NEW RELEASES

SARA BAREILLES: Amidst The Chaos (Epic)

FOLLOWING a move into musical theatre — she wrote music and lyrics for the West End hit Waitress — the Californian singer goes back to her pop roots on an album that mixes pounding piano tracks and smoky ballads. She sometimes tries to be too clever, but real missteps are rare. Miss Simone, a tribute to Nina, is one of several jazz workouts. If I Can’t Have You is classic soul in the tradition of Smokey Robinson.

★★★★☆

CHEMICAL BROTHERS: No Geography (Virgin EMI)

THE clubland luminaries return to the block-rocking beats that reinvigorated British dance music on an album built around dynamic samples and the rough edges afforded by a bedroom-sized studio. Big-name guests are less conspicuous than before, but Japanese rapper Nene appears on propulsive house track Eve Of Destruction. Normally subdued Norwegian singer Aurora is a revelation on Catch Me I’m Falling.

★★★☆☆

BRUCE HORNSBY: Absolute Zero (Thirty Tigers)

THE pianist and singer’s latest music sounds nothing like The Way It Is, his vintage 1986 single about economic strife and race relations in America. Heartland rock has given way to abstract jazz with too many rarefied touches. But Absolute Zero boasts some enterprising guests, with female UK trio The Staves, chamber sextet yMusic and Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon adding clout to his bright, spacious piano.

★★★☆☆