Albums of the week: three new releases
Taylor Swift: The Tortured Poets Department Republic £15
“Who would be a former boyfriend of Taylor Swift?” The world’s biggest music star has written a number of songs inspired by her past relationships, said Will Hodgkinson in The Times. Now she’s back with a whole 16-track album’s worth, plus a surprise helping of 15 bonus Anthology tracks. TTPD is an “ultra-confident, balladheavy, poetic yet grounded reflection on love in all its forms: destructive, blissful, fantastical, embittered and idealised”. The terrific main album takes in synth pop, 1980s power ballads and Stevie Nicksstyle “emotional AOR”, while the (more variable) bonus material harks back to Swift’s pop country roots.
In this “imperial era of her long reign”, Swift clearly believes that “more is more”, said Lindsay Zoladz in The New York Times. But while there are certainly great moments here (the pulsing opener Fortnight; the wrenching So Long, London), this sprawling collection, with its familiar themes and sonic backdrops, generates diminishing returns. “Great poets know how to condense, or at least how to edit.”
Britten: Violin Concerto & Chamber Works (Isabelle Faust) Harmonia Mundi £15
Written in 1938-1939, Britten’s “hauntingly poignant” violin concerto has perhaps the most “captivating end” of any piece of its kind, said Richard Fairman in the FT. In the final ten minutes, the music “hangs in the air, gazing out nervously”, as the world is “poised anxiously on the threshold of an uncertain future”. The work is popular with violinists seeking to extend their repertoire, and on this terrific recording, the German virtuoso Isabelle Faust allows herself ample “breathing space”; while there is “no lack of aggressive attack when required, the lyrical passages sing with a heart-rending pathos”.
It’s an “impassioned and intense” account, said Erica Jeal in The Guardian, which is paired with three Britten chamber works. For the Suite for Violin and Piano, Op. 6, and the “beguiling” Reveille, Faust is joined by pianist Alexander Melnikov. Then, for Two Pieces for Violin, Viola and Piano (1929), they are joined on viola by Faust’s brother, Boris. The musicians “honour Britten’s exuberant works with vigour and determination” on a recording marked by its “bravura and brilliance”.
English Teacher: This Could Be Texas Island £8
The year is still young, said Andrew Trendell in NME, but already 2024 has seen the release of a crop of “stellar” debut albums by young British and Irish bands (the likes of NewDad, Sprints, Whitelands and Lime Garden). Now, staking their claim to future greatness, we have English Teacher, a four-piece outfit from Leeds. This Could Be Texas is “everything you want from a debut”. Melding post-punk, indie rock and witty pop, it’s a “truly original effort from start to finish, an adventure in sound and words, and a landmark statement”.
This beautifully judged debut is “striking in its lyrical and sonic ambition”, agreed Poppie Platt in The Daily Telegraph. Frontwoman Lily Fontaine has a real knack for “witty, whimsical lyrics that still manage to say something: about politics, race, regional inequality, the climate crisis, you name it”. It’s harder than ever now for new acts to break out and earn a living. Here’s an impressive bunch of musicians who are “choosing to take risks when the far easier route to radioplay and chart success would be to churn out filler. Good on them.”
Stars reflect the overall quality of reviews and our own independent assessment (5 stars=don’t miss; 1 star=don’t bother)