Entertainment

Hidden City sees The Cult return with swagger and attitude

Over the years The Cult have served up stunning alt-rock tunes
Over the years The Cult have served up stunning alt-rock tunes Over the years The Cult have served up stunning alt-rock tunes

ALTERNATIVE rock band The Cult are back with new album Hidden City. This latest record is actually part three of an album trilogy that began with 2007's Born Into This.

Produced by long-time collaborator Bob Rock, Cult studio album number 10 is a full-on, confident rock 'n' roll record filled with swagger and attitude. Bob Rock has produced music for the likes of Motley Crue, Aerosmith and Metallica so his head-banging credentials are hardly in question but it is when working with The Cult that both he and the band seem to hit on that magic formula.

Hidden City opens with the killer Stones-esque riff of Dark Energy – a track that manages to sound like classic rock while at the same time wearing that Cult post-Goth badge.

Same applies to the first half dozen songs with Dance The Night and the epic Bird of Paradise standing tallest. Best track on the album for me though is the sprawling Deeply Ordered Chaos, with its soaring string sections, thunderous drums, Billy Duffy's spiky guitars and Ian Astbury's Jim Morrison-style spoken interlude.

This is the band who over the years served up stunning alt-rock tunes such as She Sells Sanctuary, Love Removal Machine, Rain, Lil Devil and Fire Woman – that CV alone demands that every album since deserves a fair hearing and Hidden City is a very welcome addition to the The Cult's seriously powerful body of work.

FOX NEWS

FOXES has just released her second album, All I Need, and it's a very impressive step forward for Louisa Allen.

Her debut was a solid album too but All I Need sounds confident and mature and boasts a clear and consistent song writing vision throughout. The excellent Body Talk with its 80s movie soundtrack feel is a definite highlight – as is the highly catchy Cruel which sounds like a Euro pop hit that you would bring home from your holidays along with your duty free.

You can the new songs in all their live glory when Foxes plays The Limelight on February 23.

PRIMED FOR SUCCESS

PRIMAL Scream's new album will be released on March 18 and will be titled Chaosmosis. The first taster of the new material is a duet featuring Sky Ferreira called Where The Light Gets In.

Other guests on Chaosmosis include sibling singers Haim who you may remember enjoyed a major hit with If I Could Change Your Mind.

Primal Scream have lined up a series of dates to showcase the new record but as yet no Belfast date has been announced.