SOUND JUDGEMENT

THE LATEST ALBUM RELEASES RATED AND REVIEWED

KITT PHILIPPA

NORTHERN Irish singer-songwriter and multiinstrumentalist Kitt Philippa’s transfixingly soothing vocals will catch you off guard from the opening title track of debut album, Human. It’s a striking ode to humanity that bagged the Northern Irish Music Prize Single of the Year 2018. Lion is a delicate piece about finding courage, followed by a hazy, dreamy few tracks of pure comfort and bliss. Fahrenheit, meanwhile, is an experimental offering, with digital sounds layered over a jazzy keyboard, but Philippa’s atmospheric voice is still the main event. An album free of bombast and overproduction, it is a mustlisten for all.

GHOSTEEN NICK CAVE AND THE BAD SEEDS

IN THE first album recorded since the death of his son, Nick Cave produces a devastating, painfully beautiful, work. Ghosteen is an 11-track double album that flits between ruminations on family and explorations of the ethereal, always with the presence of Cave’s “little white shape dancing at the end of the world”. Rippling piano and Warren Ellis’s expansive, shifting synths replace the usual rhythm section of drums and bass. It is oh-so sad, even in the context of Cave’s music, which has always been doom-laden and filled with sorrow. Bright Horses features some of Cave’s finest lyricism while Waiting for You’s simple refrain is all that is necessary to evoke the sadness in his heart.

NEVER BORING FREDDIE MERCURY

IT’S hard to believe it is 28 years since Mercury’s death aged just 45 and this collection is a reminder that he sang just as he lived his life – with passion, joy and sadness. Familiar tunes like The Great Pretender are mixed with recently discovered tracks like Time Waits for No One and Mercury sings with his heart on every one. The title is inspired by Mercury’s quote “You can do anything with my work, but never make me boring”. A collection to remind everyone what we have lost.