Listening to Paul Louis Villani's new EP, The Other Side of Silence, feels less like pressing play and more like cracking open a locked diary found in a derelict building. It’s a messy, confrontational, and deeply private affair, where industrial-strength riffs grind against lyrics that feel surgically exposed. Villani doesn't write anthems for crowds; he seems to be recording the dissonant hum of his...

Right, so, Manchester's own Robert McGinty is back. "Reflections," they call it. Twelve classical instrumentals. Twelve! Like the apostles, but...less preachy, more piano-y. It's supposed to be uplifting and joyful, this album, a sequel of sorts, tracking his growth since the debut. Did you know the collective noun for owls is a parliament? Completely unrelated, I know, but owls are wise, and there's a...