Ben Tipple

DIY Magazine • 8th October 2020

Review: Touché Amoré - Lament

With the clouds lifted even a little, there’s a new world ready to explore; one with as many ups and downs as before, but one in which Jeremy and band feel more resilient and less restrained than ever.

DIY Magazine • 28th September 2020

Review: Sufjan Stevens - The Ascension

Not so much a call to arms as an exploration of the individual’s ability to disassociate from the norm.

DIY Magazine • 24th September 2020

Review: Pillow Queens - In Waiting

Pillow Queens are outwardly frustrated but comfortable in themselves, and their sound succeeds in finding the often-untapped ground between the two.

DIY Magazine • 24th September 2020

Review: Deftones - Ohms

If any of Deftones’ previous records are guilty of lacking focus, ‘Ohms’ is certainly safe from future vitriol.

DIY Magazine • 19th September 2020

Review: Into it. Over It. - Figure

This sombre self-reflection runs throughout ‘Figures’, a record that doesn’t quite let go of the past but provides the blueprint to do so.

DIY Magazine • 20th August 2020

Review: Bully - SUGAREGG

“I’m not angry anymore,” Alicia Bognanno exhales on ‘Hours and Hours’, “I’m not holding onto that.” It’s a far cry from the visceral rage of her band’s previous albums, now replaced by a more optimistic outlook and melodies to match.

DIY Magazine • 7th August 2020

Review: Tkay Maidza - Last Year Was Weird, Vol. 2

When Australian-Zimbabwean singer and rapper Tkay Maidza penned the first volume of her ‘Last Year Was Weird’ trilogy, she had no idea what 2020 was about to serve up.

DIY Magazine • 9th July 2020

Review: The Beths - Jump Rope Gazers

Although far from a discovery of confidence, it rounds out ‘Jump Rope Gazers’ as a cathartic acceptance of doubt. With it, The Beths find their most focused sound yet in the midst of uncertainty.

DIY Magazine • 26th June 2020

Review: HAIM - Women In Music Pt. III

While perfectly capturing the current zeitgeist, HAIM carry the passion, creativity and joy to also cement ‘Women In Music Pt. III’ as a timeless classic.

DIY Magazine • 18th June 2020

Review: Phoebe Bridgers - Punisher

As the record builds to a final cathartic hushed scream, ‘Punisher’ marks a clear step forward, but one that remains as fundamentally graceful as all that has come before.

DIY Magazine • 11th June 2020

Review: Orlando Weeks - A Quickening

A collection of observations building up to the birth of his son in 2008, ‘A Quickening’ takes The Maccabees at their most ethereal, all-but stripping out the guitar to create a swirling escapist dreamscape.

DIY Magazne • 8th June 2020

Review: Katie Malco - Failures

Her long-awaited debut captures the zeitgeist of a generation lost somewhere between opportunity and fear.

DIY Magazine • 15th May 2020

Review: Josef Salvat - modern anxiety

‘modern anxiety’ wrestles with the realities of troubled relationships and the lessons learned, ultimately questioning whether for those living in the shadows, anything will ever be enough.

DIY Magazine • 1st May 2020

Review: Ghostpoet - I Grow Tired But Dare Not Fall Asleep

Social despondency and visceral frustration run throughout ‘I Grow Tired But Dare Not Fall Asleep’, a masterful soundtrack to a failing society – one that carries even more weight as we redefine community, connection and togetherness.

Ticketmaster UK • 17th April 2020

Review: Rina Sawayama - SAWAYAMA

Its drudging guitars harked back to turn-of-the-century nu-metal, not dissimilar to the characteristic drawl of KoRn’s defining Follow The Leader. It was a far cry from the experimental pop of her Rina EP and breakthrough track Cherry, itself a more...

DIY Magazine • 10th April 2020

Review: Laura Marling - Song For Our Daughter

“I won’t write a woman with a man on my mind”, she sings on ‘Only The Strong’, “hope that doesn’t’ sound too unkind”. This caveat quickly proves to be unfounded. With all the understated power of the record, it feels far from unkind. Instead it’s an...

DIY Magazine • 21st February 2020

Review: Banoffee - Look At Us Now Dad

Predominately written following a move from Melbourne to LA, ‘Look At Us Now Dad’ is filled with conversational anecdotes of hard-fought affirmation.

DIY Magazine • 14th February 2020

Review: Boniface - Boniface

Written throughout their teenage years, Visser delivers an unfiltered journey of self-discovery. And in the end, they conclude that to truly accept themselves they need to make peace with all that has come before and all that has led them here.

DIY Magazine • 30th December 2019

Review: Bring Me The Horizon - Music To Listen To...

Christmas; a time for celebration, family, friends, mild excess, and – if you’re Bring Me The Horizon – blindsiding fans with the surprise release of the largely unclassifiable EP-come-opus ‘Music To Listen To…’ (to give it a more pronounceable title).

Ticketmaster UK • 12th September 2019

Review: Sam Fender - Hypersonic Missiles

Fender’s style, itself an evolving entity across the record’s thirteen tracks, is unquestionably a product of his upbringing – treading the water between escapist road-trip fantasy and conversely vivid realism.