About Me

  York, UK based

Specialising in music journalism, especially Alternative, Pop Punk, and Indie reviews and features. 

Other work focuses on disability, art-history, film, TV, and literature. 

Featured in Redbrick, Gigwise and The Unwritten. 

My Work

Album Review: Birdy - Portraits | Gigwise

If you think you know what you’re getting from a Birdy album, think again. Expecting intimate piano ballads, I was swept into the synth filled opening track ‘Paradise Calling.’ A burst of energy, and an upbeat assertion of ‘all I ever wanted was something to believe in’, Birdy throws you headfirst into the album. This is the liberation of an artist finding their voice.

It's not a coincidence then that a lot of the songs ponder the idea of letting go of something. Both ‘Heartbreaker’ and ‘Automa

EP Review: GIRLI - Why am I like this?? | Gigwise

Girli is reckoning with the messiness of life on Why am I like this?? Refusing the tie herself down, the alt-pop singer sets out to capture the multitudes of herself.

The EP is easily at its best when Girli tackles her own insecurities head on. Brutally forthcoming, witty, and sharp, her pen feels especially sharp on opening track ‘I really f**ked it up.’ The song is a catchy affirmation of the need to embrace the messiness of life.

As she reckons with her own insecurities, it always feels rel

Album Review: Fall Out Boy - So Much (For) Stardust | Music

Music Critic Sammy Andrews reviews Fall Out Boy’s new album, So Much (For) Stardust, highlighting its variety of coexisting elements and the return of the band’s classic sound

So Much (For) Stardust is Fall Out Boy’s step back onto the stage after five years. A dive back into their classic pop-punk/rock sound, the album sees the band firmly returning to their roots, and it is a return that is very welcome.

From the opening few chords of ‘Love From the Other Side’ I knew I would be in for a rid

Album Review: Billie Marten - Drop Cherries | Gigwise

Four albums into her career, Billie Marten is not reinventing herself. On Drop Cherries, Marten is instead, turning further inwards. Examining, musing, and ruminating on love, Marten makes introspection her own.

Opening track ‘New Idea’ feels like a wistful entrance into the imaginative space of the album. Simple hums and guitar patterns build over the echoes of the tape recording, and you are lulled into Drop Cherries slowly and gracefully as the strings further pull you along.

It is easy eno

Album Review: Paramore - This Is Why | Music

The anticipation that has built surrounding a new Paramore album has built an entire mythology surrounding their return to music. And This is Why is nothing short of a confirmation of this mythological status. This is Why sees Paramore at some of their best, blending their past roots with new influences, and spanning some of their most vulnerable themes yet. In their search to navigate the modern world, Paramore reckon with, embrace, and confront the messiness of it all.

The title track ‘This i

Review: That '90s Show | TV

TV writer Sammy Andrews revels in the nostalgic elements of the Netflix series, while believing that its new time setting and characters could be explored in greater depth

If, like me, the lyrics ‘Hanging out, down the street’ instills a wave of nostalgia in you, it’s very likely you hold That ’70s Show very close to your heart. Since its release, it has become a cult favourite, and now, a new generation are here to take up the basement for their own in That ’90s Show. Kitty (Debra Jo Rupp) and

Music's Albums of 2022 | Music

Arriving five years after the chart-smashing success of DAMN., Kendrick Lamar’s fifth studio album Mr Morale & The Big Steppers is the Compton rapper’s most personal record to date as he invites the listener to follow him on his own journey through childhood trauma, grief, fame and infidelity. A deeply emotive and thematic album, Mr Morale positions Kendrick as a highly vulnerable figure whose lyrics at times read like diary entries or confessions to a therapist. Songs like ‘Mother | Sober’ embo

The Best Films of 2022 | Film

There was only one new release that caused me to sink into existential dread in 2022, and that was Charlotte Wells’ devastating directorial debut, Aftersun. The film is a flashback to a holiday between Calum (Paul Mescal) and his daughter Sophie (Frankie Corio). Aftersun explores the idea that our parents are people too, with their own demons, that we might not even know about. Its mature approach to these themes, via its restrained dialogue and cinematography, captures a dynamic rarely explored

Gigwise's 23 For 2023 | Gigwise

Meet the names to know for 2023

2022 was a big year for music, but an even bigger year for new music. With live events well and truly back after the pandemic, up and comers have taken to the stage up and down the country and worldwide, swifty establishing themselves in what's feeling like music's most exciting moment in a long time. With new names playing a vital role as frontrunners of new sounds and new scenes, we’re seeing the birth of future icons.

Boiling down a million and one buzzing na

Album Review: Taylor Swift - Midnights | Music

‘Meet me at midnight’ are the lyrics we are greeted with at the beginning of Taylor Swift’s latest concept album; whether this is directed at her lover or the listener, Swift wants us to join her for her midnight musings and we would be foolish to refuse.

‘Lavender Haze’ explores the attention that Swift’s relationship faces. Her past relationships have been in the public eye and Swift has faced much criticism about them; she is often subjected to sexist commentary. She addresses this with the

Live Review: Jamie T | Music

I think that anyone who grew up listening to indie music has grown up with Jamie T as the soundtrack to their teen years: a coming-of-age icon for our generation. I remember hearing rumours around school of when he would come back after his 2016 album Trick, and ‘Zombie’ was a staple for any party. But no place have I ever felt this presence of Jamie T’s generational importance than I did whilst watching him at the O2 Academy. More so, should I say, than watching the crowd and seeing just how im

Live Review: The Big Moon | Music

Music Critic Sammy Andrews reviews the Big Moon’s live show at the O2 Academy Birmingham on the 21st September, describing it as ‘a welcome reminder of the joy that comes out of live music’

On its third rescheduled date, indie-rock quartet The Big Moon finally brought their live show to Birmingham. Initially the tour for their second studio album Walking Like We Do, their set was since updated with new tracks from their upcoming album Here is Everything. Injected with fun, the show stood as a w

The Disabled Cost of Living: Food Shopping is Even Harder When You're Gluten Free

Millions of people are currently struggling to heat their homes, pay their bills and afford food in the toughest Cost of Living Crisis the UK has seen in 30 years. In our new series, The Disabled Cost of Living, we will hear how disabled people are disproportionately affected, due to their lives already costing more and being valued as less.

During the current cost of living crisis, the price of everyday basics seems daunting enough, without having to navigate a specialist diet alongside it. Ye

Album Review: cheerbleederz - even in jest | Gigwise

even in jest is an album full of the spirit of DIY. Fluctuating between brutally honest and tongue in cheek lyrics, each song is infused with personality, making cheerbleederz stand out as a band having a blast whilst making music. This spirit is infectious, and even in jest is a debut effort from cheerbleederz that never falls flat because of it.

Following in the footsteps of those before them, even in jest sees cheerbleederz affirming an unapologetic voice in the current DIY scene. Influences

Album Review: Beach Bunny - Emotional Creature | Gigwise

At various stages of anxiety, confidence + love

Beach Bunny’s sophomore album Emotional Creature sees the group finding their feet both musically and individually. The album is an exploration of the need to grow, adapt and change, finding beauty in the vast kaleidoscope of human emotions. Arriving with a brash Y2K inspired indie rock sound, Emotional Creature is simultaneously vulnerable and confident – finding solace in the messiness of life and navigating love throughout it all.

Bursting the

Album Review: Violet Skies - If I Saw You Again | Gigwise

Taking you on an emotional journey

If I Saw You Again is a vulnerable and honest debut album from Violet Skies that sees the singer-songwriter finding her own voice. The stripped-back and intimate record is a collection of melodic piano and guitar tracks with each song feeling like an invitation into the most honest parts of the singer’s life. Covering themes from death to break-ups and first meetings, the album stands as a sense of clarity on the various paths crossed in life, with Violet Skie

Album Review: Vance Joy - In Our Own Sweet Time | Music

In his third album, In Our Own Sweet Time, Vance Joy leans into the romantic more than ever. Melding his delicate story-telling with acoustic-pop melodies, each song feels like a snapshot of a personal and intimate memory. In Our Own Sweet Time feels like the rush of a romance in the summer warmth bottled into an album.

In Our Own Sweet Time opens with the beautiful guitar patterns we are familiar with in Joy’s music. The opening track ‘Don’t Fade’ does however introduce new facets to Joy’s mus

Album Review: State Champs - Kings of the New Age | Music

If pop-punk is back, then State Champs have declared themselves the Kings of its revival in their latest album, Kings of the New Age. Offering shoutable lyrics, sun-drenched pop-punk riffs and, infectious melodies, State Champs are in full force on Kings of the New Age.

In their first studio album since 2018’s Living Proof, State Champs have returned in Kings of the New Age with one of their most energetic and fun-filled albums yet. Bursting out with the gritty guitar hook of ‘Here to Stay,’ St

Birmingham's Independent Cinema Scene | Film

Standing as one of the oldest running cinemas in the United Kingdom, The Electric Cinema is a landmark for cultural history in Birmingham. The threat of its permanent closure during the pandemic was a really sad moment for film-lovers and the rich cinematic history that the building holds. But, in November last year, news broke that Kevin Markwick had bought the cinema and planned on re-opening it in the new year. In January 2022 its doors once again opened just as they did back in 1909, and it

Book Review: Heartstopper | Culture

Alice Oseman’s Heartstopper is a heart-warming romance graphic novel that everyone needs to read at some point. Heartstopper follows Charlie Spring and Nick Nelson as they meet and fall in love. Within this is a beautiful depiction of coming of age and the navigation of identity, sexuality and mental health alongside this. The graphic novel will tug at your heartstrings in the best way possible and is certain to leave you full of joy.

The four-volume series, with the fifth to be released next y

Review: Turning Red | Film

Pixar’s latest film Turning Red is an energetic and vibrant dive into coming-of-age and self-acceptance that promises to both warm your heart and lift your spirits. From the stylisation of the animation to the film’s very own boyband, Turning Red captures what it feels like to be 13 and figuring out who you are. This is the kind of film I wish I could have had when I was 13 and discovered who I was through numerous obsessions with boybands (One Direction, I’m looking at you…).

Following Meilin

Album Review: Walt Disco - Unlearning | Gigwise

Walt Disco’s debut album is a melodramatic and self-explorative step out onto the stage. A stage show in two acts, Unlearning, pulls together entrancing production and sprawling soundscapes to interrogate love, flings, heartbreak and identity.

As much of a product of our times as it is of musical legacy, Unlearning is a debut album that both situates Walt Disco as a synth-indie/rock band and challenges our expectations of them. Produced largely in a bedroom due to the pandemic, the exploration

Album Review: Babeheaven - Sink Into Me | Gigwise

Babeheaven’s latest album sees the band leaning into a much more eclectic range of influences and sounds, melding elements of R'n'B and electro-pop into their dreamy indie sound. Atmospheric and ethereal, Sink Into Me is a melodic delve into disillusionment, loss and yearning for human connection.

Babeheaven enter Sink Into Me with ‘Heartbeat’ displaying the synths you might expect of their bedroom-pop back catalogue, and then they lift them into a rooting of jazz and R'n'B-inspired drums and m
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