Room 29 is the long-awaited collaboration between two musical forces: Pulp frontman Jarvis Cocker and indie polymath Chilly Gonzales. Gonzales provides pensive, dreamy piano as Cocker alternates between whispered narrative and intimate singing on the title track. “Tearjerker” is a quietly stark exchange from one lover to another.

Merrie land is the second album from The Good, The Bad and The Queen, a band comprising of Damon Albarn, Paul Simonon, Tony Allen and Simon Tong. Their debut album from 2007 traced a journey from the English music hall tradition to West Africa and Afrobeat, zigzagging through the West Indies and its reggae and dub, back to England and London's punk scene, all the while taking in a strand of British beat music from the '50s right through to Britpop. The result was a record specific to a place and mood but with a background that was geographically wide-ranging. Now the four musical storytellers are back with a new studio album titled Merrie Land.
Produced by Tony Visconti and The Good, The Bad and The Queen was completed in London and Wales this year, during the current ongoing period in which the UK is preparing to leave the European Union, Merrie Land is a questioning good-bye letter, a series of observations and reflections on Britishness in 2018. Even though it has been over 10 years since the band last released a record, the timing could not be more apt – there could not be a more perfect band to untangle the optimism, disorientation and confusion in the atmosphere today.
With Merrie Land, the band taps into a creative symbiosis of past and future, drawing inspiration from their shared glittering musical histories and wrapping the hybrid results in a brilliantly postmodern yet thoroughly British package. The album sees the band’s focus move beyond London with a beautiful and hopeful paean to the Britain of today - an inclusive Britain - and the possibilities of the future. In the band’s own words, Merrie Land is a ten song lament of Anglo-Saxosentialism marking the reluctant end of a relationship, and about picking up the pieces and seeing what can be salvaged. The band set a beautifully muted palette and lustrous finish to bring out a mood that is bruised yet unapologetically defiant and optimistic, and carries the underlying message: we will survive.
In times of metaphysical trauma, the people need to forge ahead and wear armour. Here it is, set to the mood music of a nation about to be broken yet undefeated.

The Good, The Bad & The Queen is a new album featuring Damon Albarn (Blur/Gorillaz), Paul Simonon (The Clash), Tony Allen (Africa 70 / Fela Kuti) and Simon Tong (The Verve). This release is the deluxe edition which includes live performance video footage and an interview in addition to the complete audio CD.

On her fourth album, the UK rapper wrestles with the split between her public persona and private self, raising broadly relatable questions about the craving for validation.

The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway is the sixth studio album from the English rock band Genesis, released as a double album on 18 November 1974 on Charisma Records. It is their last album recorded with Peter Gabriel as lead vocalist before his departure from the group in May 1975. Its concept centres around a Puerto Rican youth in New York City named Rael and his spiritual journey of self-discovery and the characters he meets on the way. Recording was met with several incidents, including Gabriel's temporary absences and his insistence on writing its lyrics, which put strains on the group.
The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway was released to initial mixed critical reception, though it has since been met with critical acclaim. It peaked at No. 10 on the UK Album Chart and No. 41 on the US Billboard 200. Two singles were released, "Counting Out Time" and "The Carpet Crawlers". Genesis toured the album in North America and Europe, playing the album in its entirety across 102 dates. The album continued to sell, and reached Gold certification by the Recording Industry Association of America for sales over 500,000 copies in 1990.

Original CD pressing of the 1973 album from the British Prog icons. EMI.

Nov 2, 1970