Staying true to the tune

Saurabh Chadha

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Album of the month
Tribute befitting a legend
Leonard Cohen — Thanks for the Dance (Columbia)

Leonard’s son, Adam, gathers together several leftover songs, and one spoken poem, on the posthumous release Thanks for the Dance, and ropes in notable names from the industry, including Beck, Jennifer Warnes, Daniel Lanois, Arcade Fire’s Richard Reed Perry and Damien Rice to help him in realising his father’s final vision. Leonard’s commanding voice is present throughout the nine-track album. The musical arrangements typify Leonard’s lyrical genius and voluminous sound. In the opener Happens to the Heart, he sums up his 82 years of life: “I was always working steady/ But I never called it art/ I got my shit together/ Meeting Christ and reading Marx/ It failed my little fire/ But it’s bright the dying spark.” Fragile choral vocals breathe life into vigorous guitar-laden Night of Santiago and the straightforward title track, Thanks for the Dance. Brief track, The Goal, simply narrates a day in the life of a dying man: “I look at the street/ The neighbour returns my smile of defeat,” he sings. The musical scenery mainly comprises of his haggardly vocals, opening otherworldly spaces around delicate instrumental and vocal layers. On Avi Avital’s effortless mandolin theme, Moving On, whispering vocals and the beatific playing of the harp make a ballad to an old lover: “Your beauty ruled me, now you’re gone/ whose moving on, whose kidding who?” Finally, Listen to the Hummingbird closes the album, as Cohen states, “Listen to the hummingbird whose wings you cannot see/ Listen to the hummingbird, don’t listen to me.” Adam has reconstructed his father’s sound lovingly and beautifully. Thanks for the parting gift, Cohen.

Essential tracks: Happens to the Heart, Moving On, Thanks for the Dance, The Goal

Rating ****

An interesting return to form
Beck — Hyperspace (Capit l)

The 14th album from Beck, and first since 2017’s double-Grammy-winning Colors, shows the LA-born artiste churn out his most collaborative project to date, covering a variety of genres and sounds. Pharrell Williams shares co-production and co-writing credits on seven of the eleven tracks, while Chris Martin, Greg Kurstin, Sky Ferreira and more feature on the album in one way or another. Longtime Beck bandmates Smokey Hormel, Jason Falkner and Roger Manning Jr. feature on much of the album as well. Coldplay’s Chris Martin provides his voice to Stratosphere, which is reminiscent of Beck’s misty-eyed Sea Change and Morning Phase. Saw Lightning reconstructs Beck’s hip-hop-blues pattern with harmonica moans, staccato drums and acoustic guitar, while the beautifully crafted Dark Places feels pensive and melancholic, confessing, “Some days I go dark places in my soul.” One of the album’s shining moments include Die Waiting, where Sky Ferreira contributes backing vocals, with sobering lines like: “I can’t understand why I’ve waited for so long just to walk out of the door, see the world moving on.” Lead single Uneventful Days is soaked in deep keyboard washes with multi-layered production and an amazingly sturdy melodic vocal: “Never-ending days, never-ending nights/ Everything I say, I know I can’t get right.” Closing track, Everlasting Nothing, emphasizes on Beck’s 90s alt-rock sound, with heavy electronic synths dominating the sound. The kaleidoscope of sounds succeed in sending its listener on a pleasant adventure.

Essential tracks: Stratosphere, Uneventful Days, Dark Places, Chemical

Rating ***

30 years on, a debut to prove her creative prowess
Kim Gordon — No Home Record (Matador)

Fronting iconic grunge outfit Sonic Youth, Kim Gordon produced some of the most progressive and groundbreaking music the world has ever heard. Thirty eight years later, Kim has released her debut solo album, displaying an experimental mode with her breathy vocals, crafting poetic images around digital superfluities. Sketch Artist, the opener, nudges aggressively between swelling industrial beats and a delicate melody. While Sonic Youth often dealt with the menace while growing old, the new album mirrors the feeling of becoming middle aged in today’s culture. Gordon’s lyrics are often abstract here, that results in a musical version of a modern art painting. Murdered Out is an unexpected take on conventional punk as Gordon uses deep techno beats over her gloomy whisper. Tracks like Hungry Baby have a hint of Sonic Youth, while the others shine in new and interesting ways. The influence of co-producer Justin Raisen, whose clients include Charlie XCX and Yves Tumor, is most evident on Paprika Pony. The track is a spoken word synth-trap charged with heavy beats. In Earthquake, Gordon weaves an intricate and jarring vocal melody: “You want me to be you when you dwell.” Sticking to the formula of using ads for inspiration, Air BnB transports the listeners to the shores of Malibu where Gordon pervades through 47 inch televisions and day beds, “American idea / Copyright, copyrights/ Air BnB!/ Air BnB!/ Air BnB!/ Gonna set me free.” The most theatrical shift comes from the track Don’t Play it Back where Gordon’s vocals are distinct and pierce through the ambient sounds, while Cookie Butter gives the best exploration of her voice’s capabilities. The album is a reinvention in every possible way.

Essential tracks: Hungry Baby, Sketch Artist, Cookie Butter, Get Your Life Back

Rating ***

Top 10 Singles

1. Heartless The Weeknd (CU)

2. Circles Post Melone (NM)

3. All I Want For Christmas Is You Mariah Carey (CU)

4. Someone You Loved Lewis Capaldi (NM)

5. Memories Maroon 5 (CU)

6. Lose You To Love Me Selena Gomez (FD)

7. Roxanne Arizona Zervas (CU)

8. Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree Brenda Lee (CU)

9. Blinding Lights The Weeknd (NE)

10 . A Holly Jolly Christmas Burl Ives

Legend: (CU): Climbing Up (FD): Falling own (NM): Non-mover (NE): New Entry