NEW MUSIC
PAUL WELLER – ON SUNSET HHHHIMM
Fifteen solo albums in, plus six with The Jam and five with The Style Council, The Changingman Paul Weller can still spring a surprise, with opening track Mirror Ball, a seven minutes 37 seconds sprawling ballad, which at times dissolves into random electronic noises.
Second track Baptiste introduces the defining sound of On Sunset, blue-eyed soul with Stax-style keyboards, while Old Father Tyme adds psychedelic harmonies and the jaunty Equanimity has the feel of classic ’60s Kinks and features Slade’s Jim Lea on violin.
Village is a hymn to the simple life as Weller tells us “I don’t need all the things you got, I just want to be who I want” and praises the “small place that I call home”, with The Style Council’s Mick Talbot on Hammond organ.
The former angry young man has often been a grumpy older man, but he sounds more content here, with On Sunset starting and ending with the sound of the sea, as he looks back to past times spent on LA’s Sunset Strip.
Elsewhere there are nods to The Beatles and the pastoral sound of Wild Wood, his breakthrough 1993 solo album, but he’s looking forward as well, with Earth Beat’s futuristic electronic soul featuring fast-rising north London R&B singer Col3trane.
Matthew George
JOHN LEGEND – BIGGER LOVE HHHHIMM
John Legend really can’t put a foot wrong musically. And his new album, Bigger Love, is testament to this. The single of the same name and music video, which saw fans from across the world submit clips for use, have both already made their mark.
This album oozes everything you associate with Legend: love, upliftment and soulfulness in heaps. Tracks like Wild are hits just waiting to climb the charts, while U Move, I Move and Conversations In The Dark are powerful numbers that will last the ages.
This is 16 tracks of easy listening that do not disappoint and his collaborations with artists like Koffee, on Don’t Walk Away, and Remember us, featuring Rapsody, are perfect.
Legend tweeted about his album: “This project has been a labor of love for me, something I’ve spent over a year conceiving and creating. I poured my heart and soul into these songs and collaborated with some incredibly gifted co-writers, producers and musicians”.
And you can definitely feel that heart and soul throughout this album. Mission accomplished, Mr Legend. Kathy Iffly
WIRE – 10:20 HHHIIMM
Until Mark E Smith’s death in 2018, only The Fall from the post-punk generation could boast longevity like Wire’s. For more than 40 years the London four-piece have captivated generations of followers with a mix of lightning live shows and prodigious output (17 studio albums and counting, not to mention the numerous EPs and live records).
The temptation for many bands of such long standing might be to throw out a collection of substandard old demo tapes once a year and dine off the royalty cheques. Not so Wire, who with 10:20 offer up a combination of revisited tracks from the cutting room floor and prior releases totally reimagined. And, despite being drawn from a cross-section of decades of work, it hangs together with a surprising coherence.
Many of the songs familiar to fans have a totally new power to them this time round. Opener Bouncing Boy is a symbol of the band’s commitment to evolution – the original 1988 recording reshaped through live performances over 30 years to become something spectacularly different. Where the original is jangly and understated, this new take is far more evocative of Wire’s live energy – raw, rough round the edges and most of all loud.
Others from this new batch, like He Knows and Underwater Experiences, have never made it out of the studio before but still are unmistakably Wire – angular and aggressive yet thoughtful and somehow restrained.
It might not be a match for their early classics, but in many ways 10:20 is the ideal introduction to a band that will just never settle.
Stephen Jones
THE NATIONAL – HIGH VIOLET (10TH ANNIVERSARY EXPANDED EDITION) HHHHIMM
“I was carried to Ohio in a swarm of bees, I’ll never marry but Ohio don’t remember me” – Bloodbuzz Ohio, the first single from The National’s High Violet, instantly transports you back to the dawn of the last decade.
A tumultuous 10 years on, the band’s career high is given the reissue treatment, with a triple LP package including an extra eight tracks.
The first line of first track Terrible Love – “It’s a terrible love and I’m walking with spiders” – sets the ominous tone, driven by Matt Berninger’s distinctive rumbling baritone, with Aaron and Bryce Dessner providing guitars, and Bryan and Scott Devendorf on drums and bass.
Afraid Of Everyone, featuring Sufjan Stevens, England, and perennial show-closer Vanderlyle Crybaby Geeks are among The National’s best-loved tracks, and the band’s fifth studio album holds up so well.
The additional songs are live versions of Bloodbuzz Ohio, Anyone’s Ghost and a storming London (“You must be loving your life in the rain/ you must be somewhere in London/ walking Abbey Lane), an alternative take of Terrible Love and four tracks never available on vinyl before.
The quality of Wake Up Your Saints, the ballads You Were A Kindness and Walk Off, and Sin-Eaters, a B-side when they still existed, is remarkably high.
These extra tracks have been released before, but for The National’s legion of fans, this handsome reissue is a must. Matthew George