REVIEWS
on the record
Fully Booked
ParoDy/sPooF
Five go gluten Free By Bruno Vincent
r&b/soul
starboy
By The Weeknd
There’s hardly a day that goes by in the FACT office where someone doesn’t play his music, so we’re glad to see Abel Tesfaye a.k.a The Weeknd continue to grow and turn corners. From vocals to production, he can literally do no wrong. Though Starboy – both the hit track and what we’ve heard of the album – sound light years away from when he first hit the music scene with his House of Balloons mixtape, The Weeknd’s latest offering is a little bit older and less inflated but with the same simple yet clever lyricism and stunning vocals that give us chills every time. In the first single of the same name as the 18-track record, not only is Daft Punk’s immaculate piano-framed production mind-blowing, The Weeknd’s voice is as frenetic and contagious as the beat, and it’s getting fans completely lit from the first chord. It’s that creepily distinctive, vampiric falsetto that we want him to show off in Starboy. Let’s hope he continues to stay in his own unique musical realm instead of falling to the world of commercial R&B-pop. 68
fact magazine
eleCtronIC/ alt-PoP
i see you
Oh how we remember our love for Enid Blyton’s Famous Five. Cleverly, Bruno Vincent has taken The Famous Five and turned this into a series of Enid Blyton books for grown-ups. We’re talking parenting, strategy days and even a visit to Brexit island (how much lol is that?) – and this particular story sees George, Dick, Anne, Julian and Timmy confront a new challenge: is it possible to get a good gluten-free cream tea? It’s the perfect story for any partners or friends who are reluctantly spiralising courgettes for dinner and thinking of as many new eggplant dishes as they can on a daily basis.
By The xx
Another of our music loves, the xx haven’t released an album since Coexist in 2012, and even though we’ve been getting regular bursts of the trio through Jamie xx’s In Colour, an album from the trio together has been long overdue and, from what we gather, a real labour of love! It was recorded in London, Reykjavik, new York, Los Angeles and Marfa, Texas and, going off the spotify snippets as well as the first single on hold, the xx has had a slight revamp of sound. on hold, which samples Hall & Oates’ I Can’t Go for That (no Can Do) doesn’t have that peak shivering, signature xx arrangement. Instead, it steps away from the dark atmospherics and into a more casually upbeat aesthetic. This is definitely a more open and expansive approach, and though the single is pleasant enough, we just hope that the xx haven’t change what they are known for, too much. Hopefully, there are still a few beautifully haunting tracks on there to give us our muchanticipated the xx fix.
CrIMe/Mystery
the chemist
By Stephanie Meyer The author who penned Twilight tries her hand (and imagination) at something new; The Chemist is the story of an ex-agent on the run from her former employers. She must take one more case to clear her name and save her life. An expert in her field, she was one of the darkest secrets of an agency so clandestine it doesn’t even have a name. And when they decided she was a liability, they came for her without warning. It is once again Meyer’s ability to create a world where the reader loses themselves in fiction that makes you really believe in this fierce and fascinating new heroine. Winner!