XL Vinyl & CDs

Review: Already the winner of a Brit Award (Adele was voted the 'Critics Choice' - the most exciting new British artist expected to 'make it big' in 2008),
'19' is Adele's debut album. Citing influences as diverse as Etta James, Jill Scott, Bjork, Dusty Springfield, Billy Bragg, Billie Holiday, Jeff Buckley,
The Cure and Peggy Lee, Adele also recently completed her first solo UK tour, having toured previously with the likes of Jack Penate, Jamie T,
Raul Midon, Amos Lee and Devendra Banhart. '19' contains both her debut track 'Hometown Glory' and her smash single 'Chasing Pavements'.
Blues tinged and melancholic, Adele describes 'Chasing Pavements' as 'It's me being hopeful for a relationship that's very much over. The sort
of relationship you hate when you're in it, but miss when you're not'. A hymn to lost love and regret, 'Chasing Pavements' follows Adele's first
limited edition single 'Hometown Glory', which introduced her to the world to much critical acclaim, with NME calling it 'totally, absolutely beautiful',
Q Magazine calling her 'The voice of next year' and The Sunday Times saying 'A Star Is Born'

Review: In early 2024, contemporary jazz cats BADBADNOTGOOD reported that they returned to the studio energised by recent international shows and collaborations with artists like Daniel Caesar, Charlotte Day Wilson and Baby Rose. The Canadian trio of Al Sow, Chester Hansen and Leland Whitty then joined with friends including Felix Fox-Pappas, Kaelin Murphy and Tyler Lott for an intensive recording week at Los Angeles' Valentine Studios. The result was the Mid Spiral series which explores distinct themes of Chaos, Order and Growth. Released initially in three digital parts, this genre-blending project now arrives on CD via XL and is another superb listen that explores how their roots in instrumental jazz fuse with hip-hop, neo-soul and funk.

Review: Since turning his hand to music production midway through the last decade, XL Recordings owner Richard Russell has delivered a couple of predictably hard to pigeonhole, guest-packed albums as Everything is Recorded. Russell, of course, has an admirably bulging contacts book and as deep a knowledge of British music - be it hip-hop, grime, rave, jazz, experimental electronica or otherwise - as anyone. The depth of both is naturally evident on third album Temporary, with Russell and a dizzying list of guests delivering atmospheric, sample-rich fusions of head-nodding, hip-hop leaning grooves, field recordings-heavy sample collages, woozy dream pop, sub-heavy nods to UK bass, slow-motion neo-folk, blunted trip-hop, contemporary UK jazz, hazy Americana and much more besides. That it works as a coherent and sonically adventurous album is testament to Russell's increasing skill as a producer and standalone musical artist.

Review: "In Rainbows", Radiohead's seventh album, finally gets a physical release! It's one thing downloading this landmark album, but to actually hold this is something special. Not only do you get increased sound quality, but you also get the amazing artwork from Stanley Donwood. This album includes "Nude", a live favourite for many years that was originally written during the "OK Computer" sessions. More minimal that their "Kid A" period, "In Rainbows" does something that very few albums have done - its sound is distinct from previous Radiohead albums, but is still clearly Radiohead. Hail to the kings, they are back on top form.

Review: Thom Yorke, Jonny Greenwood and Tom Skinner (Sons Of Kemet) finally deliver on their much-hyped The Smile project, blending the anxious and synaptic tones of Radiohead's anthemic indie-electro with the bluer party tones of UK jazz. The new album features a slew of tracks with swelling strings recorded by the full brass section of the London Contemporary Orchestra, as well as a band of jazz players like Theon and Nathaniel Cross and Robert Stillman.

Review: Given their Radiohead connections Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood make up two thirds of the band), there's always been an enormous amount of interest in The Smile - a lockdown-born project that has plenty of potential. Wall of Eyes, the trio's second album, is certainly impressive. For proof, check the moody, suspenseful and slowly unfurling title track (all pulsing, low-slung semi-acoustic grooves, eyes-closed vocals, dense electronic textures and soundtrack strings), the heady, subtly jazz-flecked wall of sound that is 'Friend of a Friend' (listen out for the music concrete-style sound collage sitting in the background of the White Album era Beatles-esque 'Friend of a Friend'), and the lo-fi, string-laden headiness of the largely beat-free 'Bending Heretic', whose cut-glass horror strings and Nine Inch Nails style guitars are impressively intense at times.