SOUND JUDGEMENT
THE LATEST ALBUM RELEASES RATED AND REVIEWED
N.E.R.D – NO ONE EVER REALLY DIES
THE R&B/funk/ pop-rock outfit are back wholeheartedly, unapologetically and exquisitely.
The somewhat curiously self-titled fifth album – their first in seven years – spills over with hefty collaborations and is a deluxe dossier of genres from ska to disco, but with the trademark energetic N.E.R.D touch.
In a very 2017 move, Williams and co have taken a step into the political arena. Standout track Don’t Don’t Do It!, featuring Lamar, cleverly wraps the shooting of Keith Lamont Scott by North Carolina police in 2016 into a package described by Williams as “jubilant”. The more you listen, the more it resonates.
Other highlights include banger ESP, Rihanna’s rapping on opener Lemon, and Ed Sheeran being given an alternative platform on reggae-tinged Lifting You. Definitely worth a space on your Christmas list.
LINKIN PARK – ONE MORE LIGHT: LIVE
THERE couldn’t be a better way to honour frontman Chester Bennington than with this album. The collection features songs from the band’s One More Light tour, which was cut short following Bennington’s shock death in July this year. It shows him at his best: giving the audience everything with his powerful vocals.
The band dedicated the album to Bennington and from beginning to end it stays with you. Somehow the lyrics of each song seem more poignant now, and Bennington’s voice cements itself in the annals of artists and talent gone too soon.
MONSTER RALLY – FLOWERING JUNGLE
MONSTER Rally, otherwise known as LA’s Ted Feighan, expertly curates a dreamy island mood with the help of lazy Hawaiian steel-pan guitars and crisp sunny beats.
The album is not ambitious, picking a theme and running with it to the end, but its relentless commitment to setting a scene springs comparisons with Eden Ahbez’s primal psychedelica in Eden’s Island, or (though opposite in tone) Bon Iver’s cabin-in-the-woods aesthetic.
While this attention to detail and slick sampling is Flowering Jungle’s strength, by the 16th track of island music the listener may start to wonder if Feighan has anything else up his sleeve.