There was once a point where claiming YUNGBLUD could be the voice of a generation would have been enough to inspire more than the odd confused expression. How things have changed. With new album 'weird!', he's now a champion for the disenfranchised.
We've made a list. We've glanced over it at least once, honest. Here's 40 of our favourite albums of the year.
On a mission to make pop music that's big, brash and without the bullshit, Baby Queen has arrived. Prepare the throne.
London-to-Melbourne-and-back-to-London-again newcomer Thomas Headon first got to grips with his music-making skills via a series of YouTube covers, before branching out into his own world of immensely likeable, quirky pop.
New York collective MICHELLE are all about summer vibes - perfect for road trip adventures, or just sitting by a window. Y'know, whatever lockdown allows.
Her music is the sort that silences rooms, stops people dead in their tracks from whatever boring task they were otherwise doing. There's something about Holly Humberstone.
Inspired by the sort of otherworldly musicians that stole his teenage heart, Dallon Weekes' biggest hope for iDKHOW was to introduce the likes of Marc B...
The wait for Shame's second album may seem to have lasted longer than it actually has. As they stand on the edge of a huge 2021, we get ready for a record that isn't supposed to be funny, but…
With shows still unable to return as we know them, and a whole industry on its knees, we ask what happened, where are we now, and what’s next for live music in the UK.
After nearly two decades in the biz, Wakefield trio - and indie legends - The Cribs have wrestled back control for their eighth album, 'Night Network'
"The OBGMs are the best band in the world, and we deserve our comeuppance!" is Densil "Denz" MacFarlane's flag in the ground atop a hill he is willing t...
A rare bright point in a pretty damn difficult year, BENEE's arrival has been a serotonin shot in the arm. With her debut album finally here, the future looks brighter already.
The world is a delicate balance of dualities. There are the obvious ones - light and dark, good and evil - then there are the more granular; happiness and sadness, for example. In the case of Jordan Edward Benjamin, a new one has appeared in his world: Grandson and X.
Alfie Templeman might still be only seventeen years old, but he’s on the rise.
"'How are you?' is such a leading question," laughs Touché Amoré's Jeremy Bolm, even before pleasantries have been exchanged or the tape recorder turned...
Here’s a guide to everything going on (there’s a lot), including who’s about to break, and who’s already on top.
He's already conquered the world as part of 5SOS, but now Ashton Irwin is going it alone - in a more honest and open way than ever before.
Mama's boy is ready to rule the world: LANY's Paul Klein talks the band's new album, vulnerability and pays long-due homage to his hometown.
One of the biggest and most enduring bands in rock, Deftones are still as vital as ever.
Being stuck in our homes might be suffocating for most of us, but when you're a bedroom pop sensation like mxmtoon, you may as well get creative.
Those romantic, carefree days of 2019, with Jamie Lenman in his bold red suit belting out his reimagined version of Cyndi Lauper's 'She Bop' or 'Hey Jud...
Grainy VHS footage? Check. Mysterious figures loitering in the background? Check. Sparkling pop jams with depth and meaning? Check, check and check. It's iDKHOW's time to shine.
Arlo Parks is one of the UK's best young talents; 2021 is her's for the taking.
Young, engaged and with a string of successes behind her already, Chloe Moriondo has the world at her feet.
They’re one of the biggest British bands of their generation - capable of filling stadiums and headlining festivals - but as they prepare to drop a new album in the middle of a global pandemic, Biffy Clyro are ready to stand up and be counted.
It's time, guys. Bloxx are stepping up to the big leagues with their much-anticipated debut album, 'Lie Out Loud'.
Back with a second album, Declan McKenna has always been a cut above. This time, though, he's ready to make us question everything.
“The only way you can really describe it is, it’s a Neck Deep record.”
With a handful of ferocious singles and a reputation for chest-rattling live shows, the London-based duo have already begun to rattle all the right cage...
As one half of dance-pop sensations AlunaGeorge, Aluna has ruled the charts. Now it's time for her to break out on her own.
After a year of new tracks, some release date shuffling and a world full of uncertainty buzzing around them, HAIM are back with their third album. This time, they’re putting it all out there.
A lot can happen in just four years, and Glass Animals have been through more than their fair share.
Quite possibly the most important act on the planet right now - Run The Jewels have returned at the time we need them most.
It’s time for the debut album from Murph ‘from The Wombats’: Love Fame Tragedy has arrived.
Think you know Fontaines D.C.? The Dubliners' second album sees them not just rewrite their own rulebook, but tear it up and throw it away.
It's rare to find a band with a work ethic as tireless as Dream Wife's. It's been two years since the release of their debut self-titled album, which sa...
As Southampton sextet Creeper – comprised of vocalist Will Gould, guitarists Ian Miles and Oliver Burdett, bassist Sean Scott, drummer Dan Bratton and keyboardist Hannah Greenwood – welcome us to their world of ‘Sex, Death & The Infinite Void’, Upset gets caught up in the middle of a global pandemic with Will to find out just what happened during their year away.
After a longer wait than originally advertised, ‘Notes On A Conditional Form’ is finally here. 22 tracks that see The 1975 in more ambitious, expansive form than ever before, we dialled in to a locked down Matty Healy to delve deep into the minds of the most important band of their generation. Turns out, he had some stuff to say too.
Tiny Gigs will take place this weekend, with music, talks and more.
Wallflower's debut album, 'Teach Yourself To Swim', is all about facing up to anxiety and uncertainty and, in the words of frontman Vini Moreira-Yeoell,...
In an industry built on streaming singles, setting up TikTok trends and selling superstardom, it's difficult to believe there are still musicians roamin...
Serendipity, as defined by The Used frontman Bert McCracken, is an event "occurring or discovered by chance, in a happy or beneficial way."
After a string of huge indie mega bangers, upstart four-piece Sea Girls are announcing their debut album, The story behind it, though, is far from carefree. Frontman Henry explains all...
When the New Year came, there was even more optimism than usual. New decade. New Year. New me. But on top of that was an underlying feeling of, well it...
With a new label and a fresh outlook, PVRIS are back with a third album - and this time, Lynn Gunn is taking the lead more than ever before.
In an industry built on formulas and formats, forever focused on finding the next Number 1 and following the trends, you could almost forgive bands for...
Moderation has become the new norm for Trivium frontman Matt Heafy. Where it used to be all things all at once - and still is to some degree - these day...
With her new album ‘I’m Your Empress Of’ arriving as the world went on pause, Lorely Rodriguez isn’t sitting still for anyone.
What would All Time Low do? It's a question the band held close during the recording of their eighth outing, 'Wake Up, Sunshine'. They've thrived embrac...
Easy Life are a band on the rise. With three mixtapes behind them - one of which even cracked the UK Album Chart top 10 - and a debut album on the horizon. 2020 could well be theirs.
At the back end of last year, Mystery Jets were all prepped to drop their brand new album. Then they weren’t. Six months later and a band-member down, they’re back on track (pretty much) and ready to go.
We live in a society where subjects too taboo for the establishment's prescription for the perfect normal life are brushed under old carpets and locked...
Everything Code Orange do is for the reaction. A push and pull of channelling the rawness of life, while excavating the most brutal parts to contort it...
Pete Wentz, Jack Leonard and Jonny Harris tell us about their new project.
Frantic live shows, provocative interviews (ahem - Ed), and an ability to wind up all the right people; there's no band quite like Sports Team.
At the end of 2015, Upset bundled into the backstage of London's Electric Ballroom to catch up with Milk Teeth as they prepared to support punk legends...
Line-up and label changes behind them, Becky Blomfield explains why the reborn trio's new album is too important to skip.
Many bands would put their feet up having scored yet another Top 10 album, but not Circa Waves. Back with a new album less than 12 months after their last, frontman Kieran Shudall and Co. are in the form of their lives.
Beloved force-of-nature The Chats have a bit of a reputation. (It’s not for being chatty.)
Brian Fallon is at a fork in the road as he releases his third solo LP, 'Local Honey'. His heady days rolling with Bruce Springsteen and pummeling festi...
Having marked the end of their five-year hiatus with an anniversary trip down memory lane, Bombay Bicycle Club are learning to look forward. Reintroducing Jack, Jamie, Ed and Suren.
After a barnstorming debut album - and a Mercury nomination to boot - The Big Moon have returned with their second album. They’re better than ever before.
Somehow, it has been five whole years since Four Year Strong released their self-titled sixth album. But it’s not like they’ve really been away either,...
When we heard top drawer Aussie talent Hockey Dad were off on tour in Canada with fellow wonders from Down Under DZ Deathrays and Horror My Friend, we f...
Not long ago, HMLTD were the least ‘major label’ band to be signed to one in years. Now, they’ve cut ties and finally have a debut album to deliver.
It might be on the other side of the planet, but Australia punches big when it comes to its influence on our scene.
Packed shows, indie bangers and limitless ambition - there’s more to Inhaler than simply the obvious...
Sam McTrusty doesn't quite know what he's saying. The Twin Atlantic frontman has been too busy building scaffolding around himself and his band to disse...
2019 saw Georgia return with a string of absolute bloody bangers. Now, as 2020 rolls around, she’s proving there’s far more from where they came.
As the new act circus rumbles back around, so many of those tipped have a way to go until greatness beckons. Not Girl in Red, though. Marie Ulven is a sensation ready to explode.
It's been nearly three years since the release of Vukovi's self-titled debut album, and the band are back with their new record 'Fall Better', that's even more candid and confrontational than the first.
Three albums deep, and Gengahr - with Bombay Bicycle Club's Jack Steadman in the production chair - are free to let their ideas bloom.
