ALBUM REVIEWS
Mae Muller – Sorry I’m Late
After a disappointing Eurovision despite the incredibly catchy I Wrote a Song, Muller releases a debut album packed with well-crafted songs about dating, relationships and breakups. Some echo the resilient sentiment of I Wrote a Song, while others, like Little Bit Sad and Breathe, show a gentler side. Muller reflects on modern life with Something Real, looking at dating site swiping, while Porn Lied to Us discusses the difference between real sex and acting out a fantasy. She cites fellow Londoner Lily Allen as an influence and it is easy to see that in down-to-earth lyrics like “when I first saw you, you were waiting for the bus”. The album includes the 2021 collaboration Better Days with NEIKED and Polo G, last year’s flirty I Just Came to Dance and catchy current single Me, Myself and I.
Corey Taylor – CMF2 Review by Tom White
Playing on the title of his debut “solo” album, CMFT , and again backed by a ferociously talented band, the Slipknot and Stone Sour frontman’s follow-up release explores every corner of his record collection and musical tool kit. The album is eclectic from the outset, lurching straight from opener The Box – a folky number with Taylor on mandolin – into the more familiar pulverising rock of Post Traumatic Blues and then Talk Sick. Midnight is two minutes of understated vocals segueing into a runaway train of a guitar solo while the soulbaring Sorry Me is an album highlight. There’s a little Springsteen in the anthemic Someday I’ll Change Your Mind, while the six-minute closer Dead Flies improbably marries a chugging metal riff to Cureesque synths before again soloing off over the hills.
Luluc – Diamonds Review by Matthew George
Dream folk duo Luluc have travelled a long way to get to Diamonds, a sparkling album that expands their sound. Zoe Randall and Grant Alden released their first album in 2008 and, while earlier recordings were mainly vocals and acoustic guitar, Diamonds adds orchestral parts, brass, reverb and hushed drones to the mix. This is clear on the superb opening and title track, an on the road tale of tough gigs at places like the Blind Pig in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Song titles like Moonbeam, The Shore, Come on Spring, Snow and The Sky show a preoccupation with nature and a pastoral sensibility harking back to the 1960s. That’s compounded by a cover of As Tears Go By, written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards for Marianne Faithfull in 1964 at the dawn of swinging London.
Thirty Seconds to Mars – It's the End of the World But It's a Beautiful Day Review by Mason Oldridge
The Leto brothers – Hollywood star Jared and Shannon – are back, this time on their own, with a new studio album. Lyrically, it is quite pessimistic and more in line with the first half of the juxtaposing title, but musically it is more upbeat and draws comparison to Post Malone and Glass Animals. The record opens with the single Stuck, which is easily the standout track. An absolute earworm, it received a first play at BBC Radio 1’s Big Weekend and is based on an addictive bassline and postchorus onomatopoeia that you can’t help but chant along to. But the rest of the album, while still a good listen, may not quite hit the same high for some. The songs feel a bit more simplistic but it is refreshing to hear electronic influences on the collection.