Radiohead

The commercial failure of Nakhane Touré’s 2013 debut album led to a period of serious reflection. Having cut his teeth on Cape Town’s open mic scene, he decided to ditch his assumed surname and the folk music that had seen him compared to Jeff Buckley and Radiohead. He’s now returned with ‘You Will Not Die’, a collection of club-indebted tracks that address his sexual identity in relation to the renunciation of his Christianity. Autobiographical in nature, the material deliberately ‘queers Biblical language and gospel sound.’ To that end, opening track ‘Violent Measures’ is choral trip-hop while the standout ‘Teen Prayer’ could pass as an old spiritual until the lyrical double entendres are noticed.

In the summer of 2020, Irish musician Aoife Nessa Frances moved to the west of Ireland to begin working on the songs that would become her second album, Protector. A lifelong Dublin resident, Frances found solace being removed from city life. But perhaps more importantly, like many people in their late twenties who have finally shaken off youthful rebelliousness, Frances also experienced a solidification of familial ties like never before, and felt the formation of a protective, impenetrable shell.

It's perhaps inevitable that Keane's debut album, Hopes and Fears, will draw numerous comparisons to Coldplay. Like them, Keane were discovered by indie label Fierce Panda, who released a single ("Everybody's Changing"). And, like Coldplay, Keane also do a fine trade in catchy and heartfelt indie-pop, all bruised verses and soaring choruses. But though their sound is sure to please fans of Coldplay and Travis, the reality is that Keane manage to sound that little bit more delicate. This could be due to the band's relatively unusual makeup: rather than guitars, the trio uses a piano.

Lotus were early innovators in fusing electronic dance music with a jam band model of improvisation and ever-changing setlists. The four-piece group also draws on psychedelic rock, krautrock, post-rock, disco, and funk. Their dance-inducing, high-energy shows have made them festival favorites, as they move between high-flying guitar solos and modular synth workouts, with tightly composed songs and free-ranging group improvisation.

Standing firm between acoustic tradition and electronica, they are founded on a unique blend of melodic ostinato-laced piano and unwavering drums. Drawing on their array of musical interests, Fil and Tom take influence from rock, electronica, ambient, breakbeat and soundtracks for film and artists such as Squarepusher, Radiohead and Clark all hot-housed in their unique studio set-up, a shed at the bottom of Tom's garden.

You can’t fight evolution. Luna Kiss have been revelling in a constant state of creative change for the last seven years. But it is only in 2017 that the Coventry quartet’s extraordinary, amorphous vision has truly come into sharp focus. Six years on from the release of their acclaimed debut album Echoes Of Sound, Luna Kiss are poised to return with a new collection of songs, Following Shadows. As hinted at on 2014’s Conjure & Sin EP and last year’s Gravity EP, the quintet have blossomed into something enthralling and unique, powered by inspiration and an unwavering lust for creativity. After doggedly honing their live performances while allowing their music to grow and mutate at its own perfect pace, Luna Kiss are now ready to begin an exhilarating new chapter.

Critics say that Radiohead is best, but Muse is equally passionate and mad when it comes to delivering a raw rock sound. The Hullabaloo Soundtrack arrived after only two albums – 1999's Showbiz and 2001's indie smash Origin of Symmetry – and it's an ambitious move for the band. Hullabaloo captures Muse live in concert at Le Zenith in Paris in October 2001 on disc two.

Italian jazz pianist Giovanni Guidi was born in Foligno in 1985. While attending the Siena summer seminars, he was noticed by Enrico Rava, who placed him in the Rava Under 21 group, which later became Rava New Generation. With this latter group he recorded three CDs for l'Espresso in 2006, 2010 and 2016. His first album as a leader is Tomorrow Never Knows, recorded by the Japanese label Venus, receiving five stars in a review by the Swing Journal magazine.

As leader of the London Contemporary Orchestra, the award-winning violinist has collaborated with composers such as Steve Reich, Laurie Spiegel, Suzanne Ciani and can be heard on Radiohead’s 'A Moon Shaped Pool', Frank Ocean’s 'Blond' and Thom Yorke’s 'Suspiria'.

Grant-Lee Phillips is a singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist known for his versatile voice, intense lyrical narratives and dexterity on the acoustic twelve-string guitar, a style that often sees him compared to Neil Young, Van Morrison, Bruce Springsteen and Bob Dylan. "Mobilize" is his second solo album.