New music
Thomas H. Green
A persistent moan of this writer in recent years, about gigs attended by those his own age (54) and up, is that, however good the band is, the audience are stationary, staring, semi-catatonic. They don’t twitch or move, facing stage-wards earnestly, silent, as if watching Chekov at the theatre. Their joy, if it exists, is internalised, unreleased. Dancing something forgotten long ago. Such gigs are flat, disappointing, like the airless, staid classical concerts I was taken to as a boy, contemplative and half-asleep. It is, then, a blissful surprise to find Eighties synth-pop outfit OMD’s Read more ...
Guy Oddy
Deap Vally’s debut album, Sistrionix was a breath of fresh air for the heavy blues rock end of the musical spectrum when it was released in 2013. Feminist anthems, like “Gonna Make My Own Money” and “Creeplife” blasted out like artillery salvos and rightfully grabbed plenty of people’s attention. Since then, however, Lindsay Troy and Julie Edwards have never really lived up their initial promise.A second album just revisited old ground and a collaboration with the Flaming Lips didn’t give the impression that they were anymore than hired hands. Their new long-player, Marriage is something else Read more ...
Liz Thomson
The Outlaw meets Jesus, at least on CD. The Willie Nelson Family finds The Red Headed Stranger singing some of country-gospel’s most celebrated songs, including Hank Williams’ “I Saw the Light”. It’s his second album of 2021 – the first, That’s Life, released in February, was a beguiling collection of Frank Sinatra covers.Willie Nelson will turn 90 next April, and doubtless like most folks his age his thoughts turn to the day he will meet his Maker. But whatever your age, God is never far away from country music – sung about as one of the family. And that easy relationship is what gives Read more ...
Jonathan Geddes
There is unquestionably a more mellow side to the Jesus and Mary Chain these days, even when reviving their most ferocious glories from the past. Prior to launching this two-halved set, comprising their 1987 classic Darklands to begin with and a mixture of singles, B-sides and obscurities for after, vocalist Jim Reid took time out to politely explain the format.He even mentioned that the fivesome would be having a cup of tea between the two portions, suggesting a surprising tranquillity. Yet the following 90 minutes was, at its best, a bracing, jarring reminder of the power of the East Read more ...
mark.kidel
The collaboration of Robert Plant, Alison Krauss and producer T-Bone Burnett produced a masterpiece Raising Sand in 2011. Once again, and in spite of rumours about the artists falling out, they have returned with the same winning formula.With impeccable taste and a posse of some of the best musicians in the USA, they sail their way through a gloriously varied selection of country and blues classics. Plant and Krauss have voices that match: each of them capable of switching from raucous to soulful, from seductively sentimental to energetic calls to the dance. The best harmony singing has Read more ...
peter.quinn
A celebration of that most extraordinary instrument, the human voice, this year’s edition of Jazz Voice – which gladly welcomed back a live audience and a full-strength EFG London Jazz Festival Orchestra – ranged from music of intimate delicacy to stunning virtuosity. Across two separate sets, eight singularly gifted artists showcased their distinctive storytelling gifts, enveloped by Guy Barker’s richly detailed arrangements.Georgia Cécile kickstarted proceedings in impressive style with “The Month Of May” from her all-original debut album – recently nominated in this year’s Scottish Jazz Read more ...
Kieron Tyler
One of the most interesting tracks on Essiebons Special 1973–1984 Ghana Music Power House is Joe Meah’s mysterious "Dee Mmaa Pe". It’s not mentioned in the compilation’s accompanying booklet, and Joe Meah doesn’t figure in any of the standard discographies littering the world-wide web.Despite this inscrutability, Essiebons Special’s second cut has a surprisingly familiar touchstone. Mainly instrumental with stabbing brass, a sax solo and odd vocal interjections it has a shuffling soul vibe. But the keyboard part dominates. What’s played nods so overtly to The Doors’s “Light my Fire” that it’s Read more ...
Kathryn Reilly
There’s no doubting that New Zealand hit-maker Ladyhawke can write a perfect pop song – “Paris is Burning”, “My Delirium” and the joyous “Dusk till Dawn” prove that. And this, her first album in five years, starts out promisingly. Both poppy, peppy “My Love” and catchy single “Think About You” serve as a much-needed injection of almost hedonistic, upbeat fun. “Time Flies” follows and this is a different beast – anthemic power pop that will have the audiences swaying with phone torches aloft.“Mixed Emotions” was written with Jono Sloan and Nick Littlemore of Empire of the Sun fame, Read more ...
Thomas H. Green
Amid the spume of insults at the close of the song “The Great Rock’n’Roll Swindle” by Malcolm McLaren’s Rotten-less, end-game version of the Sex Pistols, Rod Stewart is a prime target. Sandwiched between abuse for David Bowie and Elton John, Rod is accused of having “a luggage label tied to his tonsils”. It’s hardly a cutting verbal blow but the point is he’s amongst those the Pistols were supposedly rendering irrelevant. Over four decades later, though, his musical output remains relatively prolific and his albums massive hits. This new one will be. A terrifying thought as it contains many Read more ...
Miranda Heggie
Having been founded only in 2017 by singer/songwriter Eric Burton and guitarist/producer Adrian Quesada, Black Pumas have been rapidly rising to fame, with a Grammy award nomination in 2020 and the majority of their current European tour dates sold out. Though Tuesday’s Birmingham show, in Digbeth’s O2 Institute, was not among that number, the venue was still teaming with an eager and enthusiastic crowd. An impressive frontman, Burton displayed larger than life stage presence from the get go, oozing an infectious energy with punchy dance moves and full fat, no holds barred soulful vocals. Read more ...
Nick Hasted
Damon Albarn’s second solo album in a career otherwise defined by open-hearted collaboration confirms he sees operating under his own name as a chance for melancholic introspection. The deliberate austerity of its predecessor, Everyday Robots (2014), was shown when accompanying, full-band gigs revealed the bright pop song finery beneath the album’s bleak camouflage. Where others go solo to satisfy band-cramped egos, solo Damon is a place of anticlimax and indirection, where his gift for melody is befogged and hazy.The Nearer The Fountain, More Pure The Stream Flows began as an orchestral Read more ...
Thomas H. Green
Perhaps surprisingly for a band famed for the raw, tightly wrought, balled-up fury of their music, the most affecting moments of Idles’ fourth album are slower numbers. Chief among these is “Progress”, whose looping, repeated lyrics may reflect singer Joe Talbot’s ongoing reflections on putting drug addiction behind him. Lines such as “I don’t wanna feel myself come down” are given added potency by a threatening shroud of tunefully warped, loping band underpinning. While the album’s words sometimes – and enigmatically – offer hope, the tone of the music often sounds doomed.This is Read more ...