A short one, but an important one today. As much as I've dreamt of it, I've never met Sam Fender; I guess a little thank you/love letter to this album that he'll never read will have to do for now. After Hypersonic Missiles I was hooked to his strong beliefs and even stronger musicality, and I've been an addict ever since. Seventeen Going Under came out when I was 16 but this could not take away from its intense relatability. As a working class, northern, constant overthinker, this album just sang to me. On the day of its release, two years ago today, I listened to it five times over through college, through the way home, and through the night. Sam and the boys took all my frustrations with class, with politics, with myself and put them into the best album to be released this past decade.  I've been a lucky one, seeing Sam live twice and even getting to the barrier at Scarborough. I spoke to my mother after that, telling her it was the most emotionally intense exp...

Oasis are still deemed to be one of the most iconic bands to come out of the UK, Noel Gallagher being one of the masterminds behind the bands success. We had already been graced with Liam Gallagher's presence in 2019 with his ‘MTV Unplugged Live’ session that took place in Hull city hall, so Noel was well overdue for a visit. On Wednesday the 30th of August, the atmosphere was practically buzzing whilst the crowd waited for him and his High Flying Birds to take the stage, Callum Easter and the Roulettes supporting the band and trying to break the tension and excitement of waiting. Easter and his complex sound had a distinct presence on stage, as did his drummer who had what can only be described as incredible bounce to his technique. But I will say Easter’s suit could have used an iron.  Callum Easter and the Roulettes supporting on Wednesday night When the lights went down and the shadow of Noel Gallagher appeared from the left to greet an impatient and static crowd, he absolutely...

Growing up, I thought Paolo Nutini was an old man. I, at around 7 years wise, would argue relentlessly with my mother that the voice coming from the radio could not biologically be that of a 20-year-old. Obviously, I was wrong, but I thought his voice was amazing either way. I grew up with Nutini's music in the background of every school run and shamefully forgot about him when his discography went silent in 2017. The silver lining to my unfortunate abandonment of his music was rediscovering it. Many artists sing lyrics about heartache and pain, yet with Paolo Nutini you can feel it through the sheer power and anguish in his voice. His lyrical formula for his music is perfected versatility, the structure of verse, chorus, verse, chorus, bridge/ build-u p and then a chorus ending with a mix back into that bridge or build up is s o beautifully subverted to fit a song ( contemporary masterpieces like Candy, Radio, Coming up Easy to name a few). My appreciation for this ma...