Back catalogue: Pop

Review: Produced by Mati Gavriel, Kismet is the first new English language recording from the legendary Belinda Carlisle since 1997. It is a great reunion with songwriter Diane Warren that draws on all her 35 years of experience as a recording artist. The pair first worked together back in 1987 on Belinda's second LP 'Heaven Is A Place On Earth', the title track from which of course shot to the top of the charts all over the world and established Belinda Carlisle as the global star she is. The five tracks here are all perfect pop tunes with Carlisle's singular voice defining each one.

Review: Record Store Day Black Friday edition gifts us this unlikely pairing of artists as Different offers up some Pet Shop Boys remixes of Claptone's 'Queen of Ice.' The extended mix goes first with a nice pop-tinged and subtly Balearic rework with warming electronic drums and the original emotive vocals. Their Moody mix then breaks up the beast a little into tumbling affairs that are perfect for summer festival deployment. On the flip is the heart-wrenching dance pop nugget that is the original of 'Queen Of Ice' (feat Dizzy) before the best of the lot - a nice and breezy 7" mix that is clean and catchy.

Review: 30th Anniversary Expanded Edition; 36 tracks in total. Mariah Carey's latest compendium features the original album Music Box in its entirety with the noteworthy addition of 'Everything Fades Away' (previously available only as an international bonus track). It premieres a variety of previously unreleased tracks including 'Workin' Hard', "All I Live For (Extended Version)', 'My Prayer', 'Hero (2009 Version)', 'Anytime You Need A Friend (Extended Mix)', 'Music Box (A Capella)' and two live performances from Top of the Pops: 'Dreamlover' and 'Without You.' It also includes Mariah Carey's duet with Luther Vandross on 'Endless Love', as well as two brand new remixes from DJ Terry Hunter: 'I've Been Thinking About You' and 'Workin' Hard.'

Review: Mariah Carey's new showstopper 'The Rarities' is a treasure trove for stans of the pop diva. Finally, we're showered in all the best rare and previously unreleased tracks, demos and obscurities the singer has to offer from over the years - the best music fans know these are as instrumental to an artist's career as their hits. Selected with "personal relevance and meaning" to Carey, there are no repetitive Christmas hits or too-soft-to-touch love songs here; rather, these cuts are semi-autobiographical, having been paired with her memoir, The Meaning Of Mariah Carey.

Review: Released in October 1987, Belinda's second solo album after leaving The Go-Gos proved to be her breakthrough internationally, with the single 'Heaven Is A Place On Earth' reaching number 1 all around the world. It was followed by 'Circle In The Sand', 'I Get Weak' and 'World Without You', all UK Top 40 hits, the last two being written by Diane Warren, writer of Belinda's 2023 'Kismet' EP. This new edition has been expertly mastered by Cicely Balston at AIR Mastering from the original stereo tapes using precision half-speed mastering. It's now presented in its original sleeve, pressed on 180 gram heavyweight black vinyl, and features an obi strip and housed in a poly-lined inner sleeve, with all the lyrics and credits on the four page insert.

Review: From The Go-Gos through to her blockbuster solo career, Belinda Carlisle had a busy time of it in the 1980s. In the wake of her huge success with 1987's Heaven On Earth she returned two years later with Runaway Horses, and continued to charm the world with her stadium-sized brand of uplifting drive time pop. The biggest hit from the record is surely 'We Dream The Same Dream', but the likes of 'Leave A Light On' and 'La Luna' are also classics in the Carlisle canon. Now the album has been half-speed remastered, and comes in a tidy reissue format with a booklet and an obi-strip - a collector's edition if ever we saw one.

Review: A surprise addition to the series of Belinda Carlisle reissues mainly slated for 2023 comes this 2024 top-up edition of Real, complementing the already-out Demon Records versions of Heaven On Earth and Runaway Horses. Real is Carlisle's fifth studio album, for which a decided wardrobe reshuffle captures the mood; famously, the singer swapped her prior glamorous look for a jeans and tee shirt drip, coinciding with the ironic theme of authenticity which recurs throughout the album. Famed for its badboy biker-loving ballad 'Big Scary Animal', on which Carlisle confronts the id through coming face-to-face with 'feelings hid', and 'Lay Down Your Arms', on which a wild-western theme is subverted to provoke the sense of a lawless relationship triangle up for grabs.

Review: Released in 1993 and now reissued via its original label Demon, Belinda Carlisle's fifth solo album was notable for its standout singles 'Big Scary Animal' and 'Lay Down Your Arms', both of which showed off her raunchy, large, all-American style. At this stage in her career, we witnessed Carlisle deliberate on her femininity; re-form her agency under patriarchy; and subvert classic Westernized images of opulence, romance and wealth; all while keeping things instrumental energized and hey-ho. Now, once more, you can reexperience Carlisle's return to authentic source, with Real.

Review: Belinda Carlisle undertook a huge world tour back in 2022 and 2023 and in the wake of that she has now dropped the second volume in a series of media book sets of her recordings. This instalment of Decades takes in all of the tracks off her four albums Real from 1993, A Woman And A Man from 1996, Voila from 2007 and Wilder Shores from 2017. As such there are plenty of her well known hits here from 'Big Scary Animal' to 'Lay Down Your Arms' to 'Always Breaking My Heart' as well as some covers of some well and lesser known French songs.

Review: The fourth album from the English pop experimentalist was made over just six week in a "do-it-yourself" collaborative process with her fans. It is inspired by the Covid-19 pandemic lockdown and was executively produced by A. G. Cook and BJ Burton. Fans and critics alike fell immediately in love with the record which was also shortlisted for the 2020 Mercury Prize. Edgy experimental production and hooky pop songwriting have rarely collided as successfully as they do here, with plenty of hyper-energetic sounds and shimmering synths, bubblegum bass and mechanical motifs all making this as much an impromptu mixtape as a studio album. Truly, this is a work of its time.

Review: Charli XCX's 'Pop 2', first released as a mixtape in 2017, marked the moment the singer departed from her conventional chart-pop sensibilities and began flirting with hyperpop. Her involvement in the genre was also arguably one of the first moments hyperpop formed a mirror image to Charli's movements, with collaborating artists like A.G. Cook, Tommy Cash, and Dorian Electra beginning to flirt with the regular old pop world. The result was a blurring of the lines between what was and wasn't 'it' (it didn't yet have the name), producing an interesting conundrum. Full of such chirpy, retrofuturistic, and ironically distorted bangers as 'Backseat', 'Porsche', and 'Delicious', Charli and fellow featurer's vocals (MO, Carly Rae Jepsen) are crisp enough to sound like digital knife-edges. This pink vinyl reissue is not one to miss.

Review: By 1995 and the release of It's A Man's World, Cher was already up to her 21st studio album. It marked the start of her second period with the Warner Group and hit the Top 10 of the UK Charts as well as being certified gold. It features an unconventional mix of songs that draw on the Deep South as well as her pop and rock roots. The biggest tine of them all is 'Walking In Memphis' which remains an ever popular sing along hit to this day and is a cover of Marc Cohn's song of the same name. This Deluxe Edition reissue comes on eight sides of coloured vinyl.

Review: Proudly pansexual pop artist Heloise Letissier has made some terrific music over the last decade, with each new album release being greeted by rave reviews. 'Redcar Les Adorables Etoiles', Letissier's third full-length, offers a subtle evolution of the Christine and the Queens sound. Whereas previous album 'Chris' (2018) blurred the boundaries between FM synth-heavy AOR synth-pop, R&B and the kaleidoscopic synth-funk of occasional guest collaborator Dam-Funk, 'Redcar Les Adorables Etoiles' explores the more atmospheric and stylized side of 1980s electronic pop, adding a few typically theatrical twists along the way. For proof, check out the grandiose chords, slow-motion chords and towering choruses of 'Le Chanson de Chevalier', the bubbly post Junior Boys aural melancholia of 'Rien Dire' and the throbbing, Euro-disco influenced mid-80s synth-pop of 'Je Te Vois Enfin'.

Review: One of the joys of Christine and the Queens' impossible-to-pigeonhole output has always been guessing what the gender-fluid artist will conjure up next. Even the Frenchman's most obsessive fans, though, will have predicted Paranoia, Angels, True Love, a triple-CD-length affair loosely based on Tony Kushner's legendary work Angels in America, a two-part experimental play about gay men in New York experiencing hallucinatory discussions with angels amidst the AIDS epidemic. It's not a wholly unsurprising turn, but still an unlikely project - and unlikely projects have always been the artist's bread and butter. Musically, it's a strong set that expands on the artist's now familiar blends of pop, r&b and electronica, and also contains some eye-catching collaborations and guest appearances - not least from the Queen of Pop herself, Madonna.

Review: It's hard to believe that a full decade has passed since the debut LP from Glaswegian synth-pop trio Chvrches weaved its way onto a myriad of end-of-year lists while being praised as one of the best breakout albums of the 2010's. Combining John Carpenter-esque retro 80s synthwork with coldwave precision and vocalist Lauren Mayberry's lilting yet singular cadence and opaque lyrical vulnerability, The Bones Of What You Believe served as a highpoint of modern pop and alternative rock by drawing on nostalgia to craft a bevvy of refreshing material falling somewhere between an emo Kate Bush or Kraftwerk turned pop producers. Bolstered by their continuing progress over subsequent full-lengths and a legion of avid fans, the trio have rarely ceased to capitalise on the momentum set by their much adored debut, with singles such as 'Gun', 'Recover', and the anthemic 'The Mother We Share' still retained as live and festival essentials. If this isn't already in your collection, then this latest tenth anniversary edition leaves you no excuse.

Review: Change lies at the very heart of "Carousel", the third and perhaps most-eagerly anticipated Clock Opera album to date. After all, it has been a long time coming. Spurred on by the personal experiences of Guy Connelly, if you're looking for something to buy loved ones as they enter parenthood for the first time, this may be it.

That's not a reference to dad rock or housewife pop. In the grand scheme of electronic music this is certainly at the safer end, informed by Brian Eno's ambience or "Homogenic"-era Bjork as much as sprawling, classically-informed science fiction. But it's anything but throwaway. Instead, it's the overarching themes that mark this one out as the ideal gift for those in periods of great transition. It looks at the challenges of newfound fatherhood, considers sacrifices necessary to alter behavioural patterns and asks what identity really means. Profound stuff.

Review: They're the biggest but most hated band on the planet, but that will never stop Coldplay. The band has long been at the top of the pop-rock world and once again Music of the Spheres is likely to keep them there. It is an album rather less wrought with emotional tension than they are known for but still has one eye firmly on the cosmos, like much of their material. In fact, there is a loose concept here that revolves around a distant solar system. The lead single, 'My Universe,' features K-pop kings BTS and is already a number one, and the rest of the tunes are so unashamedly big they will likely follow.

Review: Terry Hall was of course part of the Fun Boy Three in the late 70s and early 80s, but come '83 and after their Us tour that year he left and swiftly moved on to his next outfit, The Colourfield. It saw him working with former 2Tone label associates Toby Lyons and Karl Shale and their self-titled debut single saw them launch to immediate acclaim on cult UK TV show The Tube. Their next single 'Take' was just as big and in 1985 came their debut album with further hits 'Thinking of You', 'Castles In The Air' and later on some standout and standalone singles 'I Can't Get Enough of You Baby' and 'Things Could Be Beautiful.' All those and more are collected here.

Review: The story of The Corrs speaks to all our romanticised images of how the music industry once worked. Recording demos in a makeshift home studio in Dundalk, Ireland, the familial group were playing a date at Whelan's, a Dublin bar with an enviable reputation for live music (the likes of Jeff Buckley, Arctic Monkeys, Bloc Party and Kate Nash have all graced the stage) at which Jean Kennedy Smith happened to be in attendance.

Then the US Ambassador to Ireland, she was so impressed with the band they were invited to perform at a FIFA World Cup 1994 match being held in Boston. Once Stateside, they met Atlantic's A&R, Jason Flom, and the rest is history. Forgiven Not Forgetten was our first taste of the outfit in full length form, and would cement their status as leading purveyors of soft rock cast in the Emerald Isle's image for the rest of the decade.

Review: Joey Corry dropped his debut album 'Another Friday Night' at the start of October after a busy year releasing plenty of music from it. The LP features several of his biggest bangers from over the years plus lots of new material and some special surprises. Part of his new and more prolific approach to releasing has been to "collaborate with more artists and freshen up my sound" and the man who is known for writing the Love Island anthem 'Sorry' has certainly done that. This deluxe version comes on nice translucent orange wax.

Review: Sheryl Crow's Evolution album marks a poignant journey through her illustrious career, showcasing her evolution as a musician and storyteller. It is her 12th studio album and blends rock, folk, and country influences to deliver a collection of introspective and soul-stirring tracks that reflect on life's trials and triumphs. As always from alady who has had so many classic hits in her time, Crow's timeless vocals shine amidst rich instrumentation and honest lyricism. As such this record serves as a testament to Crow's enduring artistry and stands as a captivating ode to growth, resilience, and the power of music to transcend boundaries.

Review: The ever-controversial but always good value Miley Cyrus serves up her seventh studio album including already big tunes like 'Midnight Sky' and 'Prisoner' featuring Dua Lipa. The record was started two years ago and was all figured out and finished, but then got deleted. Cyrus skas that not only was th emu gone, but the whole relevance of it given how much changed in her life since the record was started. As such she wrote a whole new collection of tunes that are now presented here. Soft rock and pop, ballads and harder tunes, big arena anthems and power-riffs all feature.

Review: Miley Cyrus is by now something of a young veteran of the global pop scene. Endless Summer Vacation is her eighth studio album and one that finds her fully leaving behind the upstart attitude with which she emerged. Here she pens a "love letter" to Los Angeles, which is where it was written, with producers such as Kid Harpoon, Tyler Johnson and Greg Kurstin all contributing. The lead single 'Flowers' set all-new streaming records as well as being Miley's first ever number one on the Billboard Global 200. The album is deeply personal and ushers in this new Miley era in style.

Review: It's already been a full decade since mega pop star Miley Cyrus went on a crash course to shatter her Hannah Montana image with the "controversial" Bangerz. Cropping her hair to near skinhead levels, endorsing free love and marijuana usage, and shooting an array of music videos that became viral hits thanks to endless twerking and nakedly riding atop a wrecking ball, the era was a ludicrous yet retrospectively vital time in the pop icon's career. The semi-aforementioned 'Wrecking Ball' would become a global smash hit while 'We Can't Stop' and 'Adore You' also made for chart-toppers that led to the album becoming an assured outlier in the once Disney-approved songstress' catalogue. Celebrating its ten year anniversary with a sea glass double LP reissue, there's never been a more ideal time to revisit this array of transformative, carefree bangers.

Review: Grammy Award-nominated songstress and musician Noah Cyrus has already had many of her singles go multi-platinum. Now she follows up the good early work with a debut album that will likely follow suit. Production is taken care of by the esteemed Mike Crossey who has worked with Arctic Monkeys. There is plenty of pedal steel and slide guitar here which lends the album a mix of country, pop and the soul of her Nashville roots. It's a lush sound with plenty of catchy hooks and well-written verses.

Review: 2014 was a tumultuous period for Polachek as she and her band grew apart; She wanted to create an aesthetic world, make the band dress better and invest in visuals. Needless to say, the 2010s indie band Chairlift wasn't entirely on board. Polachek was creatively parched and set about a production career, producing 'Arcadia' on her laptop whilst on tour using only MIDI instruments, laptop microphone and field recordings (like on the atmospheric 'Hissing Pipes at Dawn'). This period continued with Polachek beginning to perform in small venues in New York under different names, donning a blonde fringed wig and creating an expansive, yet quaint universe that would unquestionably influence the creating of her breakout solo debut 'Pang' 5 years later. Arcadia spans from ambient medieval-esque wind sections to zany strings that conjure up gusts billowing through green pastures with blue skies overhead. 'Dominic' has stood the test of time as the most popular of the tracks, a relationship that's a 'perfect disaster'. Highlights are the organ-led 'Backwards & Upwards' on purging infatuation, stepping backwards to move upwards as Polachek puts it, and 'Lady's Got Gills' with its whistles and what may be a blend of harp, yangqin and guzheng that backs a story of a woman contained. Arcadia is lo-fi cinematic, in a sentence, and a must listen to Polachek fans.