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Review: ***B-STOCK: Sleeve damaged but otherwise in excellent condition***


On its digital release earlier in the year, Celeste's debut album rocketed to the top of the album charts, thus making her the first British female artist to see her first set get to number one for over five years. Finally available on vinyl in a "deluxe edition" that boasts a couple of bonus tracks and an accompanying booklet, Not Your Muse remains a classy and inspired debut, with Celeste's smoky, timeless vocals fitting producer Jamie Hartman's accompanying backing tracks - a mixture of pared-back folk sounds, lavishly orchestrated easy listening, synth-laden power-pop and fuzzy, retro soul-influenced numbers - like a particularly comfortable glove.

Review: Who doesn't know this classic? Sampled by almost every hip-hop artist under the sun, and remixed many-a-time even by electronic artists and covers vultures, 'Everybody Loves The Sunshine' is Roy Ayers' least deniable classic, often placed firmly in many 'greatest songs of all time' lists. In theme and sound, it is pure summer, capturing Ayers at his creative peak while in the company of his employ band, the Ubiquity. Peaking strings, lackadaisical melodies, and references to 'bees and things and flowers' paints an almost dizzyingly high-as-a-kite mood, as if Ayers wrote the song while under the effect of heatstroke. Whatever overtook him, it worked. Once more, the original releaser Polydor reminds us of the song's impact.

Review: On its digital release earlier in the year, Celeste's debut album rocketed to the top of the album charts, thus making her the first British female artist to see her first set get to number one for over five years. Finally available on vinyl in a "deluxe edition" that boasts a couple of bonus tracks and an accompanying booklet, Not Your Muse remains a classy and inspired debut, with Celeste's smoky, timeless vocals fitting producer Jamie Hartman's accompanying backing tracks - a mixture of pared-back folk sounds, lavishly orchestrated easy listening, synth-laden power-pop and fuzzy, retro soul-influenced numbers - like a particularly comfortable glove.

Review: London singer-songwriter Michael Kiwanuka builds on the success of his first two albums by drafting in Danger Mouse and Inflo to produce the beats that house his hugely expressive voice. That voice is of course front and centre - and whether delivering tender moments of intimacy or more breezy soul, it is always wrought with tension and emotion, slow burning and buttery smooth. The production feels timeless yet contemporary whether offering gauzy, guitar laden textures "Hero" or soaring pop ("Final Days") and makes this an album that touches on all forms of soul with equal originality.

Review: 'Marking My Time' is the second EP from Elmiene. The six-track EP includes the title track 'Marking My Time', which first debuted on Later... With Jools Holland, 'Mad At Fire' (co-written by Syd and produced by Lil Silva), and 'Mama' (produced by Sampha), along with the current single 'Someday'. The follow-up to Elmeine's debut EP 'El-Mean', released earlier in 2023, this one hears a worthy continuation of the Oxford-born soul singer's growth, sprouting outwards from his influences and into his own true niche.

Review: One of UK soul's brightest sparks and Danger Mouse on production: Michael Kiwanuka's highly anticipated sophomore takes a running jump and kicks the Motowns out of the difficult second album cliche. Ranging from epic urgent cinematica "Rule The World" to the smouldering blues ballad "The Final Frame" by way of ELO-meets-Finlay Quaye fuzzy rock funk "One More Night" Michael and Mouse take us through a detailed, dreamy and dramatic adventure that really explores Michael's gutsy range and developed writing style. On level, if not better, than Home Again.

Review: British singer and songwriter Celeste finally drops her long awaited debut studio album after delays in late 2020. Jamie Hartman was involved in the writing process alongside the BBC Music Award winner for Introducing Artist of the Year, and he also handled most of the production. The aim was to write a record that the artists felt was honest and true rather than with any grand designs commercial success and it pays off across the classy debut. Smoky tones, jazzy flows and subtle timbres all help the record ebb and flow through some fine contemporary soul.

Review: UK soul tour de force Michael Kiwanuka enjoys his first live album. A punchy five track selection with recordings from the Royal Albert Hall, Birmingham Symphony Hall and London Palladium we glide and slide from the tenderness of "One More Night" and the dreamy symphonic blues of "Father's Child" to the all out fusion of "Black Man In A White World". This captures Kiwanuka at his most delicate, honest and powerful.