The Waterboys, Jason Isbell, Dean Wareham, Valerie June, Black Country New Road and more feature on our latest free Uncut CD.
The 15-track compilation, titled Time To Fly, showcases some of the month’s best music and comes with the Uncut dated April 2025.
See below for more on the tracklisting…
1 Tobacco City
Buffalo
Chris Coleslaw and Lexi Goddard are going from strength to strength. A set of confident Americana rock’n’roll, new album Horses really builds up a head of steam on this infectious slice of choogle, with an unexpected coda.
2 Florist
Have Heaven
Jellywish is the new album from Emily Sprague’s Florist project, and her best yet. There are echoes of Big Thief in its crepuscular, hushed songcraft, but also a light rural psychedelia in its picked acoustic guitars, warbling tapes and curdled electronics.
3 Nico Georis
Geological Observations
From his Granny’s Dancehall studio in Death Valley, this sonic adventurer has been busy working with the electronic pulses of psychedelic mushrooms over recent years. Music Belongs To The Universe is all his own work, however, a welcoming collision of ambient, new age and far-out lysergic drones.
4 Dean Wareham
Yesterday’s Hero
Back with only his third solo album, That’s The Price Of Loving Me, Wareham is on top form. This quietly despairing track, one of the high points of the record, examines the passing of time with a wry outlook: “All our marches got nowhere…”
5 Eiko Ishibashi
October
Antigone is the long-awaited latest from this Japanese singer, songwriter and experimentalist, who’s been busy soundtracking Hamaguchi films such as Drive My Car and Evil Does Not Exist in recent years. Teaming up with Jim O’Rourke on production, her new LP is a sugared, strange and deeply fascinating adventure.
6 Brown Horse
Dog Rose
This Norwich troupe haven’t taken long to follow up their debut, but All The Right Weaknesses is an even finer record. “Dog Rose” is a good measure of the rest: crunching guitars and pedal steel, enigmatic lyrics and a wooziness that recalls Pavement and Silver Jews as much as Tonight’s The Night.
7 Black Country, New Road
Besties
South London’s most eclectic crew continue their journey towards baroque prog-pop perfection on new LP Forever Howlong. For the first time, all the songs are written and sung by the three female members of the group, with “Besties” led by Jockstrap’s Georgia Ellery.
8 The Waterboys
Hopper’s On Top (Genius)
Mike Scott’s sprawling concept record Life, Death & Dennis Hopper is our Album Of The Month, and “Hopper’s On Top…” feels like a good introduction to its gonzo charms. Elsewhere on the LP, there’s Bruce Springsteen, Fiona Apple, Steve Earle and more.
9 Songs Of Green Pheasant
Dark
Duncan Sumpner’s hazy folk-rock project has long been under the radar – just the way the Yorkshireman likes it – but new album Sings The Passing may be his most enticing yet.
10 Valerie June
Sweet Things Just For You
Owls, Omens And Oracles is the new record from this Memphis singer-songwriter, who’s teamed up with M Ward for her latest foray into the astral and the earthy. Inspired by ’60s soul and folk, the skipping “Sweet Things…” is a boogie-down highlight.
11 Index For Working Musik
Sister
This London group have sprung from the roots of Toy to offer a kind of ragged post-punk folk horror on their second album, Which Direction Goes The Beam. Sawing strings and Nathalia Bruno’s stern vocals drive this waltzing, Velvets-y anxiety dream to stunning effect.
12 Jason Isbell
Foxes In The Snow
Here’s the title track to Isbell’s new acoustic album, a daring showcase of his singing, guitar skills and way with a turn of phrase and a lilting riff. These have been difficult times for the songwriter, and it’s all laid out here.
13 Sam Akpro
Evenfall
This is the title track of south Londoner Akpro’s debut album; imagine King Krule with a little less jazz and a little more gothic Portishead clamour and you might come somewhere close to this blown-out, industrial delight.
14 Snapped Ankles
Pay The Rent
Forest-born shamans (or so they claim, anyway), this London-based collective have got their dancing shoes on for new LP Hard Times Furious Dancing. Like LCD Sounsystem soundtracking The Wicker Man, it’s a transportative joy, as heard on this propulsive, dance-punk epic.
15 Butler, Blake & Grant
Bring An End
Sublimely low-key, this indie supergroup – Bernard Butler, Norman Blake and James Grant – are standing by the power of their heartfelt songs and gorgeous harmonies. On this evidence, it’s a distinction all round.
