IDRIS ACKAMOOR & THE PYRAMIDS
Afro Futuristic Dreams
STRUT
8/10
Spiritual jazz guru explores Africa
Since the early 1970s, saxophonist and multi-instrumentalist Ackamoor has been Chicago’s answer to Sun Ra, purveying an Afrocentric, mystical take on jazz. More recent albums have seen his backing band the Pyramids flirting with Afrobeat, and this new album sees him exploring wider notions of Africanness, from the Tinariwenish desert blues of the title track to the Fela Kuti-style protest of “Police Dem”; from the wonky Ethio-jazz of “Garland Rose” to the kaleidoscopic riot of kalimbas and woodwind on the closing track “Nice It Up”. Best of all might be the ecstatic, heavily orchestrated astral-jazz freak-out of “Thank You God”.
JOHN LEWIS
ANJIMILE
The King
4AD
8/10
An innovative examination of distorted American life
On The King, his fifth album and first for 4AD, the Boston-based singer-songwriter Anjimile Chithambo finds a thousand different ways to distort his voice and acoustic guitar. On the dramatic title track, which borrows as much from opera as from folk, he layers himself into a heraldic choir and launches a volley of industrial arpeggios. He manipulates his guitar to add shards of feedback to “Genesis” and an afterlife drone to “The Right”. This is an album about distortion, not just of traditional folk instruments but of the emotions – grief and rage and bewilderment – that he experiences as a black trans person in America.
STEPHEN DEUSNER
CORINNE BAILEY RAE
Black Rainbows
THIRTY TIGERS
8/10
Surprising change-up on soul star’s fourth
Seven years is an aeon, so it’s understandable, if unexpected, that Bailey Rae should reappear with a high-impact, shouty single mixing garage punk, glam and electronic noise. Along with the PJ Harvey-ish rock of “Erasure”, “New York Transit Queen” is the most radical departure from her classically inclined R&B/soul-pop, though she’s not ditched it altogether. Rather, most tracks represent a rewiring along modernist lines, with electronic textures and jazz flourishes that recall Solange, Lafawndah and Flying Lotus. The shimmering mutant disco of “Put It Down”, the groovy, vibes-splashed title track and astral jazz-soul closer “Before The Throne Of The Invisible God” contribute to what is an inspired left turn. SHARON O’CONNELL
DEVENDRA BANHART
Flying Wig
MEXICAN SUMMER
8/10
Cate Le Bon-produced, synth-washed 11th struggles for hope
The antic hippie of Banhart’s early work is long gone on this depressed but not despairing record, warmed by the melancholy, spacy hush of his voice over drifting synths and the bass’s heartbeat pulse. He’s like “a bird with no sky” and forgets his own name on “Sight Seer”, while the steel guitar on “Fireflies” and nocturnal, gossamer funk of “Sirens” only add to the music’s softly enveloping, perhaps healing fog. “Twin” vocally nods to Bowie’s “Fame”, but a closer reference may be David Sylvian, in the vocal prettiness, ethereal setting and subdued suggestion of pain. The elegiac “Charger” clings to love, and hope outside himself: “Everything’s burning down, but the grass is always green”. NICK HASTED
COURTNEY BARNETT
End Of The Day
MILK!/MOM+POP
7/10
Instrumental soundtrack for new documentary
Given the importance of voice and lyrics to her music, it’s somewhat of a surprise to find Courtney Barnett releasing an instrumental album, but End Of The Day is Barnett’s soundtrack for Anonymous Club, Danny Cohen’s forthcoming documentary about the Australian songwriter. It’s very different to Barnett’s usual work, more meditative, reflective and sometimes somewhat disorientating, largely improvised with synth and guitar while Barnett watched the final edit for the first time. Held together by a unifying drone, End Of The Day is a welcome if unusual addition to Barnett’s catalogue and also marks the final release from her label Milk!.
PETER WATTS
BELBURY POLY
The Path
GHOST BOX
7/10
Belbury Poly expands to four-piece on nimble story-song suite
The Path is a welcome step forward for Jim Jupp’s long-running Belbury Poly project, where a loose narrative, told with just the right amount of playful reverence by Justin Hopper, is accompanied by Jupp and a full band. The music here feels more limber than previously, though there’s still something to be said for the insular visions of earlier albums like 2006’s The Owl’s Map. While it sits within the Ghost Box world, The Path changes things up in a good way; the music breathes more, its lithe library jazz by turns wistful and groovy.
