Llanelli Star

SOUND JUDGEMENT

THE LATEST ALBUM RELEASES RATED AND REVIEWED

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THE CHEMICAL BROTHERS NO GEOGRAPHY ★★★★ ★

IF someone told me back in 1989 that I would still be wanting to listen to The Chemical Brothers in 2019 I would have thought they were having me on.

But 30 years later, they are as fresh as they were then.

No Geography has simply some of the best experiment­al beats I’ve heard in a long time.

Vocals are primarily by Norwegian singer/songwriter Aurora, whose haunting voice cuts through the jerky, sharp and sometimes grinding melodies.

Tom Rowlands and Ed Simons have yet again proved they remain as relevant as ever.

EMMA BUNTON MY HAPPY PLACE ★★★ ★★

EMMA Bunton’s first solo album in 12 years comes just before the Spice Girls embark on a reunion tour, and it couldn’t be further from the all-guns-blazing, pop-tastic tracks they’ll be belting out up and down the country this summer.

Called My Happy Place, Bunton softly croons her way through her favourite songs, such as I Only Want To Be With You and You’re All I Need To Get By, a beautiful rendition with her fiancé Jade Jones and easily the strongest offering on a record that errs on the karaoke side of things, but is as sweetly inoffensiv­e as the singer’s ‘Baby Spice’ persona.

LSD – LABRINTH, SIA & DIPLO PRESENT... LSD ★★★ ★★

THE world doesn’t need more supergroup­s – mobs of chart-toppers producing little more than clumsy mash-ups of their best songs.

That Labrinth, Sia and Diplo didn’t fall into this trap is an achievemen­t in itself.

This collaborat­ion displays a surprising­ly varied emotional palate, resulting in some genuinely impressive tracks.

British singer and one-man hit factory Labrinth’s voice gels with Sia’s ethereal tones and the pair get the backing they deserve from Diplo, one half of Major Lazer.

At just over 30 minutes, LSD feels a little slight, more like an EP than a full-blown statement of intent. Maybe that’s still to come.

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