following the Oasis reunion announcement there has been a hankering to find out what’s next.
The tickets were released and the story immediately became about the dynamic pricing fiasco, which itself became something of a saga.
Then, late last year, Cast and Richard Ashcroft were confirmed as the support acts in the UK and Ireland. Then, nothing.
While Liam was his usual surreal self on Twitter, responding to questions but answering none, and Noel gave a handful of football-related interviews on Talksport, there was otherwise a media blackout.
Perhaps aware that the media played their part in the 2009 breakup, or maybe because there was simply no need with 41 stadium dates around the world instantly sold out.
The full Oasis band line-up (Bonehead, Andy Bell, Gem Archer, Christian Madden and Joey Waronker) was ‘revealed’ earlier in the year, but even that wasn’t official. Whether by luck or judgement, it has been a masterclass of a campaign.
https://www.live4ever.uk.com/oasis-principality-stadium-gig-review/
Glastonbury 2025
Another year, another Glastonbury ‘controversy’.
Some people still insist that politics and the arts shouldn’t mix, especially not at Glastonbury, blissfully unaware of the festival’s storied, proudly political history.
The Eavis family wear that legacy on their sleeves, as reflected by the rainbow-hued CND symbol adorning the Pyramid field in 2025.
This year the name on everyone’s lips was Kneecap. So much so, it was obvious by Wednesday morning that the West Holts field would be overwhelmed. Little did the crowd know that the Northern Irish trio would soon be upstaged.
While the festival ostensibly begins on Friday, there’s plenty happening before then: Wednesday night’s Pyramid field opening ceremony earned a mixed reception — with no sound, three giant screens and a packed field many were unaware anything was even happening on stage but the traditional fireworks that followed left little to be desired.
https://www.live4ever.uk.com/pulp-kneecap-glastonbury-2025-review/
Pulp - Live at The O2 Arena, London - 14th June 2025
Nostalgia has its place.
For some, it’s a chance to roll back the years and revel in times when life was simpler and the waist was thinner. For others, it’s a handy retirement plan.
Like most things, for Jarvis Cocker and Pulp, it’s an opportunity to cock a snook. As the frontman rises from beneath the stage, he’s disguised as his iconic cardboard cut-out from Different Class.
As on the recent AI-generated video for ‘Spike Island’, which uses the same cut-outs as its foundation, Pulp are happy to acknowledge their past, but opt to use it to create More art.
The consummate showman, Jarvis calls this Friday night show a, ‘high pressure evening’, not only is it their debut at the arena, not only is it being filmed, but it’s also his wedding anniversary – with his wife in the crowd.
Yet if there is any pressure, it only energises the band. From the outset, he has the 20,000-strong audience eating out of his hand.
https://www.live4ever.uk.com/pulp-o2-arena-london-gig-review/
Supergrass - Live at The Roundhouse, London - 22nd May 2025
Thirty years after the testosterone fuelled I Should Coco burst into the world, Supergrass are commemorating its impact.
Tonight’s (May 22nd) show, the second of three at the Roundhouse in Camden, is a reminder of just how tight, inventive and gloriously fun that the four-piece band of brothers can be.
Playing the album in order (as is practice), Supergrass open with the glam-stomp gallop of ‘I’d Like To Know’, setting a precedent for the evening: urgent, unpredictable and executed with master precision.
Less a song than a suite of rock movements crammed into four minutes (each one cut off in its prime), the crowd sing when required with nostalgic gusto but also as an eruption of communal energy.
Yet even then, it pales into significance next to the first single of the night, ‘Caught By The Fuzz’. Ever the wily showmen, Supergrass slightly delay the gallop into the final verse, Danny Goffey’s drumming characteristically pulverising and Mick Quinn’s outstanding bass playing possibly the band’s secret weapon.
https://www.live4ever.uk.com/supergrass-london-roundhouse-review/
Peter Doherty - Felt Better Alive
It can’t be a coincidence that since Peter Doherty got fully clean six years ago his output has had a renewed tightness and focus.
Born in the rural quietude of Normandy and shaped by a change in circumstances (the songs were written when wife Katia de Vidas was pregnant), Felt Better Alive maintains his purple patch.
While he’s been shrewd in his recent collaborators (Frederic Lo and a stable Libertines) who push him a way that the Puta Madres – for example – do not, this time round Liam Gallagher guitarist Mike Moore has sharpened Doherty’s trademark rawness.
The songs on this solo album are polished, structured and deliberate, yet they never lose that frayed charm that made him a compelling figure to begin with.
https://www.live4ever.uk.com/peter-doherty-better-alive-review/
Billy Nomates - Metalhorse
Life is cruel, as we all know. For Tor Maries (Billy Nomates to you and me), the last few years have been brutally relentless, with the Leicestershire-born, Bristol-based artist having to endure the passing of her father, an MS diagnosis and that Glastonbury nonsense in 2023.
More power to her then that she has returned with her strongest album yet, utilising those experiences as part of a concept album of sorts: life is a funfair, with all the associated ups and downs, if that doesn’t sound too Ronan Keating.
Previously ardently minimalist, there has been something of a sonic upgrade on Metalhorse, with a full band playing the songs, piano-led theatricality, delivering an emotionally resonant piece of work.
https://www.live4ever.uk.com/billy-nomates-metalhorse-review/
Arcade Fire - Pink Elephant
Arcade Fire’s seventh studio album arrives laden with both expectation and unease.
The band’s first full-length release since a very public reckoning with frontman Win Butler’s controversies, it’s an album that tries to process pain, redemption and reinvention.
At times it succeeds, but too often it stumbles under the weight of its own contradictions, both musically and morally.
Opening track ‘Open Your Heart Or Die Trying’ sets the scene for an inward-looking, cautious album.
An expansive sci-fi instrumental, it builds like a spaceship ascending, its eerie synth sirens rising and falling with epic tension. Immersive and evocative, it’s all dry ice and dread in musical form.
https://www.live4ever.uk.com/arcade-fire-pink-elephant-review/
Blur - The Magic Whip at 10
When Blur reunited in 2008 for headline performances at Glastonbury and Hyde Park the following summer, it felt like a triumphant victory lap. Then, coerced to participate in the 2012 London Olympic celebrations, they put on another huge show at Hyde Park but throughout were coy about releasing a new album. While they did pepper the comebacks with a few standalone releases (‘Fool’s Day’ in 2010 and ‘Under the Westway’ with B-side ‘The Puritan’), both seemed to suggest that a full-blown return to studio albums was unlikely.
However, circumstances changed their minds after a headline slot at Tokyo Rocks Music Festival was cancelled for reasons unknown in 2013. Stranded in Hong Kong for five extra days, the band made use of the time by entering Avon Studios to record new material, forming the foundation for what would become The Magic Whip, though – at the time – Damon Albarn expressed uncertainty about its future. That sense of hesitation and fragmentation ultimately shaped the character of the album itself.
https://www.clashmusic.com/features/blurs-the-magic-whip-at-10/
Yaang - Live at The Lanes, Bristol, 9th April 2025
Building up a head of steam, Mancunians Yaang are following up their excellent EP ‘No’ with their first full UK tour (a handful of dates a few years ago notwithstanding), and Bristol is one of the cities lucky enough to be touched by their unique fusion of rock, electro and most things in between.
First up, however, are the more traditional Hot Face. With an already-impressive pedigree (produced by Speedy Wunderground’s Dan Carey and released on the label), the London trio tear through their 35-minute set, packing in as much as possible. Indeed, said debut ‘Dura Dura’ is about ten songs for the price of one, with a hook that blasts through the room, while ‘17 Day Migraine’ swings, all breathless chords and intent. Like the headliners, they are difficult to define but at certain points, their wired punk thrash recalls early Kings of Leon (i.e., when they were good). Taut chords, snotty delivery and high hopes. Big things can be expected.
https://louderthanwar.com/yaang-the-lanes-bristol-live-review/
Pulp - Spike Island
Now we’re talking.
Reunion shows are all well and good (and in the case of Pulp’s 2023 comeback, very good) but nothing can surpass the feeling of hearing new music. Human beings always want More, and Jarvis Cocker, Candida Doyle, Mark Webber and Nick Banks have been listening.
It starts with a high-pitched whistle, a cymbal count-in, then erupts into glorious, technicolour Pulp. Accompanied by a bassline that’s just begging for a remix (no doubt on its way), the guitar lick is brand new yet instantly familiar. Jarvis, ever the master of human observation, is one step ahead as always with the opening line: ‘Something had stopped me dead in my tracks’. Yes, yes it has.
https://www.clashmusic.com/reviews/pulps-spike-island-is-a-pitch-perfect-return/
Primal Scream - Live at The Beacon, Bristol, 31st March 2025
Defined by their ongoing reinvention, last year’s fine twelfth studio album Come Ahead was another step in Primal Screams’ 40-year journey, and this corresponding tour finds a band still brimming with vitality and purpose.
An impressive bill features Mozart Estate – Laurence’s new venture – and Baxter Dury. The latter’s debonair delivery and offbeat storytelling on record is replaced by a slinkier style, full of dramatic poses and barked delivery.
It perhaps lacks some subtlety on the juddering electro of ;I’m Not Your Dog’, less so on ‘Baxter (These Are My Friends)’, his recent collaboration with Fred Again…, presented here as a full on-raver. Regardless, Dury is a beguiling performer.
True believers in glamour, Primal Scream take to the stage looking appropriately divine; Bobby Gillespie wears a magnificent white jacket, the sort only a true rock star can pull off, while Simone Butler occupies her side of the stage with confidence and majesty.
https://www.live4ever.uk.com/primal-scream-live-bristol-review/
Goes The Dynamite - Goes The Dynamite
Think of your favourite 1980s film.
You know the ones, those that captured the reckless optimism of youth, first love, and summer nights you hoped would never end. Now imagine that feeling in album form.
That’s exactly what Goes The Dynamite are successfully offering with this self-titled debut; a gleaming, nostalgia-tinged, joy-fuelled ride through synth-pop, indie, funk and pure, unfiltered fun.
Based in Cincinnati, this pop trio – Josh Purnell (guitar/vocals), Aaron Scott (bass/vocals) and Shawn Scott (lead vocals/guitar) – have crafted a sound that is instantly familiar but never derivative, mixing modern pop sensibilities with glittering 80’s influences in a clever, hook-heavy and unapologetically catchy way.
https://www.live4ever.uk.com/goes-the-dynamite-future-review/
Benefits - Constant Noise
Stylistic reinventions are getting rarer and rarer. If something has worked, artists are either encouraged to continue to give the people what (they think) they want or, more likely, do so at their label’s request (insistence).
If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Especially if it makes money.
Thankfully, Benefits purposefully operate outside the mainstream music industry.
Not only that, from the outset their guiding principles have demonstrably been about integrity, honesty and purity, and for that we should be grateful.
Where debut album Nails was a vital, powerful but unrelenting body of rock work full of visceral aggression, for Constant Noise, Kingsley Hall and Robbie Major have recalibrated their sonic approach, creating an album that retains its uncompromising energy while expanding into immersive, electronic landscapes.
From the outset, Constant Noise establishes itself as something new; the title-track opens with Hall’s spoken-word lament, ‘I’m looking up in awe at a mountain of shit’, setting the scene while replacing sheer sonic fury with a creeping dread, blending ambient textures and industrial rhythms to amplify its social and political commentary.
https://www.live4ever.uk.com/benefits-constant-noise-review/
The Horrors - Interview
Image by Sarah Piantadosi
After nearly two decades in music, few bands have built a catalogue as consistently innovative and critically acclaimed as The Horrors.
They burst onto the scene in 2007 with their garage-goth debut Strange House before taking a bold turn with their Mercury-nominated follow-up Primary Colours.
From the start, they have moved freely between genres, reinventing their sound with each release. Their sixth album, Night Life, once again sees The Horrors transform, embracing a fresh musical direction and a new lineup centred around vocalist Faris Badwan and bassist Rhys Webb.
It marks The Horrors’ first album without all five original members; after their 2017 album V the band found themselves at a crossroads, a feeling intensified by lockdown.
Drummer Joe Spurgeon departed early in the demo process to focus on his family, while keyboardist Tom Furse stepped back from touring and eventually left.
Guitarist Josh Hayward contributes to the album but has been in and out of the sessions, making this a new chapter for the band in many ways.
“It was quite a gradual and natural thing, especially with COVID happening in that time,” Badwan explains while speaking to Live4ever.
https://www.live4ever.uk.com/the-horrors-live4ever-interview/
Peter Doherty - The Trinity Centre, Bristol - 16th March 2025
Who would have thought that Peter Doherty would become a national treasure?
It’s been a long and troubled road, but midway through his set in Bristol on March 16th, he brings out his wife Katia de Vidas as a member of his live band to (briefly) accompany him.
Doherty now lives what we understand to be a life of peace and tranquility in France with his family, his prolific work rate undimmed but his addiction problems (hopefully) behind him.
It’s a heartwarming sight that proves, against all the odds, his love for music won out. Not only that, but at little cost to his performances which are – as ever – intimate, unpredictable and deeply engaging.
Eschewing any grand entrance or elaborate introduction, he takes to the stage (early!) in darkness, his voice just about cutting through as he opens with ‘She Is Far’.
https://www.live4ever.uk.com/peter-doherty-live-bristol-review/