SOUND NT JUDGEME

THE LATEST ALBUM RELEASES RATED AND REVIEWED

CHROMATICA

LADY GAGA

★★★ ★★

WHILE Ariana Grande pioneers a new pop sound, Lady Gaga has been digging deep into the past, with Chromatica’s signature texture being house beats so 90s they would make Bobby Brown blush.

It’s a mark of the calibre of Gaga’s songwriting that if this were the work of a new artist, this would be one of the most promising albums of the year, but for Gaga, tunes like Stupid Love and Rain On Me (featuring Grande) are all in a day’s work. Her Little Monsters will welcome easily the campest Gaga album for a long time, with the Vogue pastiche Babylon serving up an atrocious “babble on” pun that shows she is not taking herself too seriously.

WAKE UP, SUNSHINE

ALL TIME LOW

★★ ★★★

ALL TIME LOW took a left-turn on their last album, 2017’s Last Young Renegade. Its abstract lyrics, atmospheric songs and sleek production suggested they were finally giving up on the poppunkery that had served them so well since the early 2000s.

It’s a surprise, then, that Wake Up, Sunshines returns to their old template: bright, buzzing guitars, emo lyrics and three-minute tracks. Songs like Getaway Green and Glitter & Crimson capture the rollicking spirit of their live shows. Yet there’s no escaping the fact listeners will find little new here.

BLUES WITH FRIENDS

DION

★★★ ★★

ROCK ‘n’ roller, Dion found success as lead singer of doo-wop group Dion & The Belmonts before solo hits like Runaround Sue and The Wanderer and the cult 1975 album Born To Be With You.

Now 80, with his voice as strong as ever, he releases 14 original songs with guests including Joe Bonamassa, Brian Setzer, Jeff Beck and Bruce Springsteen.

The standout is Song For Sam Cooke (Here in America), inspired by playing in Memphis with the King of Soul in 1962 at the height of the civil rights movement. Its lyrics about segregation and discrimination hit hard as America burns again over injustice.