The Moon – K.Tolnoe | A Book Review

Sometimes, it can be very difficult to succeed in poetry, when everything is public and open to criticism. With its growing popularity, the industry is becoming more and more saturated with work. Instagram is full of it and so finding the right recipe of engagement, marketing and quality of work while staying true to your …

My Hope For Tomorrow – Ruby Dhal | A Book Review

  As I finished Ruby Dhal's latest poetry collection (My Hope For Tomorrow), I was on the Gatwick Express from Brighton to London Victoria. It was late at night and I had just been to see a friend's gig. Life was looking up and I had been reflecting quite regularly upon the changes that have …

Freya Ridings | Album Review

It must have been around about 2017 when I first heard Freya Ridings. I was working in JD Sports in Colchester and it was added to the playlist. Every now and again they'd chose a slower song to switch things up. The song at the time was Blackout. This memorable, piano-driven melody, ghostly in essence. …

Some Kind of Wonderful – Giovanna Fletcher| A Book Review

After finishing Dream A Little Dream (2015), I noted that reading Giovanna Fletcher's writing was like having a chat with an old friend. This is still true and, perhaps, has evolved in the tone and narrative in Some Kind of Wonderful (2017). When we begin to read a book, we want to be able to …

A Handful of Stars – Ruby Dhal | A Book Review

"written from a more positive standpoint but still punches an incredibly fervent emotional punch"

Meet Me Halfway at Least to Rituals; The Musical Evolution of Deaf Havana

I wrote before about how Deaf Havana in their last album All These Countless Nights seemed to be moving into a new direction tonally, experimenting with what they could, effectively, get away with. Just the other day, they released their new single 'Sinner' from their newest upcoming album. Sinner lets us sink our teeth into …

All That She Can See (Carrie Hope Fletcher) | Book Review

This will be the third book of Carrie Hope Fletchers that I am reviewing and while I'm a little late to the party on this one, I am beginning to adore her defined style of writing. Carrie seems to lead her novels with an interpretation of Magic Realism, which is a style we unfortunately rarely …

Avalon – Gabrielle Aplin | E.P Review

As I first mentioned in my post From Sweet Songstress to Poetic Pop-Star; The Musical Evolution of Gabrielle Aplin, with each release, Gabrielle Aplin provides us with a new feeling of musical growth. Avalon continues this tradition, with an almost transformational atmosphere of freedom. Our first official introduction to Gabrielle's new release was the song Waking Up …

÷ – Ed Sheeran | Album Review

It's quite an interesting experience listening to this album, not just in terms of its quality, but because of it's appeal. It seems to provide two types of intention to it's tone and musicality: formulaic and poppy and also raw and nostalgic. Which is a strange and obviously dichotomous partnership on paper but seems to …

Lovesick | A TV Review

I'm not sure why or how it took me so long to discover Lovesick. I remember it coming out back in 2014 (although it was called Scrotal Recall at the time), but for some reason I didn't immediately watch it. So, as is the case nowadays with many TV series, I found it browsing through …