singer-songwriters
John Grant, Roundhouse review - simplicity, with a bit of space operaThursday, 30 January 2020
John Grant’s entry onto the stage was unobtrusive, appropriate for a set-up that consisted of just a grand piano and an electronic keyboard (with accompanying keyboardist). He began with similarly unadorned songs, the ballads that peppered the start... Read more... |
Album: Squirrel Flower - I Was Born SwimmingSaturday, 25 January 2020
The first album from the Boston-bred songwriter Squirrel Flower opens and closes with autobiographical songs. “I-80” opens with the artist - real name Ella O’Connor Williams - giving up on lyrics, poetry and, later, giving up on love, its rootless... Read more... |
Album: Gabrielle Aplin - Dear HappyMonday, 13 January 2020
According to Gabrielle Aplin, the delicate piano ballad which closes, and provides the name of, her first album in over four years was written as a letter to herself; and one penned at a particularly turbulent point in her life. “It’s not easy for... Read more... |
Albums of the Year 2019: Leonard Cohen - Thanks for the DanceThursday, 02 January 2020
Leonard Cohen’s death, just as Trump finagled his way into the White House, was the cruellest of blows. Now more than ever we need his bitter, witty, ironic commentary and wry observations, his wonderful words delivered in that bottomless “golden... Read more... |
Albums of the Year 2019: Josienne Clarke – In All WeatherMonday, 23 December 2019
As one half of the BBC Radio 2 Folk Award-winning duo with Ben Walker, Josienne Clarke released four superb albums, including 2014’s Nothing Can Bring Back The Hour and their finale, 2018’s Seedlings All. There’s an absolute clarity to her voice, as... Read more... |
Albums of the Year 2019: Mega Bog - DolphineSaturday, 21 December 2019
The lyrical and musical languages spoken by Dolphine are not immediate yet since its release earlier this year the album has repeatedly fascinated. Take “I Hear You Listening (to the Bug on My Wall)”, where Erin Birgy sings “Crazy Kermin in the hall... Read more... |
Robbie Williams, Wembley Arena review - 12,000 people having a bawlTuesday, 17 December 2019
"The nice bloke-ness of Robbie shines through all he does,” David Baddiel commented in a tweet thanking the singer for dedicating his Wembley performance of “I Love My Life” to him. There is no denying it. Williams has that side to him which... Read more... |
Albums of the Year 2019: Angie McMahon - SaltMonday, 16 December 2019
Appearing on NPR Music’s legendary Tiny Desk Concert series back in autumn, Taylor Swift talked about how, in interviews over the years, she’d been asked a thousand variations on “what would you write about if you ever get happy?” “Would I not be... Read more... |
CD: Leonard Cohen - Thanks for the DanceWednesday, 20 November 2019
That voice’s husky confiding wasn’t quite silenced. Working helped Leonard Cohen live a little longer, and old friends and family have gathered to complete these last bequests. “As for the fall it began long ago,” he sings, and more than a quarter... Read more... |
Jazz Voice, Royal Festival Hall - engulfing beauty and hidden gemsSaturday, 16 November 2019
Jazz Voice unfailingly supplies a gigantic sugar-rush of auditory pleasure, and this year’s edition was no exception. Arranged, scored and conducted by the brilliant Guy Barker, the evening’s opener saw rising US vocalist Judi Jackson and the EFG... Read more... |
CD: Michael Kiwanuka - KiwanukaThursday, 24 October 2019
Michael Kiwanuka looks set to conquer. His previous two albums set him up as the sensitive singer-songwriter who tips his hat to the muscular soul music of Bill Withers and Curtis Mayfield; the lone troubadour who’s clearly listened to more than a... Read more... |
10 Questions for musician Craig FinnSunday, 20 October 2019
As frontman and lyricist of US rockers The Hold Steady, Craig Finn specialises in vivid storytelling featuring larger than life characters. It’s a writing style that he has carried with him into his solo work too even if, as he says, the stories are... Read more... |
