NEW RELEASE OF THE WEEK

MICHAEL HEAD & THE RED ELASTIC BAND - LOOPHOLE

Mick Head is a Scouse treasure and one of British music’s great survivors, both in terms of his career and life in general.

Whether it’s been with the Pale Fountains, Shack, The Strands or under his own name, over the last 40-something years Head has created some of the most beautiful and finely-crafted music out there, often while battling crippling addictions, bad luck and / or record industry indifference and incompetence.

As with 2022’s sublime ‘Dear Scott’ album, Head’s once again enlisted Bill Ryder-Jones on production duties, as he continues his late-career renaissance and finally gains wider recognition of his considerable talents.

In addition to the new album, the next 12 months will also see Head release an autobiography and play a series of career-spanning shows, culminating in a (what should prove to be triumphant) homecoming gig at the Liverpool Philharmonic in December.

SOUND PICK

ANGUS & JULIA STONE - CAPE FORESTIER

Angus Stone sets aside his Dope Lemon alias to once more team up with his sister, Julia, on their sixth album together. Much of their latest folky excursion together has been finished in Angus’s new space, Sugarcane Mountain Studios, secreted away in the rural Northern Rivers region of New South Wales.

The pair say that nature has fed into the music, as has a sense of ‘coming home’ to the state they grew up in after many years on the road and living elsewhere. Angus and Julia acknowledge that this is their most stripped-back album, returning to their roots while incorporating the branches of experience gained so far.

They’ve also delved into their respective stashes of previously-unreleased songs, with some recorded for the new album dating back years.

The featured alums are available from Sound Records which can be found in Wellington Street, Douglas.