CD reviews
MEG MYERS Take Me to the Disco
THERE is a raw power, rage and a gigantic dose frustration and despair that makes alt-rocker Meg Myers’ music so enticing. Her sophomore album is a primal scream. Over the course of 45 minutes, Myers delivers a dozen potent new songs that tickle and punch and make your mind swirl. Despite her successful debut album, she was actually dropped from her label between her first and second albums. Her story, which plays out on the first single
Numb, is a tale of pressure to be something she is not. In their eyes, she was a pop act who could deliver a hit single. Instead, this first single was recorded in the style of the Pixies or the Breeders, with Myers delivering a cracking tune that hums with a heavy, rocking vibe. Sonically, Take Me to the Disco brings together the alt-pop and alt-rock sounds that Myers excels in, while also pushing her sound forward in dynamic new directions.
Tourniquet shows off HAIM-level pop smarts, while Little Black Death borders on electro-rock with its New Order-style rhythm section. Tourniquet, if performed by Rihanna, sounds like the potential hit Myers’ old label was hunting for. Funny how that works sometimes. The song that shares its name with the album title was the first one written for the album. It tells the story of a person looking for an escape that turns into a desire to connect with others. The Death of Me is punchy piano ballad and a duet with her producer Christian Langdon. It was a surprise to hear a deep male voice on a Myers song, but it works well like a modern-day Nick Cave and Kylie Minogue duet. The jaunty, sauntering Tear Me to Pieces and Jealous Sea are wide-screen, cinematic pop-rock songs that showcase her talents as a songwriter and as a performer.★★★★
THE INTERNET Hive Mind
LOS Angeles R&B five-piece The Internet are more powerful together than they are apart. In between this accomplished, confident new album and their last, each band member went out solo. Naturally the wonderfully talented Syd Tha Kid had the most solo success, but her gentlemen friends are no slouches, either. But together, together they make magic. Hive Mind is an old-fashioned, slinky, sexy, simmering R&B album, but with flourishes of jazz, funk and hip-hop too. Syd’s honey-dipped voice takes the lead most often with a collection of lovelorn and lustful songs, a few about pushing a partner away, and others looking to tempt them to come on over for some late-night, um, er, TV on the sofa. The music is sultry on Come Over, sunny and sublime ( It Gets Batter), romantic ( Wanna Be) and full of dancefloor fun ( Fun).
Hive Mind feels handcrafted. It is a loose and relaxed album of hazy, organic, leisurely music that is a great way to spend an hour.★★★★