Springsteen’s Country. The Boss has long shared common ground with the “three chords and the truth” school of country music. His songs reflect the reality of blue-collar lives and ooze heart-felt emotion. Bruce, who acknowledges the great Hank Williams as an influence, has covered standards like Rhinestone Cowboy and the Ballad Of Jed Clampett live, and he captured a cool, well-received Nashville vibe on 2019’s Western Stars. This compilation sees 20 country stars cover his songs, opening with Johnny Cash’s 1983 version of Johnny 99, its upbeat feel subverted by the sour lyrical tale of a desperate man driven to crime. (Cash’s cover of Springsteen’s Highway Patrolman from the same album was even better.)
Travis Tritt re-purposes Tougher Than The Rest, a song for older lovers, for country perfectly; and Texan Americana star Lera Lynn’s version of Fire is sublime. Has a song this hot ever sounded so cool? The Rising – Bruce’s response to the 9/11 terror assault on New York – is a tougher challenge, but The Whiskey Treaty Roadshow’s beautiful banjo-inflected cover works. It is both more thoughtful and more defiant than the original, and the survivor’s words in the face of unspeakable evil still inspire, “May your strength give us strength, may your faith give us faith”. Emmylou Harris, Steve Earle, Solomon Burke are among the other featured artists; Sonny Burgess covers Tiger Rose, a song Bruce hasn’t yet released. There’s more Boss country to come too – his Somewhere North Of Nashville is one of seven never-heard albums in his Tracks II box-set, out next month.
Dylan Scott. Easy Does It. Louisiana-born Scott made inroads into the US Billboard charts with his first two albums. His third combines trad country with a modern vibe. Stand-outs, like I Hate Whiskey, a raw emotional song with a splash of R&B and a hefty hook, and his recent chart-topper This Town’s Been Too Good To Us, celebrating his small-town roots, showcase his strengths; not least those gruff baritone vocals. The rising star has sold five million singles in the past five years, including hits like New Truck and his Dylan Marlowe collaboration Boys Back Home.
Miley Cyrus. Something Beautiful. Pop icon Miley reinvents herself on an album packed with surprises. The title track starts like pure R&B then explodes into heavier chorus and climaxes with her screaming ‘Eat my heart, break my soul/Take my parts, let me go’. Songs range from the exhilarating pop of End Of The World, imagining two lovers on the verge of nuclear apocalypse, with Molly Rankin from Alvvays, to dreamy ballad More To Lose. Our own Naomi Campbells adds a whisper thought to power balled Every Girl You Ever Loved.
Garbage. Let All We Imagine Be Light. It starts with Shirley Manson’s instant ‘If you’re ready for love’ hook on There’s No Future In Optimism, then defies ageism on the quirkily addictive Chinese Fire Horse. Get Out Of My Face ups the urgency; dubby Have We Met (The Void) packs in doomy synths and a dramatic, far eastern feel, and Hold is off-kilter pop with a huge chorus. They skate close to rock opera on The Day That I Met God. Grunge at its tuneful best.
Conflict. This Much Remains. Still angry after all these years, southeast London’s 80s blue-collar anarcho-punks misdirect listeners with the dreamy The Impossible Soul before the title track bangs in as fierce and relentless as The Hulk in a temper. They hit peak rage on Shut The **** Up and mellow it on Cut The Crap – punk-reggae fusion featuring the voice of the late poet Benjamin Zephaniah. Targets include animal rights, eco-doom and the mega-rich global elite. Fiona Friel’s vocals add balance to Colin Jerwood’s Crass-like anger.