Album releases

LIAM GALLAGHER As You Were ★★

Facing up to his compositional limitations Liam Gallagher has thrown in his lot with big name producers and writers. The result is belligerent bolshiness, Lennon invocations, Primals do Stones riffs (Wall Of Glass), Wonderwall pastiche (Bold) and Greedy Soul – possibly the most risible lyric you will hear all year. Patently a by committee corporate idea of how a superstar urchin should sound, this is a brutish and charmless offensive in the ongoing battle to claim Oasis earning power from big bro. You gotta soul with it? Yeah, right. Jog on, pal.

RATIONALE Rationale ★★★

It’s understandable why this London rationale based silky and stirring operator aka Tinashe Fazakerley has won support from Pharrell and Ellie Goulding, while Rag ‘n’ Bone Man and Katy Perry have been collaborators. The modish textures and general mid-tempo eloquence on this debut are striking. Sincere confessional songwriting is a strong point (Prodigal Son) but there’s no escaping the anodyne and pedestrian nature of some of the material (Oil and Water). Variable content with potential of bigger things to come.

THE SELECTER Daylight ★★★★

Pauline Black, Two Tone original, keeps ska potent on this bold return which addresses recent political upheavals including Brexit (Frontline, Taking Back Control) and austerity (Remember Me) while Daylight reunites Black with founder member Arthur ‘Gaps’ Hendrickson. There is Northern soul radiance and optimism on the title track, while Rude Girl Swagger and the Caribbean island vibe infects the joyful Big Badoof. The Selecter’s culture-crossing British beauty is worth celebrating.