reviews albums ALICE IN CHAINS **** Rainier Fog (BMG) Alice in Chains’ third album with singer Will Duvall, the same number they released with the late Layne Staley, hints at an optimism for the band’s future rarely seen in even their early albums. The title track and So Far Under resemble the midtempo riffs that went on to inspire Metallica’s voyage into middle age, while Maybe and All I Am have vocal harmonies like Lennon and McCartney on a hallucinogenic comedown. For 90s alternative bands, one of the bigger triumphs of the year. AE
ANNA CALVI ***** Hunter (Domino) After a five-year hiatus, Anna Calvi returns with a stone-cold stunner. Hunter is drenched in sexual drama and intensity, with lyrics delving deep into gender identity. The music is rich and texturally dense, with Calvi’s powerful vocals cutting right through everything. The first four tracks in particular are incredible, with Don’t Beat The Girl Out Of My Boy a glorious statement of intent. The latter half of Hunter doesn’t grab as immediately, but its 3am nocturnal stirrings grow with time. FT
ÅRABROT **** Who Do You Love? (Pelagic) Following 2016’s cantankerously ambitious The Gospel, Norwegians Årabrot cast their noise rock net further afield. Fans have come to expect skewered forms of metal from singer Kjetil Nernes and his rotating band, but on album highlight Sinnerman and the carnivalesque Uniform Of A Killer the band edges closer to Nick Cave’s early Birthday Party grind than anything resembling traditional metal. One senses Årabrot are on the cusp of greatness as their command of the music catches up to their vision. AJ
ARVE HENRIKSEN **** The Height Of The Reeds (Rune Grammofon) Spectral Norwegian jazz trumpeter Arve Henriksen joins with guitarist Eivind Aarset and electronics fella Jan Bang, both frequent bandmates of his, plus field recording artist Jez Riley French for a suite designed to be listened to with headphones. Specifically, while walking over the Humber Bridge – The Height... was previously a soundtrack for a City Of Culture installation in Hull. It works splendidly in isolation, though: the trio’s own moving, minimal style of pillowy jazz ambience folded into French’s recordings of the bridge itself. NG
BACAO RHYTHM & STEEL BAND ****
GAZELLE TWIN ***
MENACE BEACH **
The Serpent’s Mouth (Big Crown)
Pastoral (Anti-Ghost Moon Ray)
Mixing reggae-style steel drums with funk and a penchant for covering whatever he damn well feels like, bandleader Björn Wagner has delivered another album that once again takes steel drum music into new realms. Having previously covered the likes of 50 Cent and Cat Stevens, it’s now the turn of Beyoncé and Jan Hammer, amongst others, to get the Bacao treatment – while the title track is surely awaiting inclusion in a Tarantino movie. Magic. CA
If ‘pastoral’, in literary terms, paints an idyllic picture of rural life, this LP is ironically titled. As The Wicker Man and Midsomer Murders have taught us, beneath the British countryside’s veneer of respectability, tranquillity and beauty lie violence, lust and menace. Electro-terrorist Elizabeth Bernholz offers a deeply unsettling depiction of our green and pleasant land as a nightmarish post-Brexit dystopia of boorish nationalism and toxic nostalgia – though perhaps the execution isn’t quite as good as the idea. BW
Black Rainbow Sound (Memphis Industries)
BLOOD ORANGE *** Negro Swan (Domino) Dev Hynes’ fourth Blood Orange album ticks all the right boxes, yet ultimately feels somewhat hollow. Coming across as an attempt at that nebulous grey cloud of profundity regularly created by Frank Ocean, the melancholic washes of synths, snippets of mumbled dialogue and melodies that blur into one another only register for the duration of each song. With snatches of melody thin on the ground and songs that feel like sketches, J Dilla airhorns and Sade vibes can only mask so much. AJ
CHRISTINE AND THE QUEENS **** Chris (Because) In an era when gender and sexuality is scrutinised perhaps more than ever, Chris is one of 2018’s most relevant records. Comme Si kicks things off with shiny synths before Girlfriend takes over and leads the way for slick funk rhythms which sparkle throughout. At times channelling Janelle Monáe, St. Vincent, and latter-day Prince, Charleur Humaine’s follow-up could leave Christine And The Queens as one of the year’s most revered artists, and also among the best for currently leading the way for skilfully crushing gender stereotypes. CE
IDLES ****
Largely a sea of mediocrity saved by one or two excellent tracks, this is quite representative of much of the increasingly bland pop-flavoured psych-rock that’s around a lot these days. The opening title track, featuring Brix Smith of The Fall, is superb, spiralling up into the imagination with hooks and groove, but beyond that Black Rainbow Sound dissipates into blandness and boredom, thanks to a lack of songwriting chops or sonic imagination, with everything gradually blurring into one fuzzy monotone. FT
Joy As An Act Of Resistance (Partisan)
MOGWAI ****
Popularised by acerbic wit and punk attitude, fans can expect no change. Experimentation aside, one trick can fare well and Joy… impresses on both fronts. From Colossus to Samaritans, some songs are instrumentally alluring, others antagonistic and satirical, Danny Nedelko and Great mocking ideologues: ‘’Blighty wants his country back, 50-inch screen in his cul-de-sac, crying at the price of a bacon bap’’. While Idles’ appeal may be narrow outside of Britain, their charm and energy is certainly a hit with their dedicated audience. AS
Kin OST (Rock Action)
JOYCE MANOR ***
Although Mogwai have provided music for documentaries in the not so distant past, this is their first feature film score, for tense sci-fi crime thriller Kin. Stark, haunting, moving and little like anything they’ve done before, what Mogwai have done for Kin ought to stand the test of time in the same way as Vangelis’ soundtrack for Bladerunner, and Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross’ for The Social Network. DN
NATHAN HALL AND THE SINISTER LOCALS ***** Tunguska Tydfil (The Hip Replacement)
Straight out of Cali comes Joyce Manor, with the follow up to their highly acclaimed 2016 album Cody. With Converge guitarist Kurt Ballou on production, the boys have delivered another gorgeous slice of pop-rock. Lead single Think I’m Still In Love With You is a prime example of how the band has taken their Jawbreaker-meets-Weezer sound to the next level, while still retaining the elements that made Epitaph sit up and take notice in the first place. CA
Tunguska Tydfil, the second album by Soft Hearted Scientists’ Nathan Hall, is more subdued than predecessor Effigies but succeeds because of it. The band’s trademark quirkiness harbours an eclectic mix of topics, folk tunes, ghosts, witches and echoes of Syd Barrett. Songs may be unconventional but they are not without substance. Look deeper than such titles as The Phoenix Of Albany Road and you’ll find elegiac lyrics with subtle meanings. There’s a lot packed in here so repeat playing is mandatory. LN
10 Songs That Happened When You Left Me With My Stupid Heart (Lucky Number)
THE KOOKS ****
ORBITAL ***
Let’s Go Sunshine (Kobalt)
Monsters Exist (ACP)
The New Yorker’s fourth release brings funk tonality to the familiar fusion of jutting acoustic licks and staccato synth melodies which brought breakout recognition at the tail end of the 00s. With signs of transgression in the peppy powerpop of Queen Of Spades and the tight electronic fizz of Daddy Always, it is the fluid falsetto vocals of the outfit’s namesake Darwin Smith that remains the core strength in their twee indie formula, of which this represents a slick example. CHP
All hail the Kings Of Pop’s latest offering: sometimes upbeat, sometimes sad and reflective, and packed with a history of British influences. Super guitar and also piano/ synth work crops up on choice picks including Picture Frame and the 60sish Swing Low, mixed up with the disco-ish All The Time, trumpet-heavy Weight Of The World and slow, dreamy single No Pressure. Oft-Ray Daviessounding lead vocalist Luke Pritchard crafts deceptively simple lyrics about growing up and ending/beginning couplings. RLR
A return of the Hartnoll brothers known for their glowing glasses and distinctively unsullied techno sees Orbital adhere to their reputation as live performers with Monsters Exist. Live in the sense of spontaneity, and occasionally there is too much of it. There are moments of genius that perpetuate the pedestal that Orbital have earned, like the slow build of Buried Deep Within, but the inclusion of Brian Cox on There Will Come A Time, like much of the album, smacks of tryhard. CC
DARWIN DEEZ ****
Million Dollars To Kill Me (Epitaph)
GAMES REVIEWS SEMBLANCES ****
Nyamakop (PC) Semblance doesn’t break any traditional narrative conventions. Its premise is simple – the gooey world you inhabit has been frozen solid, and your job is to fix it. There’s an underlying lore weaved throughout, but it feels tacked on. But that isn’t where Semblance shines. South African developer Nyamakop has attempted to create a new dynamic in the 2-D platformer genre, by allowing you to distort the environment around you to complete puzzles and progress the story. It works. Although short, Semblance successfully breathes new life into the platforming genre. ED BUZZ 46
GOD OF WAR *****
Sony Interactive Entertainment (PS4) After slaughtering all the Greek gods, you’d probably wonder what the hell is there left for Kratos to butcher? Well, how about some Norse gods? God Of War is the latest stunning addition to the series, following Kratos and his son Atreus into harsh, gruesome realms filled with monsters and powerful gods alike. The game calls to players to explore every inch of the game’s breathtaking and dangerous landscapes. Reimagined combat systems and gruesome graphics, God Of War has set the bar for action genres astronomically high. JA