THIS WEEK’S NEW ALBUMS REVIEWED | FEATURE
You Hear Georgia (3 Legged)
The southern roots rock band that’s fast becoming a collective, Blackberry Smoke, mark their 20th anniversary with a broadening of their Americana-influenced sound. Augmenting the five-piece band with regular collaborators and guest appearances, You Hear Georgia is perhaps less streamlined than 2019’s exceptional {Find A Light} but the standard of the individual songs may be even higher. Frontman, lead guitarist and songwriter Charlie Starr seems to have an endless supply of material on hand: from rollicking opener Live It Down and the following title track to exceptional album standout Morningside, rock-solid riffs and singalong choruses are aplenty.
Blackberry Smoke have always been known for embracing the country roots of their native Georgia, but on this celebratory southern album, Starr has collaborated with other writers, even sharing lead vocal duties on the only Covid-concerned song All Rise Again and Lonesome For A Living. The latter is as straight country as the band gets, and maybe takes the album too far in a different direction, but with the ability of these musicians (check out the effortless groove of Hey Delilah), everything they play is top drawer. You won’t find a better produced album with tighter, more intuitive playing and such a high standard of writing anywhere north of Atlanta this year.
words JOHN-PAUL DAVIES
Live In Stuttgart 1975 (Mute/Spoon)
Over 40 years after they, initially, downed tools, the thrillingly experimental Can get their first official live release, with more to follow. As befits a band whose album tracks were famously edited down from hours-long improvisational sessions, there are no ‘songs’ as such on here, just five long musical explorations (simply titled Eins, Zwei, Drei, Vier and Fünf) built around themes which seem to flow in and out of the music.
These instrumental improvisations (this being after vocalist Damo Suzuki had left the band) ebb and flow ceaselessly, with fragments of melodies and rhythms being seized on for a while before another theme swims into view. The four musicians seem to possess some kind of telepathic ability, so tightly do they work together.
It’s not an ideal introduction for newcomers to Can, but for fans of the band, or those with an interest in Krautrock or experimental rock in general, this is an essential album.
words DAVID GRIFFITHS
Midnight Train (Italians Do It Better)
Irreproachably classy avant-pop yacht fodder from an Aussie who moved down to Margate with her family and continues to evolve from session muso to certified band member to singular, distinctive vocalist and producer. The former of those pursuits include live sax with Take That, whose influence on Jorja Chalmers’ second album Midnight Train appears unlikely; since 2011, she’s had an equivalent, permanent role in Bryan Ferry’s group, and it’s more plausible to weigh up its purring synth-and-woodwind flourishes against the ex-Roxy fox-botherer’s solo catalogue.
There’s a varied palette in play across these 13 tracks, in fact: ranging from chamber jazz-ish instrumentals to 80s pop with booming gated drums to exquisite, drifting, ambient things with the texture of late Talk Talk to downtempo electropop that may chime with fans of, say, Marie Davidson to a Doors cover (I was dubious too, but a creditable Riders On The Storm results). Not at all ‘difficult’ or commercial, in the pejorative sense of either, Midnight Train showcases a pop impresario in waiting, and will make you feel more sophisticated than you actually are while you listen to it.
words NOEL GARDNER
With Friends At St David’s (earMUSIC)
This seasoned British progressive rock combo’s 21st live album was recorded at St. David’s Hall in Cardiff [pictured, top – credit Anne-Marie Forker] as part of the catchily titled Marillion With Friends From The Orchestra Live 2019 tour. The band, as always, are musically stunning – particularly Steve Rothery’s lead guitar work – and the addition of classical musicians Sam Morris (French horn), Emma Halnan (flute) and string quartet In Praise Of Folly only enhances this.
Vocalist Steve Hogarth is in fine storyteller form, his chats between tracks giving a little background to songs that tackle difficult subjects such as the Palestinian war and Russian wealth and control. When Hogarth sings, his voice compliments the music, though on songs such as Gaza, he semi-speaks the lyrics and it jars. The quirky Zeparated Out (originally titled Separated Out) has an added burst of Led Zeppelin’s Kashmir, light relief after so many heavy tracks. I did feel disappointed by the absence of Grendel and Easter, but the closing This Strange Engine – a song about Hogarth’s childhood – comes close to being epic.
Although this is a live performance, With Friends… is as polished as any studio album. It’s available on CD, vinyl (including a transparent violet pressing) and, for the full concert experience, DVD and Blu-ray.
words LYNDA NASH
Hi (BMG)
Singer/songwriter Sharleen Spiteri and bass player Johnny McElhone of Scottish pop-rockers Texas found some 1997 outtakes that had been hidden away gathering dust from their White On Blonde album recording sessions. The initial plan was to release them, probably in a similar way to what Primal Scream did successfully with their Memphis sessions – but on hearing the quality of the offcuts, the pair decided to record a new album from scratch whilst using the White On Blonde sessions as a benchmark.
Texas have always successfully straddled the world of pop and rock with their Morricone-meets-Motown adventures in sound. Hi is without any doubt Texas’ most invigorating collection of songs since White On Blonde: Spiteri and company have clearly bust a gut this time round. Richard Hawley cowrite Dark Fire and Look What You’ve Done, which has Clare Grogan of postpunk new wavers Altered Images duetting, are both a joy, as is the soulful Mr Haze, and Staten Island’s finest the Wu-Tang Clan even return to collaborate on the title track.
words DAVID NOBAKHT