SOUND JUDGEMENT

THE LATEST ALBUM RELEASES RATED AND REVIEWED

I GROW TIRED BUT DARE NOT FALL ASLEEP GHOSTPOET

★★★★★ OBARO EJIMIWE’S laidback delivery, often spoken more than rapped, won’t get the party started, but is perfect for lockdown listening through headphones.

In Rats In A Sack, Ejimiwe warns of the “far right on the jukebox” and obliquely references the Windrush scandal – “wind rushed me and chilled me to the bone” – while the refrain of “out means out” evokes the fracturing Brexit debate.

The title track asks “Who knows what will awake if I fall too deep?” as Ghostpoet makes a significant step forward with this album, released on May Day, appropriately, and sounding like a distress signal urging someone to come and rescue us from this nightmare.

GOOD TO KNOW JOJO

★★★★★

THE American chart-topper returns with her fourth studio album, since her breakout song Leave (Get Out).

Her undoubted talent is showcased again in a soulful album which feels both classic to her style and an evolution of her work at different moments. Those among her fans will have already heard hits such as Man, and Lonely Hearts, the music video for which appeared recently.

Of course, there is music to dance to, but there is a depth and reflective mood as well, with her nimble voice celebrated in the lighter-raising Small Things and matched with booming bass and samples in Think About You.

R&B with style and thought.

QUEEN HIGH STRAIGHT WENDY JAMES

★★★★★

WENDY JAMES, best known as the voice of pop-punk darlings Transvision Vamp, draws on her lifelong inspirations for her latest solo effort.

“The music that excites me now, ultimately, is the same as when I was starting out songwriting and back through my days in Transvision Vamp,” says the 54-year-old Londoner. James cribs from Motown, indie, rockabilly and French musette but her magpie-like approach comes off as pastiche rather than homage. The album does little to indicate an artist with more than 30 years’ experience.