As the rhythm evolves

The Boss, as you’ve never heard him before

Bruce Springsteen — Springsteen on Broadway (Columbia)

Bruce Springsteen finally decided to bring his highly acclaimed Broadway show to a recorded format. For nearly two and a half hours, The Boss walks us through the story of his life, initially in immense detail, and then more tenuously as he moves ahead, giving us a glimpse of his formative years, and then taking us through his Thirties and Forties. Based on his worldwide best-selling autobiography Born to Run, Springsteen on Broadway is an exclusive evening with Bruce, his guitar, piano, harmonica, and his very personal stories. Featuring the songs from Tony award-winner Bruce Springsteen’s momentous 236th show at Jujamcyn’s Walter Kerr Theatre, Springsteen On Broadway is an enormous, 30-track live album that completely encapsulates the heart with warmth created through his solo performances. Nearly each of the 30 tracks across the collection is paired with a spoken introduction on Springsteen’s life. “Music is to remind us of who we are and who we can be,” Springsteen explains to his audience. The Wish sees him talk about his mother with such love, while on My Father’s House and My Hometown, Springsteen sings the most hauntingly beautiful version of the tracks. Intriguingly, Springsteen’s wife, Patti Scialfa, joins him on the gorgeous Tougher Than the Rest and the rousing Brilliant Disguise, two songs from 1987’s Tunnel of Love. Growin’ Up, originally from his 1973 debut, is nearly 12-minute long, with enchanting tales about how he discovered the power of rock ’n’ roll and his ever rising rock star dreams. The substance might not be completely new and a lot of the monologues are derived from his 2016 memoir Born To Run, but they are heartfelt, amusing and, at times, delivered with blazing passion. Springsteen attempts his hit wonder, Dancing In the Dark, in a stripped down solo version, vastly different from the studio counterpart but is just as powerful. Even if you’ve heard Born in the USA millions of times, you are bound to be blown away, for the bluesy, painful way Springsteen performs it here. At the end, Bruce parts away by thanking the audience for what they’ve given him in the last 50 years, and then adds: “I hope I’ve been a good travelling partner to you too.”

Essential tracks: The Promised Land, Born in the USA, Brilliant Disguise, Dancing in the Dark

Rating ****

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The power of simplicity

Jessica Pratt — Quiet Signs (Mexican Summer)

Following the celebrated release of On Your Own Love Again (2015), the LA-based folk artiste rediscovers herself as a poignant singer-songwriter. Quiet Signs has a faintly jazzier, more soulful feel than her last, folkier outing, with a faded nod to Joni Mitchell and the Drifters. Pratt’s sound is entirely unique and finds a position between contemporary indie and 60s’ folk. Opening with concise piano tunes, the instrumental Opening Night and its vocal counterpart As the World Turns, Pratt effortlessly merges into an additional seven tracks that find the musician extending her sparkling vocals in an array of tasteful organ, woodwinds, and, of course, her folksy guitar strumming. Pratt’s frail, childlike and saintly voice remains as agile as ever. Her signature nylon guitar is clearly absent from the arrangement and we instead hear her creating a wordless melody to accompany the chords. Poly Blue, the most vivid track sonically, highlights Pratt’s delicate strings aided by Al Carlson’s barely-there flute and piano. The lead track, This Time Around, is the most expressive and lyrically intelligible track, its melody entirely contained within Pratt’s alluring voice. It’s solemn sound supports Pratt as she sings, “I don’t wanna try no longer/ Your songbird singing the darkest hour of the night/ I don’t wanna find that I’ve been marching under the crueler side of the fight/ It makes me want to cry.” Closing track, the jazz-tinged Aeroplane, has a tranquil breeziness, although is slightly more lingering. Fare Thee Well displays Pratt’s readiness to twist the rules of the folk genre, crafting a type of soft pop–folk hybrid. “I’ve been years on the wrong side and I/ I used to see a cause and a call / Now, I know it’s over now / Hard to notice you in the crowd,” she confesses diligently.

Essential tracks: Opening Night, Poly Blue, This Time Around

Rating ****

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Most accessible, most affecting

Deerhunter — Why Hasn’t Everything Already Disappeared? (4AD)

Like Sonic Youth, what makes Deerhunter one of today’s great American bands is its capability to soak-up the current environment and express it through music that constantly attempts to be different to what it has done before and which confronts the preconception of who they are. Deerhunter have been inclining towards classic rock, punk and garage rock over their previous two albums, 2015’s Fading Frontier and 2013’s Monomania. The beautiful Brian Eno inspired No One’s Sleeping bursts with buoyant saxophone as singer and guitarist Bradford Cox draws the attention to the reality, “Great unrest. In the country, there’s much duress. Violence has taken hold.” The album proceeds with the artificial, unreal funk of Plains, an ode to James Dean, then closes with the sneaky lines of Nocturne, the most explicit science fiction track on an album. Greenpoint Gothic and Nocturne employs John Carpenter-style synthesisers to brilliant effect, while Tarnung’s emotional punch comes from its haunting instrumental brass setting. The album is a fascinating mix of tools from the Old World, the New World, and a Future World alike. In What Happens to People, Deerhunter features some great interaction between an obscure mandolin player and Lockett Pundt’s lead guitar acoustics. Cate le Bon lends a masterful performance of the harpsichord on the lead single Death in Midsummer that is probably the best part of the entire cut. It would be hard to categorise the sound of a band that has been evolving since it first arrived, but diehards will be pleased to hear a touch of traditional Deerhunter sound thrown randomly. Détournement uses an incorporeal voice immersed in synths to spread a more positive message: “There is a form of art left,” the voice assures.

Essential tracks: No One’s Sleeping, Green Point Gothic, Death in Midsummer, Futurism

Rating ***

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Top 10 Singles

1 Rings...............................................................................Ariana Grande (CU)

2. Without Me................................................................................Halsey (CU)

3. Sunflower (Spider-Man)...................................Post Malone & Swae Lee (FD)

4. Happier..........................................Marshmello & Bastille (CU)

5. Sicko Mode..........................................................................Travis Scott (FD)

6. Thotiana.................................................................................Blueface (CU) 

7. Please Me............................................................Cardi B & Bruno Mars (NE)

8. High Hopes..............................................................Panic! At The Disco (FD)

9. Wow.................................................................................Post Malone (NM)

10. Money.....................................................................................Cardi B (CU)

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