ALBUMS OF THE WEEK

Foo Fighters

Medicine At Midnight Roswell/RCA, out Friday ★★★★★

Foo Fighters open their tenth album with a choir singing a nana-na chorus on Making A Fire that will nag at you in a good way from the minute you hear it. Dave Grohl’s outfit have always married catchy melody to their muscular hard rock. This, by the 52-year-old frontman’s own admission might be the ‘poppiest’ collection in their 26-year career. Shame Shame’s slightly spacey guitar and falsetto vocal recalls Prince. No Son Of Mine is like a Metallica song played with a grin rather than a gurn. Grohl has also acknowledged the influence of David Bowie’s Let’s Dance on the album co-produced by Nile Rodgers – and on the title track Grohl gives a spot-on Bowie impression.

Fresh from performing Times Like These at Joe Biden’s inauguration celebrations, here Waiting On A War is another crowd favourite in the making. Foo Fighters have always given their people what they want and their people will want this.

The Staves

Good Woman Atlantic, out Friday ★★★★★

When they were first heard of here, The Staves might have been seen as Watford’s answer to The Corrs. The Staveley-Taylor sisters initially blended folk with pop with close harmonies in a similar fashion to the Dundalk siblings. Work with Bon Iver and Paul Weller has seen them evolve into a more of an indie-folk prospect. Losing their mother and motherhood for oldest sister Emily within a year inform songs on this their third studio album. Failure speaks to the multi-faceted feelings that surface after loss where one sister sings mournfully ‘nobody wants to sing with me’. Satisfied, by contrast, berates an errant lover with the words ‘Did you need it that night or did you even care?’. John Congleton who has worked with Lana Del Rey, Phoebe Bridgers and St. Vincent has little to do with such rich vocal talents but complements them with a satisfying edge in the production.