ALBUM REVIEWS
Liam Gallagher and John Squire – One Day At a Time
“Welcome back to the land of the living,” declares Liam Gallagher in the title track from this meeting of minds with fellow Manchester music legend John Squire. Those expecting a hybrid of Oasis and the Stone Roses in the 10 songs here won’t be disappointed. Gallagher is in strong voice throughout and Squire’s guitar playing hasn’t sounded this energised since the days of Madchester. In lead single Just Another Rainbow he indulges in psychedelic backwards guitar, while Mars to Liverpool is a catchy blast of 60s-flavoured pop. Squire channels his inner bluesman in the swaggering I’m a Wheel, there’s more than a hint of Jimi Hendrix in the riff of Love You Forever and a nod to The Faces in the piano-driven You’re Not The Only One. An enjoyable diversion.
Kaiser Chiefs – Easy Eighth Album Review by Duncan Seaman
Having at times flirted with disco grooves on their 2016 album Stay Together and its 2019 successor Duck, Leeds five-piece Kaiser Chiefs have gone the whole hog this time and hired Nile Rodgers of Chic and Amir Amor of Rudimental to produce their eighth album. Singer Ricky Wilson struts his funky stuff in the singles How 2 Dance and Feeling Alright, the latter of which has a slinky guitar line that pays homage to Rodgers’ former clients Duran Duran. They haven’t entirely abandoned their early grittier leanings, though. The Job Centre Shuffle and Reasons To Stay Alive have punchy riffs that will go down well live. Beautiful Girl and Sentimental Love Songs are rare forays into romantic territory, while The Lads is an untypical ode to male friendship. Eight albums in, Kaiser Chiefs still have plenty to say.
Yard Act – Where’s My Utopia Review by Duncan Seaman
Leeds band Yard Act found the commercial sweet spot with their first album The Overload, which shot to number two in the charts at the start of 2022 on the back of much critical praise and sent them on a world tour. It was all a far cry from the indie obscurity that Post War Glamour Girls and Menace Beach, the respective former bands of singer James Smith and guitarist Ryan Needham, laboured under and it’s perhaps small wonder that Album No 2 finds Smith taking stock of their changed circumstances. In Dream Job he mocks himself for being ungrateful for pop stardom, while We Make Hits pokes fun at coolerthan-thou post-punk bands and proclaims “we ain’t afraid to get paid on stage”. What’s most apparent though is Yard Act’s roaring musical ambition which turns Where’s My Utopia into an 11-track party.
Nadine Shah – Filthy Underneath Review by Tom White
Coming from a horribly turbulent period including the death of Shah’s mother with cancer and her own struggle with mental health issues, this fifth album mixes darkness and beauty, lyrical depth and a lightness of touch, to dazzling effect. From the jarring intro to Even Light, it is far from a relaxing listen either musically or thematically, but certainly a rewarding one. The hypnotic Food For Fuel and the Ane Brun-esque The Greatest Dancer are among the standouts, the latter recalling a “trippy” experience watching Strictly Come Dancing while caring for her mother. See My Girl, the album’s prettiest moment, is a more straightforward tribute while the stunning closer French Exit deals frankly with one of the darkest periods of her life.