DISCS AS GIFTS,
New CDs from favorite artists make good holiday gift choices
aught between Black Friday and Cyber Monday and still unsure what to get that special someone on your list? Music can make one of the best gifts. Here’s a look at some hot new releases:
BJORK “Utopia” (One Little Indian)
After the postbreakup turmoil of her last album, “Vulnicura,” Bjork is apparently back in love again. Her latest is filled with lyrical references to courtship and renewal and (on the single “Blissing Me”) sending love songs via mp3. For most songwriters, new romance might be a cue for an album of giddy pop songs. With Bjork, things are never that straightforward. While there are some lovely melodies here, they’re never presented in a standard pop setting; there are almost no drums on the 72-minute disc. Instead, she builds her dreamscapes around sampled nature sounds, layered voices and a chorus of flutes, all to suit the album’s theme of opening one’s heart to the universe. There are psychedelic overtones as well: On the 10-minute centerpiece “Body Memory,” her voice gets swept into a celestial chorus. It’s a romantic trip in more ways than one.
MORRISSEY “Low in High School” (BMG)
Morrissey is lately getting as much attention for his political rants on Facebook as for his songwriting, and his latest release plays like a temper tantrum set to music. He’s barely one verse into the album when he denounces the mainstream media, for the first of many times, and the kitchen-sink production of “My Love I’d Do Anything for You” — with a heavy arena-rock riff and spy-movie horns — helps him lash out in every direction. The seven-minute antiwar screed “I Bury the Living” has its heart in the right place, but the lyrics are even less subtle (“Give me an order, I’ll blow up your daughter”) and the music sounds like a prog-rock takeoff. “When You Open Your Legs” takes on the more familiar theme of doomed romance, with music more like a drunken tango. This isn’t one of his more focused or more tuneful albums, but he’s sure not getting complacent in older age.
SQUEEZE “The Knowledge” (Love Records)
When the veteran British pop band played the Wilbur last week, they dared to include seven new songs with their greatest hits, and the confidence was warranted. With an all-new band behind them (including singer/ percussionist Steve Smith, formerly of Dirty Vegas and now a Boston resident), leaders Chris Difford and Glenn Tilbrook have made one of the most ambitious albums of their long careers. It’s a moodier, sometimes darker sound than usual, but still reassuringly pop, thanks to Tilbrook’s soaring melodies and still youthful voice. Despite its autumnal lyric, “Innocence in Paradise” has the joy of Squeeze’s vintage singles. “Please Be Upstanding” has to be the catchiest song ever written about erectile dysfunction, and “Final Score” sensitively handles its tale of a young footballer abused by his coach. The title of “Albatross” borrows from a Fleetwood Mac oldie, to suit its lyric about aging guys who find solace in collecting vinyl. Talk about knowing your audience.