Smart and sassy, Neneh Cherry’s girl is more than a chip off the old block
MABEL: High Expectations (Polydor) Verdict: Emerging star raises the bar ANGIE McMAHON: Salt (Awal) Verdict: Bluesy break-up album
Musicians with famous parents have often kickstarted their own pop careers by trading on the family name while using celebrity connections to fast-track their way to the top.
Rising West London singer Mabel has determinedly gone her own way.
The youngest daughter of Buffalo stance singer neneh cherry and record producer cameron McVey — and the granddaughter of revered jazz trumpeter Don cherry — she was born into a musical dynasty 23 years ago, but has since paid her dues the traditional way and performs under her first name.
since releasing her debut single four years ago, she has worked towards her first album by touring extensively and collaborating with rappers and DJs in the studio. in biding her time, she has also found her own voice — and she exploits it to the full on High Expectations.
she isn’t just a chip off the old block, either. if her mum, in the words of her 1989 debut album, was Raw Like sushi, then Mabel is smooth like butter. Her velvety voice is streetwise, yet sensitive, and her music leans towards the sophisticated R&B of Destiny’s child and TLc.
High Expectations is something of a concept piece about love, identity and self- respect. it is book- ended by a prologue and epilogue and punctuated by short, breathy interludes.
it’s catchy and glossy, especially early on, but feels more like a well- crafted, old- school collection than a series of spotify- friendly earworms. a sassy attitude is obvious from the off. ‘i was unruly when you met me,’ sings Mabel on Bad Behaviour, before bidding farewell to an errant ex-lover on Don’t call Me up.
‘One drink, and you’re out of my mind,’ she taunts. Mad Love is a similarly unapologetic edict from a young woman determined to call the shots.
a more introspective slant emerges as her debut develops. Mabel bemoans the difficulties of conveying emotion in the digital age — ‘the words don’t come out the right way, it’s in all the things we don’t say’ — while the subtly auto-tuned OK (anxiety anthem) tackles her own insecurity.
The album reaches a natural conclusion with a reprise of its title track, but is then pointlessly extended with six bonus tracks that revisit earlier collaborations.
Finders Keepers gave the singer her first top-ten single in 2017. Ring Ring is a Latin-tinged duet with Jax Jones and rapper Rich
The Kid. These bonus tracks confirm Mabel’s adaptability, but it’s the album proper that reiterates her status as one of 2019’s most exciting breakout stars.
FROM Tame impala’s dreamy psychedelia to the heartbreak ballads of Julia Jacklin, today’s best indie- pop often has an australian flavour. The latest name from the land down under looking to make a mark is Melbourne singer and guitarist angie McMahon, whose debut album salt mixes moments of intimacy with crunching blues.
McMahon, 25, came to prominence in her teens after winning a competition to support Bon Jovi on an australian tour.
That proved to be a false start, and it was only when she adopted a less folky, more electrified approach that she began making waves, winning the Grulke Prize for originality at this year’s south th By southwest Festival in Texas.
salt rubber-stamps her as a star ar of substance. Brutally honest in its ts assessment of romance as a ‘stupid uup minefield’, its sharp break-up songs reek of solitude, cigarette te smoke and the spirit- crushing ng queue for an early-hours takeaway. ay. The album opens with the languid d Play The Game, but grows more re convincing as McMahon explores s raw, rumbling blues.
‘i’m so tired of being messed d around,’ she sighs on soon, before admitting to ‘ hiding my tears from my mother’. Bruised but t unbowed, she finally looks on the e bright side on closing track if f You call, whistling to herself as s she promises to ‘turn on the light ht for you’. Her own future, on this showing, is also looking bright. Both albums are out now. Mabel starts a tour at the