BEST OF THE NEW RELEASES...

ENGLISH TEACHER: This Could Be Texas (Island)

The fast-rising Leeds fourpiece are often bracketed alongside a new wave of punky homegrown guitar bands, but the pigeonholing does them a disservice. There are some abrasive rock numbers on this fascinating debut album, but also a few detours into delicate indie-pop and brooding balladry. Frontwoman Lily Fontaine is quietly charismatic — her conversational lyrics address intolerance on the powerful Albert Road and her own indecision on Mastermind Specialism, where she likens herself to both a hesitant bride and a child who jumps off a playground slide halfway down. ))))*

IAN HUNTER: Defiance Part 2: Fiction (Sun)

Like Beyoncé, Ian Hunter is now two albums into a proposed trilogy — although the former Mott The Hoople singer isn’t quite as keen on hopping between genres as Queen Bey. Like its 2023 predecessor, Fiction features another all-star cast and sticks to a lyrically rich brand of glam-inclined rock ’n’ roll. Hunter, who is still sporting oversized rock-star shades at 84, is joined by Brian May and the late Taylor Hawkins on Precious (where his piano work echoes Mott’s All The Way From Memphis). Lucinda Williams deploys her Louisiana rasp on What Would I Do Without You.

PEARL JAM: Dark Matter (Monkeywrench)

The grunge era’s great survivors go back to basics on a punchy comeback dominated by fast and furious riffs. Guitarists Stone Gossard and Mike McCready are to the fore as the band look back to their formative days in 1990s Seattle, with new producer Andrew Watt emphasising traditional strengths while adding some modern touches, just as he did for The Rolling Stones last year on Hackney Diamonds. The hard rocking is tempered by the odd quiet moment, with frontman Eddie Vedder singing affectionately of his daughters Olivia and Harper on the tender Something Special. )))**

YUNCHAN LIM: Chopin Etudes (Decca)

Perhaps Chopin’s Op. 10 and Op. 25 Etudes are a young pianist’s music — Yunchan Lim certainly eats them up. The South Korean was only 19 when he made these astonishing recordings. I have to think back to the similarly early versions by Vladimir Ashkenazy and the late Maurizio Pollini to find parallels for Lim’s keyboard command and poetry. He plays the outer sections of the famous Op. 10 No. 2 (nicknamed ‘Tristesse’) with utter simplicity; at the other extreme, he thunders out the ‘Revolutionary’ Etude, No. 12. In Op. 25, he has a special feeling for No. 7 in C sharp minor and interprets it memorably. )))))