Elkie Brooks. Live & Acoustic.
She turns 80 in February but someone forgot to tell her vocal chords.
Salford-born Elkie has been singing since her teens, sharing bills with the Beatles and the Stones, yet the years have not diminished the range and power of her wonderful mezzo contralto voice.
She opens her first-ever live acoustic album with Do Right Woman, Do Right Man – a beautiful bluesy number written for Aretha Franklin in the 60s.
It’s a plea for equality, fidelity and commitment between the sexes, delivered in controlled but heartfelt manner.
Elkie’s voice still sounds as flexible as a circus contortionist.
This album is a stripped-back affair, largely accompanied by just pianist Tom Kincaid and saxophonist Mike Smith.
Elkie covers tracks like Prince’s 1984 smash Purple Rain, Bob Dylan’s Make You Feel My Love, and less remembered gems.
Warm & Tender Love – a soulful romantic ballad made famous by soul and gospel star Percy Sledge in 1966 – sounds almost like a hymn.
We also get her irresistible piano-driven interpretation of BB King’s Everyday I Have The Blues and Screamin’ Jay Hawkins’s I Put A Spell On You.
Elkie’s own hits here include Lilac Wine, Don’t Cry Out Loud and her poignant 1977 smash Sunshine After The Rain, written by Ellie Greenwich – a relatable song about finding joy after misery and heartbreak.
Yes, where is our silver lining shining at the rainbow’s end? And, when it materialises, how much tax will we pay on it?
Guitarist Chantel McGregor joins her on Pearl’s A Singer – the 1977 smash that finally broke Brooks big.
She nearly made it in hardworking early-70s blues band Vinegar Joe, which she fronted with the then-unknown Robert Palmer, and was rightly dubbed Britain’s Queen of the Blues.
The only mystery about Elkie Brooks is why nobody has ever thought to make her a dame. She’s 5ft 3 with the voice of a giant.
Total Tommy. Bruises.
Sydney-based Jess Holt makes dreamy indie-grunge laced with seductive melodies. She’s at her poppiest on songs like Adeline and the floating hypnotic groove of Real. Spider, a metaphor for a clingy friend, is punkier. Microdose, her hazy debut single about knowing yourself, sweeps along like the soundtrack to a hazy hallucination.
UFO. Obsession.
The legendary London rockers’ 7th studio album – the last of the era to feature German guitar wiz Michael Schenker – is remastered here. Classics like Only You Can Rock Me and bluesy belter Pack It Up (And Go) still hit hard. The reboot includes an alternative version of Cherry and a new mix of a cracking 1978 live show from Cleveland.
U2. How To Re-assemble An Atomic Bomb.
Celebrating the 20th anniversary of their 11th album, How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb, U2 describe this as a “shadow album” of “unreleased B-sides”. Ten are unheard, five remastered. In other words, these are the tracks they left on the cutting room floor, plus old songs improved.
The urgent Picture Of You started life as Xanax & Wine, and was finally rerecorded as Fast Cars (a bonus track on Atomic Bomb). This version, with fiercer guitar and a terrific chorus, was recorded midway through that process.
Power ballad I Don’t Wanna See You Smile started life as 2004’s Smile, while Evidence Of Life sounds like U2 of the early 80s.
Oddities include a flirtation with trip-hop on Treason and goth-pop (Are You Going To Wait Forever?). Best is the glorious sweep of Country Mile.
Aisha Badru. The Sun Still Rises.
At her best, the American-Nigerian folk singer conjures up an ocean of calm in a world of chaos. Gems include the warm, enveloping title track, the softly beguiling Finding Our Way and the Americana-tinged In The Making. Opener, A Little Mad, is a timely dig at today’s soul-sapping social media obsession and gloomy rolling news cycles.