SOUND JUDGEMENT

THE LATEST ALBUM RELEASES RATED AND REVIEWED

WILLIE NELSON – LAST MAN STANDING

★★★★★ HE’S still performing at 84-years old, so when Willie Nelson calls himself the last man standing, he isn’t joking.

That knowing title is reflective of the morbid wit that peppers the lyrics, as is Bad Breath’s refrain that it’s “better than no breath at all”, or the kicker to She Made My Day – “but she ruined my life”.

Nelson delivers these quotable songs in characteristically easy going style. In voice and manner, he could pass for someone 40 years younger.

Musically, the sound is straight out of the Texas honky-tonks; all barrel-roll piano, harmonica and Nelson’s distinctive guitar playing. It will win no prizes for innovation, but considering he helped invent this sort of music in the first place, that’s easily forgiven.

DR DOG – CRITICAL EQUATION

★★★★★ IT is a testament to Dr Dog’s longevity that they have reached the 10th album mark, with Critical Equation their first since returning from a three-year hiatus.

The record itself is charming enough, a little plodding on Listing In and Night, but with flourishes here and there, most notably on the rockabilly Under The Wheels.

Fans of former tour mates The Lumineers and The Black Keys will definitely find something immensely pleasing in this record. But for those in search of a new Heart It Races, one of the few tracks in Dr Dog’s back catalogue to have garnered attention in the UK, and a cover version at that, will likely be left disappointed.

BLOSSOMS – COOL LIKE YOU

★★★★★ BLOSSOMS have released an album of extremes, with surefire synth-pop hits nestling amongst cookie-cutter 80s knockoffs.

Following up from their hit 2016 album, Blossoms have leaned away from the guitar and towards the keyboards, proving both beneficial and detrimental to their sound. In songs such as Unfaithful and I Just Imagined You, there’s cliché after cliché that reaches for Erasure, and lands closer to a low-budget video game soundtrack.

But in their showstopper singles such as I Can’t Stand It and Stranger Still, lead singer and songwriter Tom Ogden shows true songwriting chops, identifying himself as a master of hooks and earworms with eminently relatable lyrics floating over a series of catchy and sensitive melodies.