Ottawa Citizen

ALBUM REVIEWS

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TLC

TLC 852 Musiq TLC’s self-titled album is from the surviving members, Tionne (T-Boz) Watkins and Rozonda (Chilli) Thomas. Lisa (Left-Eye) Lopes died in a 2002 car crash. The new album heartbreak­ingly includes an old recording of Lopes’ voice as an interlude.

The album is a kaleidosco­pe of different sounds and moods and veers from the stripped-down acoustic of Perfect Girls — a sort of updated Unpretty — to the R&B-flavoured Joy Ride.

You want coherence? It’s overrated. This is TLC, after all. It’s just a joy to hear them again. What are you waiting for?

ZZ WARD

The Storm Hollywood Records The Storm is the fedora-wearing sophomore album from the Los Angelena and it builds on the qualities of Til The Casket Drops, her successful 2012 debut. Notch one up for the blues with Cannonball, written and performed with Grammy-winner Fantastic Negrito, which also features Ward’s harmonica, guitar and her most Amy Winehouse-ish vocal on the album. There’s more blues on Let It Burn and Bag of Bones.

Help Me Mama is a fiery plea. No matter that “my daddy raised me/tried to keep me his sweet baby,” it’s still Mom who gets the emergency call when times get rough.

If U Stayed is a wrenching ballad in Adele mode, while the thumping Ride, with Gary Clark Jr., ends the album in fine fashion with a gritty guitar solo.

ZZ Ward demonstrat­es galeforce ability on The Storm. And she keeps her hat on.

BEDOUINE

Bedouine Spacebomb Records Bedouine is Azniv Korkejian’s alias and the title of her debut. It’s a hushed, haunted, delicate wonder — a collection evoking 1970s singer-songwriter­s which pairs her thoughtful words with unfussy arrangemen­ts.

Born to an Armenian family in Aleppo, Syria, Korkejian grew up in Saudi Arabia, but is now based in Los Angeles. Bedouine, at times, is reminiscen­t of Leonard Cohen, Laura Marling and Bill Withers. Sometimes it’s the lyrics, in other places it’s Korkejian’s unaffected, sometimes nearly spoken delivery and also because the songs are usually built upon her acoustic guitar.

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