The Darkness. Dreams On Toast.
It must be a constant frustration for musical snobs that The Darkness make the music of the 70s and 80s sound so fresh and alive. Twenty-two years on from their brilliant Permission To Land debut, the Lowestoft rockers are back and firing on all cylinders – some of them unexpected. Their eighth studio album packs in heavy rock, boogie, echoes of Freddie Mercury pomp, gleefully infectious tunes, and guileless country, all delivered with an elephant-sized sense of fun. They kick off with the fierce but playful Rock And Roll Party Cowboy, an exuberant scorcher which rocks like AC/DC and mocks, tongue in cheek, the hard rock lifestyle. ‘I’m a rock and roll party cowboy/And I ain’t gonna read no Tolstoy,” Justin Hawkins sings on the chorus. Lead guitar soars and squawks with joyous abandon.
I Hate Myself is an even more addictive break-up song played as a flat-out, super-charged glam rock boogie – think The Sweet meets Queen with plenty of falsetto and an instant earworm chorus. Lovers of hard-rockin’ bangers will revel in tracks like Mortal Dread and Walking Through Fire, but more intriguing are the songs you don’t expect. Hot On My Tail is the kind of country the Beatles used to do, and they return to Nashville on the catchily playful Cold Hearted Woman, which swings along with a waltz feel embellished with fiddles.
Don’t Need The Sunshine starts like a relaxed rock ballad then builds up with sweeping, Mercury-style vocals. The toe-tapping Longest Kiss has a poppy ELO vibe, and then they hit us with the pile-driving The Battle For Gadget Land. They end with Weekend In Rome, a slow lush number which feels like the closing overture of a movie. It’s a terrific album. Music to make you smile.
Buster Shuffle. Together.
Madness and Chas & Dave combine in Buster Shuffle. Songs like I Don’t Mind What I See, powered by punk energy, were made for boisterous singalongs in packed pubs. You can almost smell the spilt beer. There’s a Rancid echo on the ska-punk Shows How Little You Know, while bouncy Masterplan finds the Londoners dreaming of making money and moving to Spain. Not too soon please.
Bryan Ferry & Amelia Barratt. Loose Talk.
Roxy Music star Bryan’s unheard demos from the 70s on have been re-recorded and enhanced with unemotional narration from performance artist Amelia as the duo strive to “blur the lines between music and art”. The results are mixed, but Roxy fans will be intrigued. The best tracks are brooding, ominous or trippy; others sound like a soundtrack waiting to happen.
Ebba Asman. When You Know.
The Swedish trombonist creates a blend of atmospheric jazz and lugubrious neo-soul on her third album as Ebba, 26, expands her musical vision. You hear her late-night club roots on tracks like No Answer while songs such as the RnB-fuelled Lately create a dreamy avant-garde soundscape. If this album were any smokier it would set off alarms.