Music / 13/04/2021 SINGLE REVIEW: Collars – Hey Lizzie, Lay It On Me

Collars’ new single ‘Hey Lizzie, Lay It On Me’ is dynamic, energised, and complex, all in the best way.  The track opens with a guitar melody and effortless vocals that are reminiscent of  the song ‘Bitch’ from the Plastiscines. There is then a switch to a sound more Florence + the Machine-esque with its strong...

Music / 13/04/2021 ALBUM REVIEW: Middle Kids – Today We’re the Greatest

Middle Kids’ recent release Today We’re the Greatest is better produced than their first work Lost Friends, but there’s not much deviation here in terms of style, and the song structures are unvarying, causing the album to blend into itself. The album’s opener ‘Bad Neighbours’ is an interesting albeit slow start, an acoustic piece which...

Music / 13/04/2021 Heaven To A Tortured Mind: a year with Yves Tumor

It seems apt that Heaven To A Tortured Mind should have been released just over a year ago. In that time, the world has had to come to terms with the fractured realities of COVID, each of us searching for a way through the rugged landscapes of inequity, vaccine nationalism, and government incompetence. Tortured minds,...

Music / 13/04/2021 SINGLE REVIEW: J Carlyle – Intruder Alert

The genre-melding rapper J Carlyle has returned with a new single, ‘Intruder Alert’. Drawing on a range of styles, including dancehall, RnB, reggae, and rock, this offering from the Northampton and London-based artist is a socially conscious banger, and a great first track of the year for him. The J Carlyle’s performance here is rich...

Music / 13/04/2021 What is the point of a review?

For this issue we asked some of our writers the question ‘what is the point of a review?’ Enjoy! Music reviews: a love-hate relationship. Some people like them, some don’t mind them and some hate them. They aren’t a mandatory requirement for people to write or read, and they come down to personal choice. The...

Music / 23/03/2021 “Music is overlooked more than it should be”: Lucas Fox on the importance of music, and why Lockdown didn’t stop him from being creative

In the age of COVID, when everything is online, someone always must have technical difficulties. This person was me, and no more was this apparent than when I tried to video call Lucas Fox, independent musician and first year UEA student, on Zoom for an interview. Owing most of it to my technical incompetence, and...

Music

Who needs to drop this year? Lorde.
Music

Who needs to drop this year? Lorde.

It feels like an eternity since Lorde dropped her second studio album, Melodrama, in 2017. A lot has happened since then, of course, but it has been radio silence from Lorde with regards to any upcoming music, and I needed a new album, like, yesterday. Lorde likes to take her time with her work, releasing…

SINGLE REVIEW: Squid – Narrator
Squid, Photo: Holly Whitaker
Music

SINGLE REVIEW: Squid – Narrator

Bristol five-piece Squid have resisted labelling since their breakout single ‘Houseplants,’ with NME dubbing them ‘avant-punk’ to fit somewhat alongside the likes of Black Midi and Black Country, New Road, although it doesn’t take much listening to them to realize they are far different. Rather than the spoken word reminiscent of Slint, Squid’s lead vocalist…

A love for love songs
Photo: Pexels
Music

A love for love songs

Love songs are everywhere, and Valentine’s Day is no exception. However leading up to Valentine’s Day, where love is more seemingly in the air, they certainly stick out more and there does seem to be an increase in how often they are played. This year, expect to hear the typical tunes, ‘I Will Always Love…

REVIEW: Pale Waves – Who Am I?
Who Am I? cover art, credit: Pale Waves
Music

REVIEW: Pale Waves – Who Am I?

Pale Waves are back with their sophomore release Who Am I?, the successor to 2018’s My Mind Makes Noises. It’s a more complex album than their debut: both thematically and sonically, with mature lyrics (concerning the deconstruction of identity amongst other ideas) and more prominent guitars. Noticeably on the album, Heather Baron-Gracie’s vocals have a…

The Pretty Reckless
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
Music

The Pretty Reckless

If your favourite artist hasn’t released an album in a number of years, they’re either on a hiatus that you didn’t know about, or they’ve given up completely. After their third album Who You Selling For, I thought this was the case with The Pretty Reckless. There had been a four-year gap between their début…

Pale Waves’ Heather Baron-Gracie talks recording in lockdown, normalising LGBTQ+ relationships in new single ‘She’s My Religion,’ and more
Photo: Pale Waves
Music

Pale Waves’ Heather Baron-Gracie talks recording in lockdown, normalising LGBTQ+ relationships in new single ‘She’s My Religion,’ and more

Heather Baron-Gracie is the lead singer of Pale Waves, an indie rock band that rose to stardom after supporting The 1975 on their North American tour in 2017. They then released their debut EP ALL THE THINGS I NEVER SAID and album My Mind Makes Noises, with their debut album reaching number eight on the…

MF DOOM: The passing of rap’s supervillain
Photo: Pexels
Music

MF DOOM: The passing of rap’s supervillain

On Thursday 31st December, the death of rapper MF DOOM (real name Daniel Dumile) was announced by his family. A week on, it still feels surreal that I am writing these words. In an Instagram post, Dumile’s wife, Jasmine, wrote that he was “the greatest husband, father, teacher, student, business partner, lover and friend I…


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The University of East Anglia’s official student newspaper. Concrete is in print and online.

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