What’s Spinning On The Pro-Ject E1: 7 Records I Cannot Stop Playing in 2026

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VINYL IN ROTATION

I bought the Pro-Ject E1 about a year ago to actually start playing my records again rather than just looking at the wall. These are the seven currently in heavy rotation. A couple of new 2024 and 2025 releases on lovely coloured pressings, a couple of older favourites, and one I bought purely because of a film scene.

1. Gorillaz: The Mountain (Red Liquid Pressing)

The new Gorillaz album, on a clear pressing with actual red liquid sealed inside the disc. The bubbles move when you handle it. It is genuinely one of the most beautiful records I own and it sounds great too. The album itself has Damon Albarn doing what Damon Albarn does best: heavy, melodic, full of guests, weird in all the right places.

Standout tracks: “The Happy Dictator” (the lead single, instantly the kind of song you put on at a party), “Tarantula” with Trueno, and “The Plastic Guru” for the bassline alone.

2. Hozier: Unreal Unearth (Gold Marble Pressing)

The 2023 album that gave the world “Too Sweet” and turned Hozier from “guy who sang Take Me To Church a decade ago” back into one of the most interesting voices in mainstream music. The whole album is loosely based on Dante’s Inferno, which sounds insufferable on paper but actually makes for the best thing he has done.

Standout tracks: “Eat Your Young” is the obvious banger, “Francesca” is the emotional gut-punch in the middle, and “First Light” closes it out properly.

3. Joji: Smithereens (Clear with Coloured Wisps)

This pressing is mad. Clear vinyl with wisps of red, blue and yellow swirled through it like watercolour ink dropped in water. Joji’s “Smithereens” is the short one, only nine tracks, but every one of them is a moodboard. He is technically a former YouTuber turned R&B singer and the journey makes more sense once you hear what the songs sound like: heavy, melodic, slightly devastating.

Standout tracks: “Glimpse of Us” is the one everyone knows, but “Die For You” is genuinely the best song he has ever made. Put it on at midnight with the lights low.

4. Snow Patrol: The Forest Is The Path (Mustard Yellow)

I will say this gently because Snow Patrol have a reputation: this is properly good. It is their first album in six years and Gary Lightbody has, by his own admission, spent a lot of that time getting sober and putting his life back together. You can hear it. The whole album feels written by someone who has actually got something to say again rather than someone trying to write the next “Chasing Cars”.

Standout tracks: “The Beginning” is the opener that hooks you, “All”, and “This Is The Sound Of Your Voice” which is the closest thing here to peak-era Snow Patrol without trying to recreate it.

5. Kings of Leon: Can We Please Have Fun

The 2024 record is exactly what the title says. Kings of Leon clearly stopped trying to make Important Albums and went back to writing the kind of songs that work in a pub at half past ten. The whole thing is loose, riffy, less polished than the radio-era stuff and better for it.

Standout tracks: “Mustang” is the one that sounds the most like vintage Kings of Leon. “Nothing To Do” is the swaggery opener. “Ease Me On” is the slow burn that creeps up on you.

6. Tubeway Army: Replicas (Gary Numan, 1979)

The 1979 Tubeway Army album, which is essentially Gary Numan’s first proper masterpiece. This is the record with “Are ‘Friends’ Electric?” on it, the song that single-handedly made synth-pop a thing and launched roughly half the careers of everyone who followed him. Putting this on a good turntable is a different experience from streaming it. The synths sound enormous.

Standout tracks: “Are ‘Friends’ Electric?” obviously, but “Down In The Park” is the one I keep coming back to. Cold, dystopian, three minutes long, perfect.

7. Huey Lewis and the News: Sports (Bought Because of American Psycho)

I will be honest. I bought this because of the American Psycho scene. You know the one. Patrick Bateman explaining why “Hip To Be Square” is a transcendent piece of pop music, then doing what Patrick Bateman does. It is one of the funniest, most disturbing scenes in cinema and it is built on top of a song that, taken on its own terms, actually is a really well-made piece of 80s pop.

The whole “Sports” album from 1983 is like that. Slick, hooky, completely of its era and surprisingly enjoyable to play loud. The burgundy pressing in the wall photo at the top is this one.

Standout tracks: “Hip To Be Square” for the obvious reasons, “The Heart Of Rock & Roll” because it is genuinely a banger, and “I Want A New Drug” before you remember Ray Parker Jr. wrote “Ghostbusters” using basically the same bassline.

What I Am Listening To It On

Everything above gets played on the Pro-Ject E1 Phono, into a WiiM Mini, into a pair of Edifier R1280T active speakers. Total spend on the audio chain is under £600 and the sound is genuinely lovely. Late at night when the kids are asleep I switch to the Beyerdynamic DT 770 M headphones. (Full headphones review here.)

Frequently Asked Questions

Are coloured vinyl pressings worth buying?

Honestly, mostly for the aesthetics. There is a long-running debate about whether coloured vinyl sounds slightly worse than standard black, and the answer is yes, sometimes, very slightly. For most listeners on most equipment the difference is not noticeable. The Gorillaz liquid pressing in particular sounds completely fine. Buy the colour you actually want.

Is the Gorillaz liquid vinyl actually safe to play?

Yes. The liquid is sealed inside the disc, the playable surface is the standard outer ring, and it tracks perfectly normally on any turntable. The bubbles do move slightly while the record spins, which is half the fun.

Where is the best place to buy new vinyl in the UK?

Bandcamp directly from the artist when you can, because the artist gets the most money. Otherwise Amazon for convenience and price, Rough Trade for curation, and Discogs for second-hand. Charity shops are surprisingly good for older releases if you do not mind the hunt.

What turntable do I need to play these?

Any decent belt-drive turntable will play any of these well. I use the Pro-Ject E1 at around £329-459 depending on version. The Audio-Technica AT-LP60X at around £200 is the cheaper option if budget is the deciding factor.