SOUND JUDGEMENT

THE LATEST ALBUM RELEASES RATED AND REVIEWED

DIZZEE RASCAL ★★★★ ★

COVID-19 may have disrupted the music business in 2020 but Dizzee Rascal has been busy, delivering food parcels in his home area during the pandemic and being made an MBE for services to music.

He steps up the pace again with seventh studio album E3 AF, referring to his east London upbringing and African heritage.

From opener God Knows the pace never drops until reflective closer Be Incredible, with 100mph raps and clattering beats keeping the energy high. Guests include Kano and Ghetts, P Money and Rob Jones from Essex mod band Missing Andy.

The album deftly combines Rascal’s leftfield early experimentation and later pop success, putting him firmly back in the game.

HEY CLOCKFACE

ELVIS COSTELLO

★★★ ★★

OPENING with the spoken-word Revolution #49 and the punky No Flag, the eclectic tone is set from the start and incorporates scat singing on the title track and I Can’t Say Her Name and a variety of brass and woodwind flourishes from the trio of Parisian musicians involved – alongside Costello’s long-time collaborator Steve Nieve – in the two-day session which produced the bulk of the album.

Hey Clockface is an interesting and worthwhile addition to Costello’s catalogue.

THE HUMAN DEMANDS

AMY MACDONALD ★★★ ★★

THE Scottish singer-songwriter looks inward on a record that tackles aging, depression and the pitfalls of love.

Macdonald teamed up with indie producer Jim Abbiss (the man behind early records by Artic Monkeys and Kasabian) and the result is an album that feels fresh and light.

Statues recalls the jangling riffs and storytelling of Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers, while The Hudson is Springsteen-esque in its tuneful delivery and considered pacing. It’s an album that combines vulnerability with unabashed rockiness, with pleasing results.