music reviews BRIAN WILSON
At My Piano (Decca) AAA
In a world in which the word “genius” is grossly overused, Brian Wilson is the real deal – the creator of what are categorically some of the finest songs ever composed and committed to record. But (you sensed that was coming, right?) it’s not immediately obvious what, or who, this suite of solo piano renditions is for. Wilson/Beach Boys completists will no doubt clamour to get their hands on a copy, but I can’t imagine many others actively choosing to listen to these versions over the studio originals. There’s something perverse about stripping so many classics of their sublime vocal harmonies and phenomenal instrumental arrangements. And no one needs a bunch of Smile tracks mushed into a medley. Yet on occasion you find yourself knocked sideways by stark, simple beauty, and if the album helps Wilson to wrest control of the Beach Boys’ legacy from odious egotist Mike Love, then I’m all for it.
BEN WOOLHEAD
CIRCUIT DES YEUX
-io (Matador) AAAA
Not familiar with Haley Fohr, who is Circuit Des Yeux? She’ll stop you in your tracks. Her four-octave range stuns, with a vocal so deep she’s in the baritone group. Think Diamanda Galas, Nico, Simone, Vaughan; in style, also, Dead Can Dance’s Lisa Gerrard and Siouxsie. Fohr wrote everything and used a 24-piece ensemble to accompany her on some songs, and her orchestral arrangements are amazing. According to press releases and interviews, this sixth album concerns climate change, PTSD, the pandemic, loss, grief, the apocalypse, black holes and death, among other subjects; -io goes to the depths of hell but rises to the heavens, too. Argument begins in gothic horror, then has jazz horns and finally turns folksy. Devastating singles Vanishing and Dogma are probably the most accessible, Stranger and Oracle Song hit my heart and gut, and the weakest selection is The Chase. Not an anytime listen but I’m definitely knocked out.
RHONDA LEE REALI
COURTNEY BARNETT
Things Take Time, Take Time (Marathon Artists) AAAA
Wry lyricism and witty couplets, all delivered in Courtney’s droll style, are all present and correct here, although the sonic palette is more adventurous, on this cracker of a third album. Here’s The Thing, a rumination on a heavy breakup, has breezy Hawaiian vibes holding the guitar jangle aloft to sweeten the bitterness, and Before You Gotta Go also bears the raw wounds of a split. Elsewhere Courtney and producer/ drummer, Warpaint’s Stella Mozgawa, accelerate down the autobahn with the Neu! groove of Turning Green, If I Don’t Hear from You Tonight is a sweet love letter to the excitement of new romance, and the superb Write A List Of Things To Look Forward To combines punch-the-air euphoria of The War On Drugs and the heartwarming charm of C86, acoustic guitar intertwining with uplifting Marr-sian melodies. This is a tweak to the Barnett formula to heal any union.
CHRIS SEAL
CRADLE OF FILTH
Existence Is Futile (Nuclear Blast) AAAA
The first thing to report is that the Ed Sheeran collaboration talked about during lockdown has thankfully not come to fruition, which has left the indomitable Dani Filth with time to concentrate on what he does best. And make no mistake, Existence Is Futile is indeed Cradle Of Filth at their best. Riding the crest of a wave in recent years after a somewhat barren patch, tracks like Existential Terror and Necromantic Fantasies are absolutely classic Cradle. Buzzsaw guitars collide with operatic backing vocals, while Dani’s unmistakable scream hauls it all together. Fans will also eat up the return of Doug ‘Pinhead’ Bradley to the Cradle fold for some more spoken word action on the culminating track of the Her Ghost In The Fog trilogy, a further anchor to their classic material. The Filth’s glorious return to form continues.
CHRIS ANDREWS
GROUPER
Shade (Kranky) AAAAA
Grouper’s Liz Harris may be one of the most single-minded artists out there these days, and if she’s Ramones- like in her loyalty to one sound, this isn’t a criticism by a long shot. Ploughing her furrow has produced some of the finest music of the past decade or so and Shade, consisting of works written and recorded over those past 15 years, proves the point. There is an aura around Grouper’s output, an intensity of purpose matched by very few artists working right now (Minnesota duo Low come to mind as exceptions), and for the uninitiated this album is a remarkably good place to start. Shade features those familiar sounds we’ve come to expect: grayscale burls of fuzz, and faint whisps of melody that linger for days. But the clouds truly break for closer, Kelso (Blue Sky), gorgeous in its simple beauty and crystalline vocals.
ADAM JONES
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