a music blog
I love this time of year when the release schedule begins to fill up and you start to feel excited for what treasures might be in store for this year. I’ve rounded up the confirmed releases, likely releases and hopes for 2026 below!
Continue reading “Music to Look Forward to in 2026 “
At the start of each year I re-read Woody Guthrie’s list of ‘New Year’s Rulins’ from 1943 and try to capture a little of his spirit. My favourites remain the same: Work more & be better, work by a schedule, eat good, write everyday, read lots of good books, listen to the radio, learn people, don’t get lonesome, stay glad, keep the hoping machine running, beat fascism, love everyone, wake up and fight.
In the past I used to write yearly blogging resolutions but haven’t done since 2021. Maybe that indicates how the past few years have been challenging in the blogosphere. Looking back at that 2021 list feels crazy now as it’s all about the pandemic and trying to find ways to cope without live music. Now five years later, I thought I’d take stock and write my blogging resolutions for 2026.
Continue reading “Blogging Resolutions 2026”
At the start of December I challenged myself to complete Blogmas – where you post something every day in the lead up to Christmas. Some bloggers/vloggers make this Christmas themed but for me it was more an attempt to write a few reviews and articles that I had wanted to finish before the end of the year.
Despite a couple of difficult days I managed to complete the task, so I thought I’d round up some lessons learned.
Continue reading “What I Learned From Blogmas 2025”
We’ve made it to the end of blogmas and I’ve saved the best of the year until last. It’s been great writing a post every day in December and I want to thank everyone for reading the blog this year!
So now for my favourite albums of the year by women artists. The list reflects my own personal listening and is not intended to be any kind of ‘best of’.
Please share yours in the comments! Click below to read my reviews of each album.
Continue reading “Albums of the Year 2025”
This year I made a rolling playlist of my favourite songs on Apple Music which has been hugely helpful in keeping track of what I’ve enjoyed listening to. I’ve always kept a list of songs from albums I review on Spotify but that doesn’t catch every single.
Another useful app for me is Last FM which I’ve been using since 2006 to count what I listen to. Sometimes the numbers are skewed because I have to listen to something more to review it, or just because a song came out at the beginning of the year but it still helps me to see what music I’ve gone back to.
So using those metrics alongside my own gut instinct here are my top 20 favourite songs of the year sung by women. Apologies to the artists who I just haven’t had a chance to listen to this year. Share yours in the comments and let me know what I missed!
Continue reading “Songs of the Year 2025”
I’m always searching for new Christmas music and was delighted to discover that Morgan Wade had released a short EP of festive tunes this year. She has recorded three personal favourite covers and one original for this EP ‘Christmas in My Dreams’.
Continue reading “EP Review: Morgan Wade – Christmas in My Dreams”
Melissa Carper is on a hot streak after her last few brilliant solo albums and her work with Wonder Women of Country and she has now released this sparkling new Christmas album. Unlike so many other festive offerings ‘A Very Carper Christmas’ is a collection of nearly all originals, written mainly with her old bandmate Gina Gallina plus Brennen Leigh and Katie Shore.
Continue reading “Album Review: Melissa Carper – A Very Carper Christmas “
I wrote a couple of years ago about why I stopped buying new vinyl. I’ve stuck to this resolution pretty much since then. My reasons remain the same – rising costs and rising awareness of the impact of plastic production have totally changed my perspective on music consumption habits.
Continue reading “On a More Sustainable Way to Buy Vinyl “
I reviewed Lily Allen’s memoir a few years back and made the case for her being one of our most underrated and overlooked artists. What a treat then to be at the end of 2025 looking back on a year when Lily resurrected her career and got the flowers she so richly deserved.
Continue reading “Album Review: Lily Allen – West End Girl”
Highway Queens 