SOUND NT JUDGEME

THE LATEST ALBUM RELEASES RATED AND REVIEWED

YOUNG DUMB THRILLS MCFLY HHHH

H A NEW McFly album is just what’s needed to brighten the gloom of 2020l. The band seem to really enjoy what they do and that enthusiasm is contagious. The big singalong singles Happiness and Tonight Is The Night are the standout tracks from their sixth studio album. Another Song About Love is not the ballad people might expect, but a jaunty tune and You’re Not Special may sound like it should be angry and bleak but it’s another catchy track.

Growing Up (featuring Blink182’s Mark Hoppus) reflects that the band – now in their mid-30s – may be getting a bit older but thankfully don’t feel the need to grow up just yet, while warm closing track Not The End brings a much-needed party atmosphere.

APART TOGETHER TIM MINCHIN HHHHH

APART Together is a masterpiece and Tim Minchin blows away any threat of typecasting. Opener Summer Romance is a soaring declaration of modern love and true lyrical poetry. This is followed by Apart Together, the tale of a couple found frozen to death – not typical song material, but a commentary on the lack of community and economic social structure. Then comes a little bit of brevity with Airport Piano.

It is refreshing to hear such a lyrically driven album that is so well enunciated and where each phonic has a clear home.

Pure joy to listen to.

AFTER ALL EMIKO SUZUKI HH

21-YEAR-OLD Emiko Suzuki’s five-track EP veers away from South Korea’s usual melange of rap and modish pop sounds. Suzuki offers a bombastic, dynamic collection that draws from her career in musical theatre. After All and Back Home nod towards Lady Gaga in full A Star Is Born mode, while the amusingly titled Hail! Mr Happy Days is a tribute to Suzuki’s childhood spent performing Japanese gospel. There’s a certain dynamism to her voice that allows it to shift effortlessly from vaudevillian vamp to vocal runs Ariana Grande would gasp at. A fine blueprint for whatever comes next.