With Just A Hint Of Mayhem

Music reviews, gig reviews, fun trivia and extra added random stuff!

Mayhem’s Top 50 Albums Of 2025 (Part 1) November 26, 2025

Filed under: Album Of The Year — justwilliam1959 @ 8:34 pm
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Here it is, we are finally ready to reveal Mayhem’s Top 50 Albums Of 2025. In past years it has only ever been a top 20, but it was hard to whittle the original list of 60 down to 20, so we kept 50 of them! This is part 1 which covers positions 41 through to 50. Have your favourite albums made the Mayhem cut? Check out the list below and check out parts 2, 3, 4 and 5 which will reveal the rest of the top 50 very soon! very soon! Are you looking forward to the countdown? There will be a 50 song play list when Part 5 arrives! Here comes numbers 41 to 50

41 ‘The Sky, the Earth & All Between’ – Architects – “A metalcore masterpiece from Architects, one of the finest bands in the UK”
42 ‘Music Can Hear Us’ – DJ Koze – “DJ Koze creates music that takes you to a wonderful happy place with some help from his mates!”
43 ‘The Collapse Of Everything’ – Adrian Sherwood – “The Doyen of Dub and the Master of Mixology delivers his opus!”
44 ‘Sad And Beautiful World’ – Mavis Staples – “86 years old and making some of the finest music of her career. I hope I age that well!”
45 ‘Metalhorse’ – Billy Nomates – “An immaculate return to form for Billy Nomates“
46 ‘A Fine African Man’ – Knucks – “A sizzling sophomore release from ace London rapper Knucks”
47 ‘Faux Animaux’ – Blue Violet – “Their music has a dark and mysterious pop rock style and is loaded with great hooks.“
48 ‘Lost In Good Intentions’ – Fishing 4 Compliments – “A band that state their intent with passion and fire“
49 ‘Dreaming In Stereo’ – Jellybricks –“Everyone needs some Jellybricks in their life. Why not build your music house out of Jellybricks?”
50 ‘Naked Truth’ – Autumn Dawn Leader – “If Jim Steinman had ever decided to produce a more considered and less bombastic album than the type he did with Meatloaf and Bonnie Tyler and employed Philip Glass and Brian Eno it might have sounded a little like ‘Naked Truth’.“

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‘Lost In Good Intentions’ – Fishing 4 Compliments October 12, 2025

Filed under: Album,Review — justwilliam1959 @ 3:05 pm
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Back in July Eileen Wattam, front woman and lead singer of fabulous Huddersfield band Fishing 4 Compliments sent me the bands new album, ‘Lost In Good Intentions’. I have listened to it quite a bit and it gets better every time. We featured the band in the Mayhem Virgins series in August, check that out here. It was released officially earlier this month and the world is a better place as a result. I have heard them described as a folk band, while they use some folk styling they are so much more than that. In fact they would be hard to place firmly into any specific genre box. Album opener “Hard To Please” has a Buckingham Nicks later Fleetwood Mac vibe to it with Wattam sounding like Jacqui Abbott at times. This is a wonderful pop rock song with hooks and harmonies aplenty. “Empty Eyes” also has a Fleetwood Mac feel, but adds a vocal which reminded me of Eddie Reader. Eileen seems to be able to draw on every emotion with her gorgeous voice.

There is an ardent and earnest folk rock feel to “Ghosts” with a vein of psychedelia that Traffic used to do so well. This is a song that genuinely haunts your head, but in a good way. Probably my favourite track at the moment. “If I Had” showcases the clarity of the Dunwells production perfectly. It has some infectious jangly guitar and a really emotive performance from Eileen Wattam. If you like an acoustic led ballad then “Secret Room” might be perfect for you. The lyrics are quite dark and might relate to toxic relationships. The light acoustic sound is slowly built up with strings which give it a cinematic feel. If Clare Grogan had fronted Aztec Camera back in the 80s they might have created a song like the magnificent “Make A Million”. Try and listen to this song and not sing, or at least hum along to it. The rock side of the band is strong on “Feeling Lucky” which leaves me with a smile every time I hear it.

The instrumentation is quite sparse on “Hand To Reach You” and the guitar sound is wonderfully Knopfleresque. Wattam sounds at her most vulnerable of this moody, brooding masterpiece. “Listen More” and “How You Amaze Me” round of a great album really well with some strong folk channels swinging through both. ‘Lost In Good Intentions’ really is a great album and the title is quite apt in my opinion as the band state their intent with passion and fire. If you love good music then get your ears around Fishing 4 Compliments right now! I can’t wait to see them live now!

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Mayhem Virgins – Fishing 4 Compliments August 5, 2025

Filed under: Mayhem Virgins — justwilliam1959 @ 8:58 pm
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This is the 25th entry in the Mayhem Virgins series where we showcase artists that have never featured in these pages before. This time it is the turn of Fishing 4 Compliments’ a five-piece band from Huddersfield, West Yorkshire. Their music revolves around the impassioned, soulful and emotional songs of lead singer–songwriter Eileen Wattam with support from rhythm guitarist Ashley Wattam, lead guitarist and backing vocalist James Alexander, bass guitarist and backing vocalist Steve Dyson, and now former drummer David Sharp. Their music is a fabulous lively mix of blend of folk and pop, with occasional happy tinged jangly indie style guitar sounds. The tunes have excellent melodies and hooks that will catch plenty of compliments (apologies for that terrible pun on the name!). The songs, the music and particularly Eileen’s voice conveys every emotion from introspective and sad, to anger and passion, via ecstatic happiness.

The band members have an eclectic range of influences which include The Beatles, XTC, Tom Petty, Mark Knopfler, The Cure, The Smiths, The Sundays and The Cranberries to name but a few. I can definitely hear a few of those influences in their songs, but there is also so much originality in this band and their music. Dave Beech of RGM Magazine once referred to them as “utterly irresistible” and frankly it is hard not to agree with that.

Their rather splendid debut album, ‘Off The Isle of Somewhere’ was released in April 2020. That was after ten years of playing gigs across the north of England. It was produced, mixed, and mastered by Joseph and David Dunwell of The Dunwells, a Leeds based indie-folk band, who also contributed backing vocals on some tracks. That album explores folksy sounds as well as a rockier seam in some songs.

Eileen kindly sent me their new album for review; it is out on 30th September and is titled ‘Lost In Good Intentions’. Based on the two tracks from the collection released so far, “Ghosts” and “Hard To Please” it will be a corker. Will be? What am I saying it is a bloody corker, there will be a fuller review on these pages next month! The new album was also produced by Joseph and David Dunwell. If you like Beautiful South, Paul Heaton or Eddie Reader you will love Fishing 4 Compliments, but if you just love good music give Fishing 4 Compliments a spin! Check out some of their fine tunes on Spotify (below) while you wait for the new album.

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