AMERICANA Folk, bluegrass, blues and more
CHUCK PROPHET
The Land That Time Forgot
YEP ROC
8/10
Ex-Green On Red man goes folk on witty and allusive 15th album
There’s plenty of autobiography in Prophet’s latest work, described by the singer-guitarist as “just as much a 21st-century exorcism as it is Americana”, although it’s often refracted through the prism of the culture and politics he grew up with. Especially the Republican Party, of whom his parents were both staunch supporters.
“Nixonland” looks back on a school field trip to Richard Nixon’s old law office in Los Angeles, close to Prophet’s hometown, and charts Tricky Dicky’s rise and demise, until he and his family were “holed up like four refugees” on a cliff top. By contrast, the reverential, Tom Petty-ish “Paying My Respects To The Train” is a fictional memory of Lincoln’s circuitous funeral ride to his final resting place in Illinois. Prophet’s approach is tailored to suit, exploring modern and antique mythology through the vernacular of folk music.
Despite the stylistic departure, The Land That Time Forgot is busy enough to accommodate trace elements of the roots-rock that made his reputation, first with ’80s outlaws Green On Red and then through a prolific solo career that shows no signs of abating. His wife and foil, Stephanie Finch, is on hand too, adding cool harmonies to Prophet’s breezy baritone. The band, meanwhile, kick in on hillbilly twangfest “Fast Kid” and the swirling “Marathon”, which manages to equate the punishing nature of Depression-era dance marathons with the anxieties of America’s current gig economy, everyone forced to keep moving lest they fall to their knees.
Prophet salutes a couple of personal heroes on “High As Johnny Thunders” (Dion DiMucci being the other one), an acoustic workout with a curling sax solo that imagines an inverted history whereby Joan Of Arc stars in movies, Napoleon is rangy and the New York Dolls are all still with us. This finds a mirror in the irreverent “Get Off The Stage”, calling for Trump to stand down, take a seat and, in a lyric that feels especially poignant in current times, “We’ll put some John Prine on repeat”.
ROB HUGHES
LAVINIA BLACKWALL
Muggington Lane End
VHLI›UHLHDVHG
7/10
Trembling Bells singer strikes out alone
It’s been interesting to see where the members of Trembling Bells have landed after the group split in late 2018: Blackwall, their pure-voiced singer, for many the quintet’s beating heart, has come through with a surprising debut, trading Trembling Bells’ mythological scope for a more intimate, personalised vision. The dryness of the production, with its echoes of the Witchseason world, suits Blackwall’s daytime, kaleidoscopic poetry, and songs like “Nothing Is Wasted” and “John’s Gone” belie their energetic spirit with troubled, uncertain content. These are folk-rock-ish songs, but they’re deeper, and far more engaging, than mere period-piece stylings.
JON DALE
BLANCMANGE
Mindset
BLANC CHECK
7/10
’80s synthpop veteran still pushing the envelope
Like an electropop Wire, Blancmange made some innovative music in the aftermath of punk, disappeared from view, and then returned after a protracted period with a suite of records that stood up against their early work both in terms of experimentation and tunes. With frontman Neil Arthur now joined by synth maestro Benge, Mindset explores a mannered electronic pop that sets Arthur’s windswept croon to crisp analogue bounce. It can occasionally feel almost too on-the-nose – one particularly mannered track is titled “Sleep With Mannequin” – but “Antisocial Media” and “Insomniacs Tonight” achieve an oblique romanticism that’s hard to resist.
LOUIS PATTISON
BON VOYAGE ORGANISATION
La Course
L’INVITATION MUSICALE
6/10
Parisian disco producer explores his jazzy krautrock side
The genre-fluid alias of French producer Adrien Durand and his sprawling studio collective, Bon Voyage Organisation have previously dabbled in disco, jazz, house, world music, proggy fusion and more. Reportedly inspired by Berlin-era Bowie and the experience of opening for Kamasi Washington in Paris, the latest BVO release features a slimmed-down band and a more kraut-infused, motorik, synthheavy sound, from the dramatic Vangelis pulsations of “La Course” to the slinky electro-funk of “Prière Pour Le Voyageur”, complete with sexily deadpan chanteuse vocals. Mellow lounge-tronica sometimes veers too far into smooth-jazz blandness, but Durand mostly strikes an engaging balance between lightweight retro pastiche and inventive homage.
STEPHEN DALTON
TIM BURGESS
I Love The New Sky
BELLA UNION
7/10
Charlatans frontman growing into eccentric middle age
After writing with the likes of Tim Gordon and Kurt Wagner for his previous three solo sets, the lone approach seems to have indulged more of Tim Burgess’s agreeable idiosyncracies. Many of these 12 tunes resemble dreamy piano and acoustic-based ditties that have gone vintage clothes shopping for accompanying arrangements, and come home with a hotch-potch, including kitschy synths on “Only Took A Year”, folky fiddle on the sweet indie-pop of “Empathy For The Devil”, woozy sax on “Sweet Old Sorry Me” and even yapping kids on the wistful “Comme D’Habitude”. The top-line melodies don’t always cut that deep, but with such intriguing decoration, we’re still enchanted.
JOHNNY SHARP
IAN CHANG
Belonging
CITY SLANG
8/10
Polyglot post-rocker makes solo detour into nely crafted electro-jazz
Having honed his percussion skills with experimental New York bands Son Lux and Landlady, Ian Chang riffs on his multicultural heritage on this beautifully crafted solo debut. The Hong Kong-born, Dallas-based Chang blends sample-heavy electronica, jazzy textures and avant-rock elements with virtuosic precision, leavening glitchy dissonance with fragrant melodies and warmly emotional undercurrents. Airy post-techno instrumentals are interspersed with left-field pop interludes like “Comfort Me”, a deliciously woozy electro-soul lullaby featuring velvet-voiced singer Kiah Victoria, or›“Audacious”, with guest vocals from Kazu Makino of Blonde Redhead, which sounds like Vanessa Paradis’ “Joe Le Taxi” being squelched through a wormhole in space. A fresh, inventive, sonically rich debut.
STEPHEN DALTON
CHATHAM COUNTY LINE
Strange Fascination
YEP ROC
7/10
The grass grows gradually less blue
is the product of an understandable restlessness – Chatham County Line have wearied of being persistently bracketed as a
