Polishing gems
Paul Simon puts a new spin on old material, while Anna Calvi electrifies on her return to pop
Paul Simon is presently in a ruminative state of mind, rounding off his farewell tour with a quiet confidence. His writing and recording career is by no means over but he can be forgiven the backwards glance of In the Blue Light on which he has chosen to revisit lesser known tracks from his solo back catalogue in re-arranged and even slightly re-written form, “like a new coat of paint on the walls of an old family home”.
The results are largely downbeat but lovingly wrought in the company of expert musicians such as trumpeter Wynton Marsalis, guitarist Bill Frisell and the crossover classical ensemble ymusic, currently enhancing Simon’s final shows with their vocal and instrumental prowess.
Their curt, perky strings combine with scurrying woodwind on a new version of Can’t Run But from Rhythm
of the Saints, arranged by Bryce Dessner of The National, while Rene and Georgette Magritte with Their Dog After the War, originally inspired by a photograph of the same, is finessed as
an elegant, intimate chamber piece.
Boundaries between blues and jazz dissolve in this assured company. The laidback strut of One Man’s Ceiling Is Another Man’s Floor is shown some southern hospitality but also embellished with delicate cascading jazz piano. There is a gentle flamenco flourish to the guitar playing on
The Teacher, around which lithe but sparing saxophone is draped, while the lovely, languorous How the Heart Approaches What It Yearns is
rendered as a dusky croon.
The whole album suggests a sense of Simon winding down, yet is so creatively on point that it could signal the start of a whole new fertile recording chapter from this master songwriter.
Like her peers St Vincent and Joan As Policewoman, Anna Calvi is an artistic shapeshifter and smart stylist rather than a knockout songwriter. Following diversions over the last five years into film music and opera, she returns to a poppier place with
Hunter, her most mainstream record to date.
Calvi has always been a power dresser. This time round, she embraces gender fluidity in the lyrics, coming over like an earthier Christine and the Queens as she explores the idea of woman as predator on
As A Man and Alpha (“I divide and conquer”).
Through the sleekness of the production, she retains the drama in her vocal delivery, letting rip on
Don’t Beat the Girl Out of My Boy , as well as showcasing her signature incendiary guitar riffing, now with an industrial blues tinge on Indies or
Paradise, before the tone becomes progressively softer and silkier on the sultry romance of Swimming Pool and pared-back rapture of Away.
Following this, it’s hard to get worked up – positively or negatively – about cheery indie combo The Kooks who have evolved steadily over the last decade to a reasonably assured state where their new album can accommodate 60s beat pop stylings
(Tesco Disco), acoustic rock’n’roll strumming (Honey Bee) and 70s MOR pop( Weight of the World) alongside the more predictable knees-up indie of Pamela and the inoffensive coasting of No Pressure.
Nashville-based Aaron Lee Tasjan has already exhibited the potential to jostle Ryan Adams for rock Americana guitar hero status with his previous album Silver Tears and gleefully eclectic live shows. But he sells himself a little short on the accessible roots pop of Karma For
Cheap, with only bittersweet country pop ballad Dream Dreamer and the Roy Orbison-influenced Strange
Shadows standing out from the pleasant background listening.
The album suggests a sense of Simon winding down, yet is so on point it could signal the start of a new fertile chapter