SOUND JUDGEMENT

The latest album releases reviewed

BACK HOME Big Joanie ★★★★✩

A new contender for album of the year comes from London-formed black feminist punks Big Joanie, a leap forward from their 2018 debut Sistahs.

A confident mix of 1990s riot grrrl and synth-heavy postpunk, Back Home showcases 13 songs that after just a couple of listens feel like they’ve always been in your life.

From the first note it’s clear this is not the 1977-style punk of the also excellent Chubby and the Gang, or the furious thrash of hardcore, and while the DIY ethic is still there, Big Joanie have moved on from the lo-fi of earlier recordings.

After supporting Courtney Barnett in November, Big Joanie tour as headliners in January and with songs as good as these, the future’s theirs.

GADZOOKS VOL 2 Caleb Landry Jones

★★★✩✩ The latest offering by Caleb Landry Jones continues to build on the artist’s alternative sound, despite at times over-complicating and attempting too much.

On his third studio album in three years, the Texan delivers a range of distinctive sounds that mostly make use of slowpaced, melancholic beats and stretched, MGMT-indebted vocals. While sometimes quite jarring, there are enough innovative moments to suggest Gadzooks Vol 2 represents a positive step in Landry’s burgeoning music career.

WHERE I’M MEANT TO BE Ezra Collective

★★★★✩

Ezra Collective are back in a big way with a second studio album that fuses jazz and reggae in a funky symphony of joy.

This positive body of work operates at a series of different tempos, characterised by impressive displays of fastpaced ensemble work.

The British quintet – along with vocals from Sampa the Great, Kojey Radical, Nao and Emeli Sande – bring their distinctive sounds to the fore, creating an ambience that’s both energetic and optimistic.