Don’t make us wait 6 years again, Rita
RITA ORA: Phoenix (Atlantic) Verdict: Ready to rise again JOOLS HOLLAND & MARC ALMOND: A Lovely Life To Live (Warner Music) Verdict: Unlikely duo delivers
AS A thoroughly modern pop star, Rita Ora balances her singing career with plenty of extracurricular ventures. A coach on The Voice and an X Factor judge, she has starred in three Fifty Shades films and uses her celebrity to promote Calvin Klein and Adidas.
When you consider that her self-titled debut album came out six years ago, though, you would be forgiven for thinking that Rita, 27, had given up on music.
But now, after a draining legal dispute with her former label Roc Nation, her second effort, Phoenix, is finally here. Is it worth the wait? Just about. Ora, who moved with her parents to London from Kosovo when she was one, is a gifted singer. Her sweet voice has a soft, sultry catch that takes centre stage on the euphoric Only Want You and upbeat pop number First Time High.
But much of Phoenix has a familiar ring. Six of the 12 songs on the standard edition (there’s also a 16-track ‘deluxe’ version) have already been issued as singles, giving it the feel of a greatest hits collection, high on catchy ear-worms but less attractive in terms of value for money.
The appeal of those hits is hard to deny, though. Driven by stuttering electronics and auto-tuned vocal loops, Anywhere is a wistful ode to wanderlust. Co-writer Ed Sheeran’s songcraft is at its best on Your Song and the sublime Lonely Together was produced by the late Swedish DJ Avicii.
Elsewhere, the guitar-driven Summer Love is an equally catchy collaboration with drum and bass quartet Rudimental, and Ora uses the heartfelt Let You Love Me to address a self-destructive streak that stops her from forming meaningful relationships: ‘Every time it gets too real . . . I start running.’
Sometimes, though, Phoenix loses focus. New Look is a generic dance track. For You, lifted from Fifty Shades Freed, is an overwrought Liam Payne duet that feels out of place.
Another liaison is more interesting. A soulful duet with Iowa singer-songwriter Julia Michaels, who supplies ghostly backing, Keep Talking is a bold, electronic piece that suggests Rita is willing to experiment. Here’s hoping she doesn’t wait six years before doing so again.
JOOLS HOLLAND believes his new album with Soft Cell singer Marc Almond ‘brings out the best in both of us’ — and he has a point. The pair are both OBEs, but they are unlikely bedfellows, with Holland the cheery, boogie-woogie pianist and Almond the left-field maverick.
But it is those differences that make A Lovely Life To Live a success. Mixing some startling originals with big band versions of soul standards and torch songs, it brings ‘gutter heart’ Marc closer to the mainstream and adds mystique to Jools’s artistry.
Almond, 61, has worked courageously to get his career back on track following a near-fatal motorbike accident in 2004. He sang magnificently during a two-hour Soft Cell reunion concert in London in September and his adaptability shines through again here.
Jools, 60, and his band provide polished backing, with his keyboards dominating a brassy, baroque title track and the Edith Piaf cover Hymne À L’Amour.
The centrepiece, however, is a triptych of new songs about London. Theatrically sung by Almond, who moved to the capital from Leeds in the early Eighties, I Lost My City laments the disappearance of ‘the cafes and corners where we once met’, swept away by gentrification.
The party number London You Were My Lover looks back on the singer’s neon-lit, night-clubbing youth, while Workhouse Blues is a smoky jazz piece that sounds ready-made for a stage musical.
The covers include two Bobby Bland soul numbers and a rollicking take on When The Saints Go Marching In — a fiery finale to a rewarding alliance.
Rita ORa starts a UK tour at the Motorpoint arena, Cardiff, on May 21 (axs.com). Jools Holland & Marc almond are on tour until December 22 (joolsholland.com).