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Saturday, May 5, 2007 |
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Saturday, May 5, 2007 |
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Amy Winehouse — Back to Black (Republic)
Best track: The Tracks of My Tears Worst track: Some Unholy War Rating: ***
Klaxons — Myths of the Near Future (Geffen)
Best track: So Above, So Below Worst track: Gravity’s Rainbow Rating: *** Roger O’Donnell — The Truth In Me (RS)
Best track: Not Without You Worst track: This Grey Morning Rating: **
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On
her sophomore effort Back to Black, Amy Winehouse has managed to
write a whole bunch of songs that have the same feel as any number of
Smokey Robinsons’ greatest tracks. Although the album does see her
changing her loyalty from Jazz to R&B, the music shows her
transformation from a jazz vocalist to a complete soul siren. One of the
best examples of this is the title track Back to Black, which can
be summed up as a break-up song, centred around a theme of slipping
further into depression after being hurt, whilst trying to be strong,
with lyrics like "We only said good bye with words, I died a
hundred times/ You go back to her, and I go back to black." Lyrically,
Winehouse is very candid with her feelings, penning tracks about
refusing to go to rehab and failed relationships. You can tell that
Winehouse has done her homework. The standout tracks remain The
Tracks of My Tears, Back to Black, Tears Dry On Their Own,
He Can Only Hold Her and Me and Mr Jones. It’s a good
record to spend an afternoon or a weekend with.
The
album reveals that Matt Hales, aka Aqualung, has learned to use a
bit more energy since his last time out. Hales’ previous
release, Strange & Beautiful, was a stunningly simple album
that set winsome words in minimal frames; the result was one of
the, prettiest releases of 2004. Enter Memory Man. The electric
guitar hits a few seconds into Cinderella and you realise
things are different. There are myriad layers, increased
creativity and a whole lot of passion. One thing remains
unchanged: Hales delivers on all counts. The mesmerising build-up
of tracks like Something to Believe In, Vapour Trail
and Outside are enough to make Chris Martin blush, while
the elegantly crafted The Lake, Glimmer and Garden
of Love makes as simple, uncluttered and accessible melodies.
Lead single Pressure Suit perfectly exemplifies an epic.
The album’s top track, Cinderella, contains a hypnotic
chorus and a riff that would make U2’s Edge green with envy.
Aqualung saves some old material for holdover fans on songs like The
Lake and Broken Bones. The latter ends the dizzying
ride of an album in fitting fashion, nice and easy. In short,
Memory Man will be one of the strongest efforts released in 2007.
This
reflectively titled debut album begins with Two Receivers, a song
that just might be a classic. Distant timpani sound appears like a march
from outer space; as they get sonically closer, the drums kick in, the
synthesisers rev up, and then indelible vocal harmonics transmit one of
the best opening verses in recent memory: "Krill edible oceans
at their feet/ A troublesome troop out on safari/ A lullaby holds their
drone in sleep." The song straight away distinguishes Klaxons
as a notch above countrymen like Kaiser Chiefs and Bloc Party. Golden
Skans captures the band at its best. String-popping bass leads on a
discotheque chorus of falsetto to lyrics. "Light touched my
hands/ In a dream of golden skans/ From now on/ You can forget all
future plans." The album succeeds at several levels. Lyrically,
it is a blast into the space-time gamut, from the mythical Cyclops in Isle
of Her, to name-dropping Julius Caesar and Mother Theresa in Totem
on the Timeline. The most distinguished element in the Klaxon
universe is the immensely engaging vocals of all three band members,
Jamie Reynolds, James Rishton and Simon Taylor. A band to watch out for.
This
debut solo album is a winning formula of emotion, chops, and overall
concept. The music is created during a layering process that involves a
Moog Voyager synthesiser, samplers, loop machines, and the intermittent
appearance of vocals in the form of female singer Erin Lang, who has a
high-pitched, crystallised voice. Most of these songs begin as
frame-structure with nothing more than three or four keyboard notes, and
end up with stacked synth octaves, sampled drum sounds, ambient
background chords, and keyboard digi-bass lines. Although the 10 songs
of The Truth In Me could never be considered as dance-fillers in the
typical sense, the playlist appeals to generally more developed senses
and mood much like the film songwriting of Craig Armstrong and Kaada, or
even Air. Songs Treasure, My Days, For The Truth In You,
Not Without You and He Sent You Angels are loaded with
dynamic build-ups, which displays colourful musical textures.
