38 MusicWeek 24.01.14


PRODUCTRECOMMENDED ALBUM OF THE WEEK


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TRACK OF THE WEEK


London based singer/songwriter Kwabs will release his debut EP - Wrong Or Right next month, led by the Sohn-produced title track. Kwabs has been staunchly


SAM SMITH


In The Lonely Hour (Capitol Records)


Sam Smith broke through as a featured vocalist on hit singles with Disclosure and Naughty Boy and he’s now approaching the launch of his debut solo album, In The Lonely Hour, following BRIT Awards Critics’ Choice and BBC Sound Of wins under his belt. In The Lonely Hour is a 10-track collection with high-profile


collaborators including Fraser T Smith, Two Inch Punch, Eg White, Disclosure, Zane Lowe, Tourist and long-term writing partner Jimmy Napes. The first single to be released from the album will be Money On


My Mind next month – produced by Two Inch Punch. Smith has toured with Disclosure and, as their PMR labelmate,


saw his debut EP released in October 2013. His live solo CV now boasts sold out dates at London’s Islington


May 26 INCOMING ALBUMS


FRÀNCOIS & THE ATLAS MOUNTAINS Piano Ombre (Domino)


Single La Vérité will be released on the same day as Francois And The Atlas Mountains’ new LP Piano Ombre.


The new album was recorded in Entre-


Deux-Mers near Bordeaux, France, with producer Ash Workman (Metronomy, NZCA/Lines) and features the current line- up of Atlas Mountains: multi- instrumentalists Amaury Ranger and Pierre Loustaunau, drummer Jean Thevenin (all Frenchmen) and Glaswegian keyboardist Gerard Black. Piano Ombre, translates as Calm Down


Shadow (meaning to ‘no longer be scared by things, because there is a way to see things in a positive light’) and is said to encompass influences from Afro-pop to French chanson and Yé-yé, mixed with more Anglo-phonic guitar-pop. The band bring their live show to the


UK and Europe in March through May. MARCH 17


FRANK SINATRA Sinatra With Love (UMC)


This 16-track collection features romantic Frank Sinatra classics from his Capitol and Reprise catalogues.


This is Universal’s second release under the newly-launched Signature Sinatra imprint. Sinatra, With Love features timeless


ballads and standards including Cole Porter classics From This Moment On, I Love You, and Just One Of Those Things as well as treasured renditions of My Foolish Heart, It Had To Be You (featured in When Harry Met Sally), Something’s Gotta Give, Wave - and more. Throughout his 60-year career, Sinatra


performed on more than 1,400 recordings, was awarded 31 gold albums, nine platinum, three double-platinum and one triple platinum album by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). He was also awarded a number of Lifetime Achievement Awards.


JANUARY 27


SKY FERREIRA Night Time, My Time (Polydor)


After a number of delays, Sky Ferreira will finally release her debut album, Night Time, My Time in the


UK this Spring. Ferreira executive-produced the record


and worked with producers Areil Rechtshaid and Justin Raisen. Lead single, You’re Not The One


comes as an instant grat track on iTunes pre-orders. Following its release across the Atlantic,


Night Time, My Time was critically- acclaimed by the likes of New York Times, Spin, Rolling Stone, Pitchfork and Dazed and Confused, and appeared on numerous 2013 Albums Of The Year lists. It peaked at No.45 on the Billboard 200. Ferreira will be in the UK in January for


a one-off show at The Basement, London. She will support Miley Cyrus on her Bangerz Tour alongside Icona Pop.


MARCH 17


Assembly Hall, The Mercury Lounge in New York, two sell-out dates at The Troubadour in L.A. and a recently announced 2014 tour, which has seen dates at Shepherds Bush Empire already sell out. Further US dates have been announced with a North American tour now on sale.


February 3 KWABS


Wrong Or Right (Atlantic)


championed by BBC Radio 1Xtra’s Mistajam and has been highlighted as part of the station’s Hot For 2014 new talent list, as well as being shortlisted for the MTV equivalent, Brand New For 2014. Adding to his baritone vocal are


influences from R&B and gospel against a backdrop of electro- synthesised soul. In addition to playing a number of


sell-out shows across London and performing a festival debut at Lovebox 2013, Kwabs has garnered praise from the likes of Jessie Ware, India Arie, Laura Mvula, Emeli Sande, Joss Stone and Plan B, who he supported on tour in the summer of 2012. The EP also includes songs Spirit


Fade, Last Stand and a Ben Pearce remix of Wrong Or Right. Kwabs’ debut album is scheduled


for release on Atlantic Records later this year.


STAFF PICK: PATRICK SCOTT, WORK EXPERIENCE


BROKEN BELLS After The Disco (Columbia)


Danger Mouse is a man with fingers in many pies. If the reports are to be believed, then he has a hand in the new albums by The Black Keys, U2 and Frank Ocean… So it is something of a wonder that he found the time to release After The Disco - his second album with Shins’ frontman James Mercer - under the name Broken Bells. Their eponymous 2010 debut was a


shimmering pop delight and they’ve stuck to the formula here. Album opener Perfect World, is


an encapsulation of what the duo are about, with jangly guitars and bright synths accompanying Mercer’s


infectious melodies. Most of the tracks on After The Disco


follow this blueprint with songs like the title track and Control, with its toe- tapping chorus of ‘give it up, give it up’, driving the album. However, there are also effective quieter moments such as The Angel And The Fool where Mercer croons over Mediterranean- sounding acoustic guitar, recalling Danger Mouse’s 2011 collaboration with Daniele Luppi


on Rome. Some might argue that Broken Bells


have failed to diversify their sound enough since their debut, but in Danger Mouse and Mercer there is a duo who can write and produce polished, classic sounding pop songs. What’s not to like? FEBRUARY 3


Photo credit Mathieu Demy


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