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Mdou Moctar  Funeral For Justice

Repeated riffs, hand-clap percussion, explosive guitars and call-and-response vocals all combine to build an irresistible set The Arts Desk

Mdou Moctar  Funeral For Justice

Only relenting for the odd Tinariwen-esque chill moment (Takoba; Imajughen), this one's an amps-on-11 polemical masterpiece that warrants worldwide respect. Print edition only Mojo

Mdou Moctar  Funeral For Justice

Despite remarkable playing and energy that charges through much of this record, it’s also contemplative, varied and tender at times, with the gentle sway of tracks like “Takoba” hitting as hard as the noise and fury of “Sousoume Tamachek”. Print edition only Uncut

Mdou Moctar  Funeral For Justice

Moctar has refashioned a piece of my own musical history, now shiny and chrome. The grandeur is all-enveloping here; a minor epic built from a surfeit of dissident spirit and Van Halen fanaticism Exclaim

Mdou Moctar  Funeral For Justice

Funeral for Justice is the band’s most forceful album yet, tailor-made to melt minds at massive festivals Rolling Stone

The Lemon Twigs  A Dream Is All We Know

The singing is as smooth as the top of a kitten's head The Arts Desk

The Lemon Twigs  A Dream Is All We Know

The brotherly duo’s ambitious fifth studio album sees them perfect their rock’n’roll pastiche, with a hint at an even brighter future NME

The Lemon Twigs  A Dream Is All We Know

Flows seamlessly, with no snags disrupting its mellow mood-tapestry, right up until final track Rock On (Over And Over) throws us a curveball by actually glamming out, Bolan-style, as if to say, “Here’s what you thought we were about”. Superb Record Collector

The Lemon Twigs  A Dream Is All We Know

Mixes up its subjects of study but chooses obsessively detailed replication over the hints of originality and vulnerable emotions that start emerging when the Lemon Twigs let their guard down All Music

The Lemon Twigs  A Dream Is All We Know

As with 2023's downbeat Everything Harmony, what might be a Beatles-beach-Boys-Big-Star data-scrape is elevated through high-calibre songwriting. Print edition only Mojo

The Lemon Twigs  A Dream Is All We Know

The LP opens with “My Golden Years”, a delectable mélange of Harrisonian 12-string riffs, Wilsonian harmonies and layer-cake hooks, and reaches its apex with the glorious Beach Boys homage “In The Eyes Of The Girl”, with Sean Ono Lennon co-producing and playing bass. Print edition only Uncut

Kamasi Washington  Fearless Movement

Jazz remains the root of his sound, with Washington’s saxophone as bold and vibrant as ever. But the grand orchestral sweep of albums past is pared back, replaced by adeeper engagement with hip-hop, funk and soul. Print edition only Uncut

Kamasi Washington  Fearless Movement

On these dozen tracks, Washington creates a playground and invites friends in to be themselves. Print edition only Mojo

Kamasi Washington  Fearless Movement

With a tenor saxophone and an endless ambition, musician and bandleader Kamasi Washington returns with what he has called his “dance album” The Skinny

Kamasi Washington  Fearless Movement

Fearless Movement bolsters Washington’s prowess as a jazz bandleader engaged in cultural and musical curation Spin