A fictional break-up
Bobby Gillespie, Jehnny Beth and Tyler, The Creator impress with new music this week
THE GO! TEAM — GET UP SEQUENCES PART ONE
WITH their latest album, Brighton indie six-piece The Go! Team truly live up to their name in a series of barnstorming new tunes.
The July 2 release would have fallen shortly after the date originally pencilled in as “Freedom Day”, and the genrespanning band will surely be disappointed their lively and uplifting new material will no longer be dropping straight onto packed dancefloors.
However that does not detract from the success of the album, which is filled with spirited songs worthy of any post-pandemic party. Frontman Ian Parton has described the album as a “life raft” after he partially lost his hearing while working on the “upbeat” record, and it is easy to see how producing such a joyful collection of songs helped him through the difficult period.
While there are a couple of near misses, such as the country-tinged track A Memo For Maceo, the album is overwhelmingly fun and a great tonic for our times.
9/10
(Review by Tom Horton)
TYLER, THE CREATOR — CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST
AS THE follow up to 2019’s Grammywinning Igor, expectations for Tyler, The Creator’s sixth album were high.
Call Me If You Get Lost sees the Californian rapper embody a new aggressive and controversial persona.
He kicks off the album with Sir Baudelaire, which introduces listeners to this new character — a sombre guitar melody mixed with heavy snares, energetic bass and a touch of jazz.
The rest of the album has features from Lil Wayne, Lil Uzi Vert, Pharrell, 42 Dugg, DJ Drama, Domo Genesis and more.
Call Me If You Get Lost is a solid conclusion to what could be seen as a trilogy of albums from the artist.
The project gives a view over the long journey that has seen Tyler, The Creator become one of the most controversial and talented rappers working today.
It gives us a deeper understanding of who he is and why he remains unapologetically himself.
8/10
(Review by Andre Johnson)
THROWING SNOW — DRAGONS
THROWING Snow’s albums have always combined high concepts with dancefloorready beats. This combination of functionality and intellect forms the core of producer Ross Tones’ work under the moniker.
Dragons, which is released on Houndstooth — the label run by London’s famous Fabric nightclub, is perhaps his most streamlined and direct effort yet.
Through what he calls archaeoacoustics, Tones remodels the old as new.
Instruments from countries including India, Iran and Ireland are repurposed as kick drums and synths.
The 10 tracks on Dragons are stripped back, each featuring only a few elements, yet still manage to evoke the drama of the album’s reptilian namesakes. Extending the concept further, Tones developed a “neural network” with artist and designer Matt Woodham — a visual artwork triggered by the songs, combining images of life in three scales, from microscopic views of rocks to expansive maps.
6/10
(Review by Alex Green)
BOBBY GILLESPIE AND JEHNNY BETH — UTOPIAN ASHES
PRIMAL Scream frontman Gillespie teams up with Savages singer turned solo artist Beth for a remarkable album chronicling a fictional marriage break-up.
Packing country ballads, screaming riffs, strings, brass and plenty more besides into just nine songs, Gillespie mostly takes centre stage though Beth — whose initial lyrics were developed into a finished product by Gillespie and Primal Scream guitarist Andrew Innes — gets her moments to shine, chiefly on the piano-led Your Heart Will Always Be Broken.
The haunting English Town is an early stand-out while Gillespie’s spoken-word section — titled Selfcrowned King Of Nothingness, and delivered in his lived-in Scottish accent — to open You Can Trust Me Now is the album’s most arresting moment.
Best of all is Remember We Were Lovers, the line “We abused this gift we’ve been given, again and again and again and again and again” given a jarringly euphoric singalong feel by trumpet flourishes on each repetition of “again”.
9/10
(Review by Tom White)