Style, experimentation and a rocking debut

Saurabh & Gaurav 

Band’s most compelling work

Faith No More — Sol Invictus  (Ipecac)

It’s been nearly 17 years since San Francisco’s Faith No More released an album, splitting a couple of years afterwards to work on other projects. The latest re-union album Sol Invictus opens with the title track and what instantly hits you is the realisation that you are most certainly in the world of classic Faith No More. Mike Patton’s vocals are one of the strongest factors in the album, and the backup vocals are done artfully. Cone of Shame and Sunny Side Up are prime examples of the band at their very best. They are sweeping and ambitious, shifting effortlessly from one musical genre to the next. Superhero is trademark Faith No More track with primordial drumming and the metallic dose of Jon Hudson’s guitar opening-up into their signature chorus led by Roddy Bottum’s commanding keyboard chords. Perhaps, the finest moment comes in the shape of piano-led ballad Matador. It eventually opens out into an obscure colossus of a song and is by far the most complex track on the album. Rise of the Fall goes through a hyper transformation from classical theme to R&B guitar figures, and well-rendered amends in volume and pitch. Album closer From the Dead is an acoustic-driven ballad and will undoubtedly find itself as an encore number on their musical graph. Faith No More has always defied musical categorisation and once again prove that the usual safe assumptions do not apply to them.

Best track: Matador  

worst track: Separation Anxiety  

Rating: ****

Weller has plenty up his sleeve

Paul Weller — Saturn’s Pattern (Warner Bros)

Paul Weller’s 12th studio effort sees him thoroughly immersed in the nine-track album that dabbles in bluesy guitar and space-age synth, with Weller writing, producing and confidently delivering some catchy music. Mixed by Manchester-based electronic dance duo Amorphous Androgynous, opener White Sky sounds like Led Zeppelin taken over by aliens. Atmospheric electronic special effects are accompanied by snarling guitars followed by crashing drums with Weller roaring over the top, before the song eventually recoils quietly into the stratosphere. Pick It Up is one of the stronger tracks here, blending a steady rhythm with electric piano and guitar added to layers of Weller’s vocals.

I’m Where I Should Be brings to mind a mellower end to David Bowie’s recent The Next Day album and the title track even throws some folk-rock into the mix. Long Time is a pretty straightforward rocker that manages to avoid any sort of clichés as it filters-in some ornamental rhythm, while In the Car moulds itself as a modern country rocker that is equal parts futuristic and retro. Keeping one foot in the sound of the past, the cosmic love song Going My Way (“Floatin’ on the sound around/ Flying through the universe”) and Phoenix are going to further impress long time fans. Saturn’s Pattern is a triumph for Mr Weller.

Best track: White Sky

worst track: These City Streets

Rating: ***

Emotional life transformed into electronic music

Hot Chip — Why Make Sense? (Domino)

London quintet Hot Chip’s sixth studio release in just over a decade, Why Make Sense? is another branch of the band’s tree, an album of infectious pop puzzled with bigger questions and quandary that dwells well beyond the dance floor. Huarache Nights kicks off the album with a smooth, mellow groove, a continuation of the band’s soft-rock fondness combined with the vibe of a 1980s downtown lounge music. Relationships have always been a key theme for Hot Chip. New love’s joy is realised on White Wine and Fried Chicken as Taylor talks of the irrepressible urge for his heart to “sing all the day”, and furthermore, love’s overwhelming control on thought process is found on Started Right, “You make my heart feel like/ Like it’s my brain”. Need You Now feels like the prime departure from anything Hot Chip has done before. With its minimal house beats and airy synths, it is racked with extreme anxiety, while the closer title track, “Why Make Sense?” is a cacophony of guitars and beats as they try to merge together all the thoughts that have been sinking in their heads throughout the album. Fittingly enough Scritti Politti’s Green Gartside features on one of the standout R&B tracks, Love is the Future, which also features a few verses from De La Soul’s Posdnuos. The band’s heightened level of experience even comes out in the album’s lyrical motifs. Without doubt, the most impressive quality here is the album’s stylistic experimentation.

Best track: Love is the Future

worst track: Cry for you 

Rating: ***

Arresting debut from a charismatic pop talent

Shamir — Ratchet (XL)

Las Vegas youngster Shamir Bailey follows up last year’s Northtown EP with his debut full length Ratchet, a veritable pop kaleidoscope that certainly doesn’t run short on surprises. After being discovered in 2013 by Nick Sylvester, Shamir has raised phenomenally, thanks to his highly acclaimed debut EP, and its lead track, If It Wasn’t True. The slow-motion bounces of the opening Vegas introduce elements like shaker and horn, before the streamlined funk of Make a Scene marches in. The disco keyboard chords of Head In The Clouds are interrupted by EDM and aqueous electro bass, while Call It Off sounds like it could have been cut in the mid-1980s by one of the Chicago house pioneers. Hot Mess, true to its name, is Ratchet’s only complete misfire here. In for the Kill is more traditional pop than On the Regular, but it’s still glorious in its 1980s bass line attire, with dozens of Shamirs declaring, “This time, it’s not my fault!” Darker opens with a chamber like intro, complete with rolling drums and an orchestra that will not feel out of place on a Björk album. A likewise overwhelming pulse drives the disco-house outing Youth, while Demn emphasises his songwriting skills as he sketches out a Bonnie and Clyde-like relationship with pleasantly twisted lyrics like “You’re the trap that captured me.” Shamir’s peculiarity makes his music as vulnerable as it is strong.

Best track: Vegas

worst track: Hot Mess

Rating: **

Top 10 Singles

Bad Blood..........................Taylor Swift feat. Kendrick Lamar (CU)

See You Again.......................... Wiz Khalifa feat. Charlie Puth (FD)

Trap Queen...........................................................Fetty Wap (FD)

Shut Up & Dance................Walk The Moon (NM)

Uptown Funk! .....................Mark Ronson feat. Bruno Mars (FD)

Dear Future Husband ...... Meghan Trainor (CU)

Earned It...............................The Weeknd (FD)

Hey Mama............................ David Guetta (CU)

Sugar.................................... Maroon 5 (NM)

Worth It ................................. Fifty Harmony feat. Kid Ink (NE)

Legend: (CU): Climbing Up    (FD): Falling Down    

(NM): Non-Mover  (NE): New Entry