SOUND JUDGEMENT

The latest album releases reviewed

RENAISSANCE BEYONCÉ

★★★★✩ Renaissance means rebirth in French, and the pop superstar achieves exactly that by using dance floorfocused genres such as disco, Afrobeats and house, while adding personal flair.

It features samples from Robin S, Donna Summer and Giorgio Moroder, and production and writing credits from her husband Jay-Z. The result is an eclectic but extremely pleasing aural experience, which will have fans old and new grooving wherever they are to bops including Cuff It, Summer Renaissance and previously released single Break My Soul.

Tracks such as Plastic Off The Sofa showcase the singer’s world-famous vocal chops, but laid over more funky bass beats.

Prior to the album’s release Beyoncé revealed that Renaissance was a three-act project she had recorded during lockdown. If Act 1 is anything to go by, there is still much to be excited about.

ALL 4 NOTHING LAUV

★★★✩✩ The Californian singer, real name Ari Leff, brings something unique to the table, an ability to package his vulnerable tendencies into upbeat pop songs without prompting cynicism.

These 13 tracks glide effortlessly through glossy bubblegum pop, glitchy beats and sanitised trap music. Lauv recalls his romances, psychedelic experimentations and struggles with fame. Still, his delivery is sharp and drenched in charisma.

NOISE AND FLOWERS NEIL YOUNG AND PROMISE OF THE REAL ★★★★✩

This live album documents Young’s 2019 European tour with Promise of the Real, led by Willie Nelson’s son Lukas, and with Young still refusing to return to touring after the pandemic, this might be the last we hear from him. Maybe not as essential as the career-reviving 1979 Live Rust or Roxy: Tonight’s The Night Live, an evocative 2018 release from 1973, Noise And Flowers stands as the work of an artist still at the top of their game.