The iconic voice from Smokie is back. Chris Norman, who in the 70s and early 80s led one of Europe's most popular bands, Smokie, will release a brand new solo album this autumn. Now Norman is ready with a brand new album consisting of melodic, personal and heartfelt interpretations of newly written songs. The album is produced by Chris's old friend, songwriter and collaborator Mike Chapman. Mike is also behind some of the songs on this album, and has a previous history with Nicky Chinn, who together wrote some of Smokie's biggest hits.

Townsend: "So what is The Puzzle?.. well, its not technically my new record, it's more a collaborative, multimedia art project that acts as a stopgap between Empath and the next record, Lightwork (due out in March of next year on Inside Out Records). The Puzzle includes two 'soundtracks' of sorts (the highly orchestrated 'Puzzle' and the very chill 'Snuggles') along with a film, graphic novel, novel, and a huge amount of multimedia. It includes many artists (upwards of 50) that participated via Zoom during the pandemic and the experience gave me a chance to purge and be completely creatively free. As such, it is a stream of conscious, and very abstract collection of music that includes a narrative (in the form of a film) and is meant to be a documentation of what the pandemic felt like to me."

"The other record, Snuggles, is meant to be something you listen to in order to feel better. Puzzle is chaos, Snuggles is calm. The whole project is meant to express that I think there is a light at the end of this dark tunnel we've been through. Keeping ourselves and our loved ones together during it all became the whole point."

Vivacious, young soprano Marie McLaughlin is magnificent as the ill-fated courtesan Violetta in this passionate production of Giuseppe Verdi's timeless classic, directed by the internationally renowned Sir Peter Hall and conducted by one of music's all-time greats, Bernard Haitink. Walter MacNeil brings to striking life the role of Violetta's lover, Alfredo, and Brent Ellis shines as Alfredo's father, Germont. Set in 19th century Paris, this moving story of doomed love and its dramatic deathbed reconciliation remains one of Verdi's most popular operas.

Given that it's the same team that put together her first LP, it's no surprise that Enjoy Yourself sounds very similar to her debut. Which is fine if you take into consideration that at the time this formula was pure gold. Europe went mad for the diminutive Australian, and this simple dance-pop is catchy stuff. Stock-Aitken-Waterman knew what they had and they crafted songs that kept Kylie in the public eye. All in all, a good companion to her debut.

Christmas is vocalist Michael Bublé's first full-length holiday-themed album since his 2003 EP Let It Snow. As with that album, Christmas features Bublé backed by small ensembles as well as his big band and orchestra, and includes a handful of classic Christmas songs. In that sense, the album is a rather old-school affair, with Bublé in prime Bing Crosby-meets-Dean Martin vocal style tackling such chestnuts as "It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas," "Silent Night," and "I'll Be Home for Christmas." There are also some fine, contemporary, if still retro-sounding, pop moments here including Bublé's duet with the British female pop trio the Puppini Sisters on "Jingle Bells," and his inspired, slightly melancholy reworking of Mariah Carey's "All I Want for Christmas Is You." Ultimately, Christmas is a warm and inviting album that showcases Bublé's impeccable vocal chops.

Ravishing playing by a born Boccherinian…

Paris is Hilary Hahn’s comeback project after her one-year sabbatical. Now Hilary is back with her first album on Deutsche Grammophon in five years.

Legendary artist and studio maestro Alan Parsons has announced the release of a new live album entitled “The Neverending Show: Live in the Netherlands” on November 5, 2021. The show was recorded live on May 5, 2019 and showcases the performance that Alan Parsons Live Project held at the Tivoli in Utrecht, Netherlands. The band was, as usual, in fine form and fed extra energy by an enthusiastic audience. An amazing performance by quite possibly the definitive band line-up of exemplary musicians that Alan has toured with. As an added treat, the album includes a brand new studio song, “The NeverEnding Show” which offers a hint of the new studio album that Alan is currently working on for release in 2022.

Just as the title says: a wonderful brace of simple country blues done in Jackson's warm Piedmont style. At age 75, his fingers are still nimble as he displays on a jazzy "Just Because" and his vocals still resonate nicely. Audiophile note: This album is nicely recorded and sounds like Jackson is performing about two inches from your face. A warm and engaging batch of performances not to be missed.

Gramophone Classical Music Awards 2014 Choral category winner! Purely on grounds of performance alone, this is one of the finest Mozart Requiems of recent years. John Butt brings to Mozart the microscopic care and musicological acumen that have made his Bach and Handel recordings so thought-provoking and satisfying.