Finally! We’re into the lovelier, hopefully COLDER, rainier, windier, multi-coloured-leaves-on-the-ground season of autumn! And so comes another batch of albums that delighted my ears for the first time last month.
Although I do the majority of my initial listening via Tidal or YouTube Music, I do go on to buy the albums which really connect with me, as was the case with PJ Harvey’s White Chalk album I first heard in July. I visited pjharvey.net and bought a copy of the album on CD.
In August, I heard six albums for the first time which included three artists not yet featured in this blog series which has been running since January 2025. So let’s take a look at what they were (though the featured image above does rather spoil the surprise).
Kirsty MacColl
Electric Landlady
1991
The last (and indeed first) Kirsty MacColl album I heard was Titanic Days from 1993, which I ended up liking more than I expected. Sadly with Electric Landlady, I was left a little disappointed. The only song I was familiar with before hearing the album in full was the opener, Walking Down Madison, a single from 1991 which peaked at no.23 in the UK charts. I mustn’t have remembered the song that well as I wasn’t aware of the rap section. I think this was before the epidemic of having a rap section in what seemed like every song in the early-mid ‘90s. The latin-infused My Affair sounded quite familiar so I guessed it must have been a single, too (which it was – reaching no. 56 in the UK). [Visit kirstymaccoll.com]
Highlights: Walking Down Madison – Children of the Revolution – My Affair – The Hardest Word – My Way Home
Adam and the Ants
Kings of the Wild Frontier
1980
I was recently watching someone react to Adam and the Ants on YouTube and I noted that the 1980s band wasn’t one I’d covered yet in this blog series, so here we are. Ant Music and the title track were the only two I’d heard before. Out of the new songs, I really liked Ants Invasion; it’s got that slightly eerie, unnerving sound which I like. Overall, it’s quite a fun album but doesn’t have enough pulling power with me to proactively return to it for a complete listen-through, though I have added Ants Invasion to my lengthy Favourites playlist. [Visit adamandtheants.org]
Highlights: Ant Music – Los Rancheros – Ants Invasion – Kings of the Wild Frontier – Don’t Be A Square (Be There) – Jolly Roger
Paul Heaton
Jenius
2026
Having not listened to any of the singles from the latest Paul Heaton album, I was a little apprehensive when pressing play on Jenius. With his previous album having a more country sound (a genre I’m not usually keen on), I did worry that this 2026 offering would be the same. However, I was pleasantly surprised that there was more of a diverse sound in Jenius, with ska, motown and latin sounds, bookended by rock (the last song, A Son A Father flirting with glam rock). As I progressed through the album, thankfully the country sound wasn’t as present as I’d feared, with tracks like Sad Songs and Lawsuits and One Eye Open (the latter in particular, a reminder to how excellent a lyricist Heaton is). I’m not sure there are any songs here that will become classics like some of the best Housemartins and Beautiful South songs, but as the recent Paul Heaton night on BBC2 proved, the man is a talented, underrated songwriter. [Visit paulheaton.co.uk]
Highlights: Can’t Get Next To You – Sad Songs and Lawsuits – She Aint Pretty – One Eye Open – Do Not Ask Me – Jet Black Sky – Before Before – A Son A Father
Thomas Dolby
Halloween
2023
Thomas Dolby is a name I’ve heard over the years. I’d seen the song She Blinded Me With Science on various compilation albums but never heard the track, so I was coming to this album and Dolby completely fresh. I normally seek out albums and artists but this time Tidal presented Halloween from 2023 as part of a list of “Albums You May Like”. As I’ve said before, when it comes to an artist you’ve never heard before, there’s both an apprehensiveness and a lot of hope you’ll like their work, or at least the song or album you’ve chosen to listen to. Thankfully, I liked what I was hearing. I did a bit of research and it seems this is a compilation album, which makes sense with the inclusion of Science which was originally from 1982 – I didn’t know if Dolby was still releasing new music, reworking old songs, etc. A quick look at the official uk charts site shows that his best-selling was Hyperactive! from 1984 which reached no. 17, and also features on this album. [Visit thomasdolby.com]
Highlights: She Blinded Me With Science – I Scare Myself – Hyperactive! One of our Submarines – Neon Sisters
The Jimi Hendrix Experience
Are You Experienced?
1967
Recently, I’ve been listening to a lot of Beatles as well as having a rewatch of the brilliant Withnail & I film, so I was in mind to give a first-time listen to an album from the late ‘60s, especially since I’ve only heard two albums from that era this year (The Kinks’ Face To Face and The Beach Boys’ Pet Sounds). With Hendrix also featuring on the film’s soundtrack (with All Along The Watchtower) I decided on Hendrix’s debut album from 1967, as part of The Jimi Hendrix Experience (alongside Noel Redding and Mitch Mitchell). Even though Tidal has a reissued version available with additional songs, I chose the original UK tracklist which begins with Foxy Lady. While I knew what to expect from the album – that big Hendrix guitar sound – the gentleness of the start of May This Be Love was a nice surprise, and I also loved the peppy guitar riff and vibe of Fire. [Visit jimihendrix.com]
Highlights: Foxy Lady – Manic Depression – Can You See Me – Love or Confusion – May This Be Love – Fire – Third Stone From The Sun
Peter Gabriel
III: Melt
1980
I sometimes like to check my spreadsheet of the artists and albums I’ve listened in this New (to me) Music series, and I noticed that I heard Peter’s first two albums back in 2025, and generally enjoyed them so it was time for a listen to the third album. Like the previous two, this one’s official title is Peter Gabriel, though some streaming sites call it Melt, to differentiate it from the earlier albums. It’s been a while since I heard those first albums, but listening to this one, my first thought was that it seemed more experimental – certainly with the first few tracks. Family Snapshot and I Don’t Remember features XTC’s Dave Gregory on guitar, and possibly my favourite from Side 1, but the Top 5 hit Games Without Frontiers is the overall standout track of the album for me. [Visit petergabriel.com]
Highlights: Intruder – I Don’t Remember – Family Snapshot – And Through The Wire – Games Without Frontiers – Biko
Which of these albums have you heard? Which do you love, and are there any that you didn’t enjoy as much as you’d hoped?
In other news… Much to the relief of my bank balance, I’m having a slight break from travelling for gigs until November where I’ll be seeing Squeeze again – you can read my review of the last gig HERE. But I will be seeing Across The Universe, a Beatles tribute band & live orchestra locally in the next few weeks which I’m looking forward to!
Peter Gabriel had a fantastic 80s. I hope you’ll give the fourth self-titled LP a listen – it’s an all-time favourite for me – and also Passion, his soundtrack for The Last Temptation of Christ, which fully indulges his love of world music. And So, of course, is one of the big shiny pop albums of the mid-decade.
Thanks, Simon! Yes, I think I’ll continue Gabriel’s work, chronologically.