CDS of the week: three new releases
“When Richard Thompson sings, seas part and rocks crumble,” said Jude Rogers in The Guardian. His is an “authoritative, confident voice, but also a breathlessly young one, unchanged over the years”, as he deliciously demonstrates in this second collection of “fiery, beautiful” acoustic versions of “gems” from his back catalogue. And his “pearl-bright” guitarplaying is “still exquisitely, boldly, ragingly alive”. Genesis Hall, for example, the opening track Thompson wrote for Fairport Convention’s Unhalfbricking – sounds “just as vital” nearly 50 years on. Elsewhere, 1983’s Devonside and 2003’s Gethsemane “shine particularly bright”.
This second volume of acoustic versions works better than the first, perhaps because the songs are more contemplative, said David Honigmann in the FT. A sloweddown version of Pharaoh, drawing parallels between ancient Egypt and present-day England, cuts more deeply today than in 1988. “Here it sounds like Thompson’s best song ever. Perhaps it is.”
Five years ago the “wild-child” pop diva Kesha hit an early career high with her “dirty, glitter-soaked rock” album, Warrior, said Brittany Spanos in Rolling Stone. Since then, however, there’s been silence: Kesha has been embroiled in a gruelling legal battle with her former collaborator Dr. Luke (producer and part-owner of Kesha’s record label), whom she has accused of sexual and emotional abuse. On this excellent comeback, the singer channels that “drama into the best music of her career” – a heady brew of glossy beats, epic ballads and grimy guitar riffs.
The music “pinballs chaotically, but appealingly, between styles and genres”, said Alexis Petridis in The Guardian. And the stripped-back production, on songs such as Hymn and Learn to Let Go, reveal a singing voice that is “spectacular and raw”. When Kesha “hits an astonishingly high note at the end of Praying, it sounds eerie and cathartic, rather than showy”. This “captivating” comeback suggests Kesha’s most interesting work is ahead of her.
This disc is the last in a “superb series of all of Richard Strauss’s 174 songs for voice and piano”, said Fiona Maddocks in The Observer. Strauss’s piano writing is “rich with orchestral colours”, which are explored, relished, and “teased out wonderfully” by Roger Vignoles. Here, he includes four songs written for voice and orchestra – the Vier letzte Lieder (“Four last songs”) that made up Strauss’s famous farewell to life. Soprano Rebecca Evans matches Vignoles in that “particular ardent introspection” that Strauss demands, while the young Scots tenor Nicky Spence is by turns “abundant” ( Cäcilie), “soaring” ( Wenn...) and “tender” ( An Sie). “Three great performers.”
Vignoles “revels in Strauss’s lush piano writing” in the postlude of Die Ulme zu Hirsau, said Hugh Canning in The Sunday Times. But even his immense skill cannot truly replace a full orchestra in the transcriptions of the Vier letzte Lieder. Still, Spence gives an “impassioned” and “communicative” performance, and Evans sings “rapturously”.