In My Ears #5 – Alex G, Coil & Clipse

Plus: the passing of a titan

The death of Ozzy Osbourne marks the end of an era – not just for metal, but for the wider music world. Like Bowie before him, Ozzy wasn't merely a performer; he was a cultural force, a myth made flesh.

When an icon like this dies, the grief always feels a bit complicated. It's not personal, exactly – most of us never knew him – but it feels personal because our relationship to the music was.

That’s the strange nature of parasocial relationships, the distance and intimacy feeling directly opposed.

Ozzy will live on in the records he left us, the essential quality of his voice almost impossible to pinpoint. I’m reminded of JR Moores’ description of Ozzy’s vocal style in Electric Wizards, his book on the birth of metal: “It is a high, quivering embodiment of fragility – mental, physical, even vocal – but in such a soulful way. A more appropriate term, perhaps, might be lost-soulful.”

I doubt there was a dry eye in the house when he performed ‘Mama, I’m Coming Home’ at the recent ‘Back to the Beginning’ concert at Villa Park – an event which took place mere weeks before he died.

The man granted a priceless moment to fans while getting to transfix a crowd one last time, essentially attending his own funeral. What could be more metal than that?

Rest in peace, Prince of Darkness.

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Alex G – Headlights (2025)

Alexander Giannascoli, will you chill out a bit? Headlights follows 2022’s God Save The Animals, a brilliant record which featured pretty high up in my favourite albums of that year. Somehow this is Alex’s 10th LP, having only arrived on the lo-fi/folk/indie-rock scene in 2009. You can’t knock that level of output, particularly when the music is this engaging. Despite the litany of high points in his already-sizeable discography, Headlights is his best record yet – I’m completely bowled over by how good this is. His explorative songwriting goes from strength to strength, bringing an even more detailed and textured sound. Having signed to RCA, this is his major label debut, and the inclusion of mandolins and accordions to his Elliott Smith-esque style of confessional, yet playful songwriting play a big part in selling this to me. I don’t say this lightly; indie rock rarely gets better than this. Outstanding.

Taste test:

🟢 ‘Spinning’ – tell me those guitars don’t sound like a lost Smashing Pumpkins deep cut from the 90s?

🟢 ‘Oranges’ – a hazy slice of Americana, with any justice this will provide the soundtrack to summer cookouts on the beach, as the embers begin to fade and die.

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Theon Cross – Affirmations: Live at Blue Note New York (2025)

Studio-recorded jazz albums are great, of course they are. But nothing beats the lightning-in-a-bottle magic of a live recording, one where you can sense the crowd mesmerised by every improvisational corridor, each tasty bit of interplay between performers. That’s what listening to Affirmations is like, the latest LP from marvellous tubist Theon Cross. You’ll likely have come across his work without realising – he’s a member of the incredible Sons of Kemet (go listen to Your Queen is a Reptile if you’re not familiar) and has worked on projects with Nubya Garcia and Moses Boyd. His modern approach to jazz is infectious and grooving, the music strutting its way through the Blue Note performance space like the coolest bastard to have ever graced the stage.

Taste test:

🟢 ‘We Go Again’ – the filthiest linear drum pattern anchors Cross and his at times perilously-low tuba honks.

🟢 ‘Wings’ – Sons of Kemet fans will love this delicious syncopated track, complete with whoops of encouragement from the crowd.

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Clipse – Let God Sort Em Out (2025)