SOUND JUDGEMENT

THE LATEST ALBUM RELEASES RATED AND REVIEWED

SERPENTINE PRISON MATT BERNINGER ★★★★★

THE National singer Matt Berninger’s debut is a quiet triumph, produced impeccably by Booker T Jones, frontman of Booker T & The MGs. Opening track My Eyes Are T-Shirts (“they’re so easy to read”) comes with his distinctive baritone, while the album features washes of organ on One More Second, mournful strings on Collar Of Your Shirt and licks of brass on All For Nothing and Take Me Out Of Town. The title track refers to a sewer pipe that drains into the ocean near LA’s international airport and has a cage on top to prevent people getting into the water. It shows Berninger’s penchant for finding beauty in the mundane.

Serpentine Prison’s understated qualities deserve a wide audience.

FAKE IT FLOWERS BEABADOOBEE

★★★★★

TURN-OF-THEMILLENNIUM emo pop might not quite be the flavour of the month right now, but Beabadoobee – real name Beatrice Laus – somehow carries it off in a way that feels totally at home 20 years on. Sorry is a quiet-loudquiet anthem bursting with serious pop prowess, while the lo-fi lilting ballad How Was Your Day comes straight out of the Daniel Johnson songbook.

And though the tweeness might feel a little on-the-nose at points, Yoshimi, Forest, Magdalene presents a terrific slice of saccharine art rock with hints at an even more interesting future.

ALBUM NO. 8 KATIE MELUA

★★★★★

KATIE MELUA has quietly been serving up top 10 hits for over a decade. This – if it is a sign of anything – points towards her knack for cutting through passing trends with artful song-writing and occasional sonic experimentation.

The British-Georgian has been clear this is not a divorce album – coming as it does shortly after her split from World Superbike racer and musician James Toseland. But on Album No. 8, love is both the question and answer.

Inspired by folk greats like Bob Dylan, Album No. 8 features some fine, old-fashioned song-writing.