42 MusicWeek 20.04.12
PRODUCTRECOMMENDED ALBUM OF THE WEEK
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TRACK OF THE WEEK
Streets In The Sky (Cooking Vinyl)
THE ENEMY
Following No.1 and No.2 albums that achieved platinum and gold status, The Enemy return with their third LP offering and have declared it their best yet. Recorded in London and LA with Joby J. Ford from US punk
band The Bronx, the 12-track record boasts the signature Enemy anthemic guitar sound but is promised to be heavier than previously. Songs range from catchy free download single Gimme The
Sign, the anthemic Bigger Cages (Longer Chains), to the melodic and punchy This Is Real. New single Saturday is a summer anthem-in-the-making with its ode to the weekend and a singalong chorus that is made to be chanted. The band is confirmed to perform at Wembley Stadium on May
May 21
5 at the FA Cup Final with the performance broadcast live around the world exclusively on ESPN. They will also be part of a whole day’s coverage on the channel and are confirmed to headline the Fighting Talk Big Day Out at Stoke City Britannia Stadium on May 26.
INCOMING ALBUMS
VARIOUS CRUELTIES Various Cruelties (Hideout Recordings) The four-piece led by Liam O’Donnell ‘fuse classic British guitar pop with Motown and Stax grooves, to
create a form of indie soul’ and have been described by The Guardian as being “the missing link between the Arctic Monkeys and the golden age of doo-wop”. This 11-track album was recorded in
the summer of 2011 with Tony Hoffer (Beck, Goldfrapp, Foster the People) and features previous singles Chemicals and Great Unknown. A further single, Neon Truth, will be released a week earlier on April 23. Following their recent UK headline
tour which culminated in sold-out shows at London’s 100 Club and the Leeds Cockpit, VC will play a further run of shows in April and May. They also recently appeared on the
Later with Jools Holland series performing Great Unknown alongside Lou Reed & Metallica, Steve Earle and Aaron Neville.
TOM JONES Spirit in the Room (Island) Building on his exposure via BBC TV show The Voice UK, Tom Jones draws on ‘an evocative range of compositions’ for
the follow up to Praise and Blame. Spirit In The Room once again
brings together Ethan Johns (Brit Award Producer of the Year 2011) and Jones for intimate performances with a select group of musicians — multi instrumentalist Johns, Richard Causon on vintage keyboards, piano, guitars (Ryan Adams, Kings Of Leon and Rufus Wainwright), Warpaint’s Stella Mozgawa on drums, and Ian Jennings and Sam Dixon on bass. Accompanied by Johns throughout,
the album includes simple, raw and soulful songs from a diverse choice of writers - Richard Thompson, Leonard Cohen, Paul Simon and Paul McCartney amongst others. A Deluxe Edition will contain
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additional recordings: Just Dropped in, Lone Pilgrim and When The Deal Goes Down.
GABBY YOUNG & OTHER ANIMALS The Band Called Out For More (Gift of the Gab Records) The follow-up to 2010 debut album We’re All In This
Together, eight-piece GY&OA are set to release their second album on the same day as lead single In Your Head. Dubbed the “World’s Finest
Purveyors of Circus Swing” by Clive Anderson on Radio 4, this album sees Gabby having written the 13-track collection with her partner Stephen Ellis, which is described as having a ‘colourful avant-garde sound, with lush orchestration, horns and quiet melodies.’ The ‘musical fairground’ that
comprises the group’s sound contains trumpet, trombone, piano and clarinet and they spent the summer of 2010 on the festival circuit, activity that they are set to emulate this year in addition to a headline date at London’s Scala on June 13.
JUNE 11
SNOW PATROL New York (Fiction)
New York is the fourth single to be taken from Snow Patrol’s sixth studio album Fallen Empires, which was released in November and has sold almost a million units worldwide to date. Described as one of the
more intimate, tender moments on the album, New York was debuted live on the Late Show with David Letterman in January and also featured on Grey’s Anatomy. Having already played their
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biggest and fastest-selling UK Arena tour (including three sold-out nights at London’s O2 Arena) and a run of dates in Europe this year, Snow Patrol are now on the road in the US. The band will headline T in
the Park on July 6 and play at V Festival August 18-19.
STAFF PICK: DARRELL CARTER, SALES MANAGER
THE SHINS Port of Morrow (Columbia) What is it about bands from
Liverpool that makes them so good at writing joyous songs full of hope, love and passion? The sound created over 40 years ago by messieurs J,P,G & R has been nurtured and adapted by so many modern contemporaries of the city such as Boo Radleys, The Coral and Clinic in a way that it reinvents and sounds as relevant now as it did back then. So it comes as a surprise to learn
that The Shins aren't from Liverpool at all, but from the US, Albuquerque in fact. That's a distance of almost
5,000 miles as the Google crow flies. But you would never guess that by listening to new album Port Of Morrow, so immediate is the influence on songs such as Bait And Switch with its Beatles-esque beat and Simple Song's psychedelic lament. Album opener
The Rifle's Spiral is set to be the feelgood hit of this summer, clever electronica and blissed’out lyrics “You’re not invisible now / You just don’t
exist” sets the tone for the rest of the album. Overall, Port Of Morrow manages to combine Sixties melody with clever modern production and experimentation which will make this a definitive album for all Shins fans. Fab. OUT NOW
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