Joss sticks to what she knows best on soulful comeback
JOSS STONE: Never Forget My Love (Bay Street)
Verdict: Timely return to form ★★★★I
EDDIE VEDDER: Earthling (Seattle Surf)
Verdict: Star-studded jamboree ★★★II
SLASH: 4 (BMG)
Verdict: Virtuoso carves his own niche
★★★II
WHEN she released her debut album The Soul Sessions in 2003, the teenage Joss Stone was hailed as a stunning new star. Motown legend Smokey Robinson dubbed her ‘Aretha Joplin’, because of her ability to fuse the gospel hues of Aretha Franklin with Janis Joplin’s blues. She paved the way for a generation of British pop-soul acts.
But Stone never quite lived up to that early promise. Having sold 15 million albums, she hardly qualifies as a wasted talent. But she has yet to ascend to the status of her successors, from Adele to Dua Lipa.
Never Forget My Love is the Devon singer’s latest attempt to reboot a career dotted by false starts and fresh beginnings — but it might just be the record that puts her back centre stage. Cowritten with her producer Dave Stewart, of Eurythmics, her first album in seven years is an elegant return that puts the onus firmly on her extraordinary voice. It’s not the first time she has worked with Stewart. The pair hooked up over a decade ago on LP1, a patchy countryrock album, but the mood this time is classier. Written in Stewart’s studio in the Bahamas and recorded with top session players in Nashville, the record blends old-school R&B and 1960s-style orchestrations. ‘Think long gloves and a dress,’ says Joss, 34, who when she burst on the scene was more often seen in a long dress... and barefoot.
She strikes a melodramatic note from the off. Breaking Each Other’s Hearts is a ballad that would give Adele a run for her money. Stone hits the big notes without over-singing, while Stewart shuns high-tech electronics in favour of a deft arrangement that owes something to Burt Bacharach. The title track is one of several that incorporate strings, brass, keyboards and funk guitar. It’s a mellow love song, but could just as easily be about the joys of new motherhood. Joss and her American boyfriend Cody DaLuz last year became parents to a daughter, Violet, so the air of blissful contentment is unsurprising. It’s not all hearts and flowers. You Couldn’t Kill Me finds the singer saying good riddance to a toxic relationship, and You’re My Girl celebrates the value of female companionship. ‘You can call me at 4am,’ sings Joss. ‘Whatever kind of sadness we find ourselves in, we help each other laugh, help each other cry.’ There’s the odd deviation from classic soul. The Greatest Secret (‘I’m keeping it to myself’) is a tango track, but she generally sticks to what she does best — powerful ballads and retro pop. PEARL Jam frontman Eddie Vedder pulls out all the stops on his first solo album since 2011’s low-key Ukulele Songs. Originally one of rock’s noisy outsiders, the Seattle grunge legend is ageing gracefully. Earthling is less thunderous — but more intimate — than a typical Pearl Jam record.
It’s varied, too. Vedder, 57, remains a growling vocal presence, but he’s adaptable enough to turn his hand to anguished ballads, three-chord punk and stadium-ready rock. His approach can be scattergun, but the arrival, late on, of several A-list collaborators gives Earthling the feel of a post-lockdown jamboree.
He begins by confirming his heartland rock credentials. Long Way is a tuneful highway anthem about fading romance.
Brother The Cloud is a song about grief. Vedder lost his halfbrother Chris in a climbing accident six years ago. He was also a close friend of fellow grunge icon Chris Cornell, of Soundgarden and Audioslave, who died in 2017, and his anguish is palpable as he searches in vain for ‘a glimpse of his blue eyes’ in the sky above.
The end of the album feels like the climax of a major rock concert, with star guests emerging from the wings. Stevie Wonder adds urgent harmonica on Try, before Elton John sings and plays piano on Picture.
With its Sgt. Pepper-like cello, woodwind and brass, Mrs Mills already sounds like a Beatles pastiche. The presence, on pounding drums, of Ringo Starr rubberstamps the impression. Come summer, Vedder is back on tour with Pearl Jam. In the meantime, Earthling is an absorbing detour.
AS LEAD guitarist in Guns N’ Roses, Stoke-born Saul Hudson — aka Slash — is responsible for many of modern rock’s most memorable riffs. The top-hatted virtuoso, 56, has been back in the GNR fold since a 2016 reunion, but his simultaneous solo career continues apace: 4 is his latest album with side-project The Conspirators.
Recorded, as live, in Nashville (the band travelled to the studio in their tour bus to enhance an on-the-road feel), it sticks to familiar, hard-rocking shapes. There are slithering solos and crunchy choruses. Vocalist Myles Kennedy is bluesy and melodic, and there are unexpectedly tender touches on Fill My World.
But it’s Slash’s force of personality that carries the day. His solo on Fall Back To Earth, with its echoes of the Guns N’ Roses epic November Rain, shows why he remains the Potteries’ greatest musical export.
All albums out today. Pearl Jam play BST Hyde Park on July 8 and 9 (bst-hydepark. com). Guns N’ Roses also tour in July (ticketmaster.co.uk).