A God-awful Small Affair

As far as hiatuses go, the Fall Out Boy one wasn't exactly the most mourned of all time. Whether that's down to its rather short length, or the rapidly deteriorating quality of their music (encapsulated by 2008's tedious Folie à Deux ), we'll never know. But they've returned, now, and they've brought Elton John and Courtney Love. We've now already approached the period of time where we can look back upon Fall Out Boy as we can the Backstreet Boys. They started way over a decade ago, and that whole mid-noughties period of eyeliner, long song titles and wristbands is, when remembered, cringed at in the same sort of fondly-embarrassing nostalgia. They're of course not the same as the I Want it That Way pop juggernauts; there was always some element of talent and showmanship about FOB. But now they approach 30 and beyond, can they retain the same youthfulness that appealed to so many of the past generation's tweens? We kick off with an incre...

There's a small problem in finding yourself disillusioned with the charts: you can find yourself arriving rather late to the party when something actually decent comes along. Around October last year, the Lawrence brothers were finding small success with their single Latch , featuring another future chart-botherer Sam Smith (of Naughty Boy's La La La fame), and I was none-the-wiser. In 2013, however, it has been much harder to escape the sound of Settle . Their stream of successful singles has soundtracked the UK's summer in a way far less irritating than Robin Thicke could. It's a welcome surprise, really - 2013 has been excellent for chart music in Great Britain. Icona Pop, Daft Punk, Duke Dumont, Rudimental, Avicii and Naughty Boy have all been extremely enjoyable #1s, and although Disclosure's best attempt at the same feat was a #2 back in February, they rather embody this display of fresh British talent.  After a brief spoken intro we sli...

I was thoroughly dismissive of James Blake's debut. Given the solidity of this follow-up, I feel obliged to make some form of apology. Yet, I cannot deny that I was left wanting a whole lot more when listening to James Blake back in 2011, and when other acts such as Jamie Woon, Bon Iver and Kate Bush were dominating that year with achingly serene and beautiful music, the whole brick-by-brick aesthetic of Blake's approach to composition must have just made me impatient. It was a good starting point, in retrospect, because it's blossomed to produce one of 2013's greatest records. Since that much-raved about debut, however, Blake has been working hard and building a lot of unusual connections. Much like Bon Iver's Justin Vernon, there's been a slight new investment in the world of hip hop - being spotted working with Kanye West, Trim & RZA in the past year. One of those makes an appearance on Overgrown , and it's a divisive one. Pitchfork called RZA...

Now that her songwriting has earned her a #1 single (albeit for someone else), you'd have thought that at least a little public interest would've found its way to Charlotte Aitchison's doorstep. Alas, True Romance peaked at the tragic #85 in her home country, and the singles could only dream of those lofty heights. Still, it's not entirely surprising that with one Tumblr-ready emoji-loving eye-catching British pop sensation winding down her widely cynical and frankly shite album campaign , we may have grown a little tired of the whole lo-fi, grungey Americana thing in pop music. Remember when people cared about Lana del Rey? Even she can't score a hit without a generic remix nowadays. Nonetheless, Charli XCX stands out as a fine example of quality over ubiquity. She arguably could go fully down the I Love It route and storm to the top of the chart every 6 months or so, but has instead worked with about 20 different producers of varying fame and genre to produ...

Whilst the other indie omnigod of 2007 MGMT dicked around with all sorts of psychedlic shit and generally disappointed us all, Vampire Weekend were sensible and wonderful enough to continue bewitching us all with Ezra Koenig's distinctive voice, an ear for brilliant song structure, and just all-out fun. And that last attribute is not one we get to freely associate with the hipsters all too often. The New York boys (I say boys; they're now approaching 30) are that most usually uncool of traits: dependable. Yet album #3 may just be the record that goes down as their greatest to date. 2008's self-titled debut was certainly a great crowdwarmer, with all of their most memorable tunes, but didn't quite wow me. 2010's Contra was better still, and thrived off of a resurgence in surf-rock and twee-sounding pop music. Now, in 2013, they've straddled both approaches and whittled away the fluff (however scarce in supply) sometimes found on their previous two attempts....

It seems strange that in hindsight I was worried about the comeback of Daft Punk being lost in amongst a blur of new acts - but then this is the same reviewer who bought Adele's 21 in the first week of its release, "hoping it wouldn't miss #1". The rather understated teasers of their new material - most notably the screening of a minute of Get Lucky at Coachella - seemed as though the Frenchmen were taking it slow eight years on from their last proper album. This, of course, was prior to the gimmicks: the Formula 1 sponsorship, the eight-part series of collaborators, the intentionally bizarre choice of launch venue in Wee Waa, Australia. 2 months on, and Random Access Memories is inescapable. Though that'll frustrate some, to me it's a blessing. Aside from their rather lacklustre soundtracking to 2011's Tron: Legacy, the absence was unbearable. But their comeback (is 8 years long enough to justify such an overused term?) is with a vengeance: the so...

I must prefix this review with major aggrievance at the absence of 2012's marvellous disco single Headphones . Considering this record's so centred around the supposed strengths of house music I guess I can see its omission as necessary, as it's more of a discopop song, but, as I'm about to discover, it's far stronger than the majority available here. It seems absurd in hindsight that the BBC awarded Little Boots - real name Victoria Hesketh - the 'Sound of 2009' prize. In a year that saw such indie-crossover juggernauts as Florence + the Machine, the xx, Mumford and Sons, La Roux, Passion Pit, Empire of the Sun and... oh yeah... Lady GaGa (!) it was a little bit of an odd decision to give the title to the rather safe, homely-looking pop prot é g é . OK, that's a shallow assessment, but who could honestly say that 2009's debut Hands took them by storm? Aside from the wonderful single Remedy , it's long-forgotten. What can Nocturnes do to r...