Album releases

KYLIE Golden ★★★

Not exactly Taylor Swift – and a mere 20 years after Madonna walked on the sawdust side – Kylie decides to do a Dolly Parton pastiche with her first (and, it’s a fair bet, last) country album. No doubt A Lifetime To Repair – Europop thump meets bar dance hoedown – speaks to painful recent events in Ms Minogue’s personal life. Jack Savoretti is on hand to mop up on the hanky sodden finale and with Raining Glitter, new-found country roots are abandoned to the disco ball. No surprises. File under business as usual.

EELS

The Deconstruction ★★★★

With his usual dark cloud hanging over him, Mark Oliver Everett’s first release in four years is portent and omenfilled. Bone Dry captures a mood of urgent unease, Rusty Pipes’ distant choir and insistent throb adds stalker-at-thedoor atmospherics, while The Epiphany yearns for a past that can never be reclaimed. Happy face Mister E falls flat on You Are The Shining Light but, with its stark and simple piano spelling out a stunning sentiment, There I Said It breaks the heart clean in two.

WRECKLESS ERIC

Construction Time & Demolition ★★★★

Refusing to be overshadowed by his classic 1977 debut single Whole Wide World, Hull hero Eric Goulden carved one of post-punk’s most splenetic and fortifying careers. This timely and imposing album has a big bold sound, shot through with WE’S sour and sharp sense of humour. Tender reflections, never wrongsided by soppy sentiment, mark colourful tunes embedded in the the past but looking to the future with pitiful wails and righteous rocking. Dazed and beautiful.