One of electronic music’s most innovative talents
Former French first lady Carla Bruni and Ward Thomas also deliver new albums
Machinedrum never stands still for long, and his ninth solo album – along with numerous collaborations and remixes over two decades – burnishes his reputation as one of electronic music’s most innovative talents. The prolific LA producer, aka Travis Stewart, fuses IDM, UK rave and bass culture with US regional hip-hop and club music styles in 11 tracks.
TheRelic starts with skittering beats before Rochelle Jordan’s vocals kick in, while KaneTrain steps up the tempo, sampling the 1970s soul classic Ujimma by The Lightmen Plus One, with Freddie Gibbs rapping. is another change of pace, a collaboration with acclaimed Armenian jazz pianist Tigran Hamasayan, while Star is a spacey R&B ballad featuring Tanerelle & Mono/Poly. The diverse set of styles is held together by the concept of having an out-of-body experience, with Stewart known to be a keen advocate of meditation.
Invitation is the fourth album from Hampshire twins Catherine and Lizzy Ward Thomas, whose country sound has been a big hit with Radio 2 audiences.
It’s a fairly gentle listen, a pleasant album which loyal fans will enjoy.
The first single, Someday, and Don’tBe AStranger have catchy refrains, while HoldSpace has melodic verses – but the chorus strays towards the repetitive.
MeantToBeMe is stronger, an emotional track about how hard it is to see an ex happy with someone else, even if it was your decision to end the relationship, while is a bit darker and more dramatic.
The twins’ voices sound great for Halfway with James Blunt, and Human, a cover of The Killers track with Jack Savoretti, which was recorded live at the SSE Arena in Wembley, but when someone else is livening up your album it’s not a good sign.
6/10
History teaches us to be wary of selftitled albums. Often they indicate indulgence, an artist with too much time on their hands, self-parody even.
Not so with Carla Bruni, the former French first lady and model who, ever so elegantly, transformed herself into a singersongwriter almost overnight.
It would be easy to laugh dismissively if it wasn’t for her track record.
Since 2002, she has repeatedly topped the charts in France, exploring poetry and contemporary music in the popular Gallic style the Brits like to call pop-jazz.
This, her sixth album, is almost totally made up of original songs. L’Extase doesn’t have quite the same kick, sitting in a twilight zone where Bruni’s huskiest tones audibly struggle, before settling into an underwhelming sing-song outro. But, even there, her music is disarming and this is a record well worth your time.
(ReviewbyAlexGreen)
An ode to her native Hong Kong, Emma-Lee Moss’s fourth studio album as Emmy The Great is also simply a lovely record.
The influence is evident from Chineselanguage opener Mid-Autumn – the English title referring to a momentous trip back to her birthplace in 2017 – and continues throughout, with Chang-E taking its title from the Chinese goddess of the moon.
Musically the palette is broadly folk, embellished with brushes of percussion and hypnotic chanted sections.
Unconventional similes – “Staring in my face, like a tennis game, like a wedding day” on second track Writer – and talk of hallucinations and fortune tellers give an otherworldliness but grounded in a beautiful musical simplicity which will appeal to fans of Jenny Lewis or Neko Case, with the euphoric Window/O’Keeffe a stand-out moment.