Search results: Maverick Sabre

Review: Owing to recent appearances at festivals across the country as well as the world, Nia Archives is a rising star of the UK's underground hardcore scene. The Londoner's music fuses elements of grime, garage, and jungle with introspective and socially charged lyricism. Nia's latest LP, 'Sunrise Bang Ur Head Against The Wall,' naturally touches on themes of social justice and self-discovery, a reminder of afterparty headaches and familial estrangement, not to mention the confusion of it all. Tracks like 'Headz Gone West' and 'Goodbye' are energized analyses of mental health and toxically flippant relationships, set against the ever-present backdrop of jungle.

Review: Swindle's No More Normal album from 2019 was a critically acclaimed affair that truly established the artist behind it. Now he returns with a follow-up album, The New World, which is another step up. It comes on limited clear vinyl in a nice gatefold with plenty of fine-featured guests such as Greentea Peng, Loyle Career and Ghetts. They all help lend the music a widescreen sound that takes in new world soul on 'What More,' sensuous broken beat with Maverick Sabre on 'Second Guess' and prickly hip-hop tinged beats on 'Lost', with plenty of great vocal turns from Loyle Carner, Kojey Radical and Jnr Williams. 'Blow Ya Trumpet' is the most streetwise sound with its booming grin and trap production and star turns from Ghetts.

Review: Rudimental's third full-length, "Toast To Our Differences", was originally slated for release back in September, but ended up being delayed. So was it worth the wait? It's certainly a colourful, vibrant and expansive affair, with the quartet drawing on a far wider palette of influences than were evident on their previous albums. Check, for example, the title track's glistening, South African style tropical pop, the piano-powered cheeriness of "These Days", the soaring power pop of previous single "Sun Comes Up" and the auto-tune heavy EDM-house stomp of "Scared of Love". Given their superstar status, it's unsurprising to see an impressive cast list of guests and collaborators - Major Lazer, Rita Ora and Ladysmith Black Mambazo included - while this "Deluxe Edition" includes a trio of extra tracks.

Review: Given that they started their ascent to EDM superstardom over a decade ago and have already released a string of genuine crossover anthems, this debut album from Camelphat is undeniably overdue. So, was it worth waiting for? If you like their brand of festival-friendly dance music hedonism, then you will genuinely love it. The assembled 21 tracks scattered across three action-packed slabs of wax draw influence from many interconnected styles - mostly electro-house, tech-house and techno, but also indie-dance, synth-pop, nu-disco and more bass-heavy flavours - and repackage them as distinctively Camelphat style productions, complete with contributions from numerous collaborators and guest vocalists (Noel Gallagher, Skream, Jake Bugg, Yannis Foals, Jem Cooke and Christoph all feature).