SOUND JUDGEMENT

THE LATEST ALBUM RELEASES RATED AND REVIEWED

VELVET: SIDE A (EP)

ADAM LAMBERT ★★★★★ VELVET: Side A drips with glitter, soul, pop, funk, R&B, dance and everything else former American Idol star Adam Lambert could possibly throw at it, but without the tracks becoming too over-worked or clunky. He has a deft touch.

Across the short-but-sweet six-track release, Lambert is genuinely defying you not to get up and groove.

Stranger Are You is a jazzy concoction, while Ready To Run is fronted with a scuzzy guitar sound over a funky beat, music that gets right into your veins. After five full-throttle tracks, Lambert winds down with the epic closer Closer To You, showing off the full range of his vocals.

WAR IN MY MIND

BETH HART ★★★★★ WAR In My Mind sees Beth Hart bare her soul. Bad Woman Blues is a punchy opener, firing warning signs as she sings, branding herself as the queen of pain and poignant anthem Let It Grow explores Hart’s addiction-troubled years. Sugar Shack picks up the tempo while Try A Little Harder brings back the swagger. Strong tracks carry the album but it feels disjointed at times and lacks delivery as a complete project.

THIS IS THE PLACE (EP)

NOEL GALLAGHER’S HIGH FLYING BIRDS ★★★★★ NAMED after Tony Walsh’s poem, written in the wake of the Manchester Arena terrorist attack, This Is The Place kicks off with a Nineties electronic glow. It sounds very Manchester, but is more Happy Mondays than Cigarettes & Alcohol. Newly released A Dream Is All I Need to Get By has more harmonies, with a retro Sixties vibe, while Evil Flower is a bevvy of rocky riffs you can dance to. Think Led Zeppelin, but not as good. A couple of remixes round off the mini-album, available to buy on coloured vinyl.

Overall, the three main tracks are good quality, but they’re not going to set the world alight.