Articles by Chris Long

No Treasure But Hope is not quite the masterpiece it could have been… but it is an album unexpectedly filled with musical joy and, despite what the title suggests, sparkling riches.

In such a saturated marketplace, how does an artist stand out? For Jesca Hoop, the answer has always been to write with such open abandon and freeness that not category nor genre nor critic can hold her.

Ultimately, Joanthology, like all of Wasser’s albums, has plenty of beautiful and powerful songs, but in the manner of her later output, it also has its more pedestrian moments.

A little less overindulgence, a little more musical restraint, and it could have been mind blowing, instead of simply mind bending

Known for his folk rock and his outlandish, energetic stage performances, Louis Barabbas has added a further brilliant string to his bow.

A vibrant and essential work of great beauty, filled with emotion and energy, and worth every day of the 22-year wait for its arrival

In truth, it never hits the thrilling stride its predecessor did, but it does continue to show why the band are so interesting – carving interesting concept albums out of the landscapes that formed them as people. By Chris Long

This is not a collection that demands the attention or indeed even asks for it. Instead, it is simply there, like the whisper of a rainbow as the rain clears or the early rise of the moon, to be noticed, meditated upon and loved for its subtlety, its ephermality and its delicious gravitas. By Chris Long

Suicide Songs is an album that aims high and wide, that hopes to capture the battle between dark and light that can linger in every life and speak to the soul as much as the ear. Unquestionably, this is one to file under important. By Chris Long

Night Thoughts is a thrill. It sounds fresh and vivid, exuberant and ambitious. And it just shows that sometimes cliches can be right – Suede, now firmly back and pulsing with life, have never sounded better. By Chris Long

The Light In You closes with a tribute to the music that has inspired Mercury Rev, ‘Rainy Day Record’, which includes, in these days of digital downloads, a deliciously retro statement – “For the first time in forever, I hold my breath waiting for side two” – which sums up how any fan will view the first play of this record. One listen to it though will be enough to get a simple message across: breathe easy, it doesn’t disappoint. By Chris Long

Don’t Weigh is an album of immediate beauty but lingering frustration, a collection which shimmers and shines but which disappears like a butterfly on the wind as soon as it is over. By Chris Long

Get To Heaven is, in short, a revelation. It is an album that shows of just what clever sods Everything Everything are without ever becoming pretentious and a collection that sparkles with confidence while avoiding bombastic ego. By Chris Long

Hypoxia – named after the condition of the body being deprived of oxygen – is a thrilling piece of work. Born of the spirit of [Sylvia Plath’s] The Bell Jar, it is both beautiful and claustrophobic, as quick to rob you of your breath as it is to please your ear. By Chris Long

The album distils a full gamut of feelings and serves them up for you to gorge upon, delivers more in its all-too-brief 35 minutes than many bands are capable of producing in an entire career, and leaves you bedazzled and enraptured; spent and grinning; breathless, wide-eyed and revelling in its enormity and splendour. By Chris Long