Quick Takes – January 2026: Album Reviews

With the trademark of memorable riffs, chilling vocal melodies and a dueling guitar attack, internationally acclaimed rock quartet Alter bridgeled by the Kennedy/Tremonti combo continue the good work with their self-titled, eighth studio album.

Two decades together might dull the blade of some bands, but with both Myles kennedy and Mark Tremonti finding alternate outlets, the return to AB maintains a fresh outlook. Packed with punchy and pummelling riffs, smart hooks and one way routes to singalong choruses, we get the Myles + Mark show as they trade vocals on Trust In Me and Tested And Able. The presence of acoustic guitar in Hang By A Thread is a great touch that might soften some of the onslaught of powerful blows, but also offers an undeniable highlight in a vibrant set.

AB (by AB) is undeniable Classic Hard Rock done with a swagger and class that’s topped with a nine minute epic album closer in Slave To Master that showcases a nous for something that shifts beyond the bread and butter songcrafting.

It isn’t that often that the credits of an artist includes hairdresser, alongside multi-instrumentalist, singer and songwriter. Eaton, Gerard to his Ma, is one that does and this is his solo debut, after being a career sidesman of note, usually within Ireland.

Renaissance pop is how he describes his oeuvre, and there is a heady whiff of the 60’s over these 13 tracks, awash with classy orchestration. of the sort that has you immediately thinking of Robert Kirby, orchestrator for Nick Drake. Vocally, and stylistically too, there is a taste of Scott Walker, poster boy heart-throb Scott Walker, that is before he went rogue, off-piste and scaring the horses.

Actual songs are interspersed with ambient sound and orchestration, but it is the vocal tracks that matter. First song actual, Heaven Knows and the titular closing track are possibly the high water marks, but it is all pretty damn lush .

 One of 2026’s early dicoveries – cue ‘new favourite band’ status, Break The Silence finds German Heavy Melodic (a little bit symphonic) Metallers Beyond The Black in  concept album mode. Themes of communication, inner strength, resilience and the urgent need to reconnect in a divided world provide the threads om a propulsive set where singer Jennifer Haben leads a strong case for BTB as Premier League status, as witnessed in our first gig of the year.

As the song and album say, it’s time to break the silence on a record that embellishes the melodic metal core with ethnic and widescreen dramatics. Along with the atmospheric Weltzschmerz that closes the album with a world weariness, the big ballad Ravens does a turn as mid album pause for breath, but the emphasis lies firmly with epic and uplifting arrangements and the occasional tasteful guitar break or two from Chris Hermsdörfer. What’s surprising is how most of the songs skirt the four minute and under clock. A case of less is more and a rare skill in being able to compose with an eye on a rare succinctness.

Expanding on the lush atmospheres and emotional depth that have come to define their sound, True Blue captures Blanket as vulnerable and vivid, weaving together shimmering (and a bunch of maxed out) guitars in an expansive and immersive production.

The album finds the quartet embracing both introspection and hope, a journey through disquiet and catharsis, anchored by moments of raw honesty and sonic grandeur. “The title track, and really the whole record, is about brighter days, a bit of nostalgia, and finding beauty in the small, quiet moments,” we’re informed.

The breathy leanings in Leaning On You and Exploring Birdsong’s Lynsey Ward’s contribution to Summer Skin tone down the power dial. On that sees  Blanket have aim to  channel their signature cinematic scope into something intimate yet expansive. Arguably a more aggressive and possibly with those signature shrill passages more explosive, musical experience that How To Let Go, True Blue is the result of a band whose widescreen template takes on a successful tweak.

Kayley ‘Hell Kitten’ Davies and Commander Max ‘Leather Messiah’ Newsome launch Sky Valley Mistress into the Sonic Stratosphere with an audio journey fuelled by 70’s hard rock, swerving off the well trodden road to a fresh new destination.

A set that captures the space in the Venn diagram where desert rock grooves and mountainous riffs, are guided by Kayley’s soulful vocals, and bucking Queens Of The Stone Age passages collide with Spiritualised-sized gospel choruses and a hefty dollop of classic Sabbath swing. The eclectic combination of fuzz guitars, organs, real orchestras and a children’s choir see the influences distorted into a unique creation.

Next to the Punky slap of Too Many Ghosts, No Sleep might briefly lull, but a scuzzy riff is never waiting long to disturb the peace. White Knight explores dynamics to the max as the album heads towards a return to the mystical late nite cabaret shimmer and last notes squeezed out of of Blue Desert II.

Never did a metaphysical journey (to the Luna Mausoleum – naturally, in a hearse – of course) sound so much fun.

 An album shaped by location change, refining a strain of heavy, ethereal doom and shoegaze. As with their previous work, Not Here Not Gone explores the contrast of light and dark. A set where  menacing riffs provide the core on which to lay haunting melodies as overdriven and dense walls of shoegaze guitars pair with lighter-than-air textures. Yes, the subject matter is may weigh heavy but comes delivered by Sunny Faris’ aching and melancholy trimmed vocals.

With light and dark comes a sense of empowerment at one turn, vulnerability the next. Drummer Eliese Dorsay identifies how: “some songs we’re the predator, and some songs we’re the prey.”  As the mid album song asks: Heavy, Why? The juxtaposition of confidence and uncertainty, evolving into a passion and exposing a raw nerve (check the drive of Bodies). A lighter bounce carries Void To Be, but the oevrall air of catharsis sits atop an album whose contents may explain how the band’s relocation intensified their study in contrasts to chive evocative new heights.

ZU are an instrumental trio formed in Italy in 1997. The album Ferrum Sidereum is a monumental 80 minutes of musical intricacy, where metal meets jazz, threaded with progressive rock and industrial elements. Much of the album was recorded live in the Fonoprint Studios in Bologna, guided by producer Marc Urselli. The bold instrumental repertoire includes saxophone, keyboards, 12-string guitar, bass, acoustic drums and electronic percussion.

Opening track Charagma provides an insightful sample of the experimentation that is in store across the album. The mountainous industrial metal rhythms provide the foundation for intermittent washes of saxophone, keyboards and synth percussion.  An excellent starting point with the album. Pleroma adds into the mix a winning combination of atmospheric electronic ambiance and a King Crimson style proto-metal outro, while Hymn of the Pearl provides a lengthy industrial funk workout. This is an album that will fire your musical imagination.

After a couple of records under the Someone monicker, as she reverts to her own name, Jackson is, literally, suddenly someone, gathering praise and plaudits as a a visionary. A risky description, it capable of falling all the way between flaky and fêted, this disc deserves her that title and that risk.

With an almost impossible clean voice, that gives this US based Anglo-Dutch artist ample room to take on chameleonic hues, shifting from a cipher of Judy Collins to hues of Sharon Van Etten. And that’s just the voice, as the soundscapes behind her are equally capable of shifting between pastoral and unearthly. One song will ply delicate rolling guitar, another a more complex mix of bandwork, often with synths and beats. Always is the chance that found sound will impinge, sometimes without warning.

Highlights include the Joni Laurel Canyon of Dawn, and Fear Bangs The Drum, with carries fumes of the Cure, were they fronted by Tracey Thorn. Worth a trip to the shoreline.