The lemonheads

U.S. Girls ★★★★ Scratch It 4AD. CD/DL/LP ...

With 28 albums’ worth of songs to choose from, “hopefully there will be some surprises”.

From the noisy streets, community cafés and surprisingly verdant cemeteries of Southeast London have risen CAROLINE : a confoundingly brilliant eight-piece band with no obvious frontperson, fusing choral folk with fractured post-rock and experimental pop. As Sam Richards discovers, they haven’t made life easy for themselves. “But there has to be a vulnerability of some sort. Otherwise, what’s the point?”

The Fateful Symmetry MUTE 7/10

Thirty years ago, Marillion released their final album on EMI, their first not to reach the UK Top 10. Afraid Of Sunlight has since been hailed as one of the band’s greatest recordings, but tragedy lay at its heart, even though it kickstarted their career as one of the most successful independent groups. The band recall the challenging times that threatened their career and, at times, their sanity.

Tracks II: The Lost Albums SONY