SOUND JUDGEMENT
The latest album releases reviewed
9 SAD SYMPHONIES Kate Nash ★★★✩✩
Singer-songwriter
Kate Nash, known for her punchy melodies and honest lyrics, explores her sombre side in her new album.
A few of the songs, including Ray and Misery, explore themes of mental health – something that Nash realised was affecting her fans during live streams over lockdown.
The pandemic has influenced her writing, with the singer admitting the song Millions Of Heartbeats is “about that point in the pandemic where I had lost my spark for life.”
Despite the subject matter, most of the tracks still sound upbeat. The production and lyrics sometimes feel a little simplistic, but the beauty of Nash’s music is also its accessibility.
PROXY MUSIC Linda Thompson
★★★★✩ Vocal limitations from a long-term illness have brought about this ingeniouslytitled album of new songs from Linda – the reference continued by Thompson re-creating Kari-Ann Moller’s cover picture from Roxy Music’s debut.
Featuring artists handpicked by Linda and her son (and album co-producer) Teddy, Ren Harvieu is heartbreaking on I Used To Be So Pretty, while on John Grant, the opening line: “John Grant took my heart away to Reykjavik”, is sung by Grant himself. Bonnie Lass takes the ‘none more Scots’ approach of enlisting the Proclaimers. Linda Thompson’s own voice may be sadly missed but this is a wonderful album in its concept and execution.
CRASH Kehlani
★★★✩✩ Kehlani’s new release embodies modern R&B in a fascinating mix. The title track steals the show, using a heavy instrumental, led by rock-inspired guitar riffs, to accompany Kehlani’s stellar vocal range, while Sucia uses psychedelic sounds and dreamy, light vocals to create a heavy but hypnotic track.
The album explores romance in a more mature way than previous releases, with less uncertainty and a sense of strength and confidence.