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it’s friday! music
On song (l to r): Mahalia, Lana Del
Rey, Liam Gallagher, Taylor Swift
and Iggy Pop. Below, Justin HawkinsPOP queens and dedicated
rockers lead the way as the
music business gears up for
a busy autumn. Here,
ADRIAN THRILLS previews
the big albums already
available to order now...TAYLOR SWIFT
Swift’S music once struck an immediate
chord with her fans, but she has cut a less
relatable figure of late, with her razor-sharp
songs overshadowed by feuds with Katy Perry
and Kanye west. Redemption could arrive
with seventh album Lover. Of the tracks
previewed so far, Me! is a hook-heavy duet with
Broadway star Brendon Urie, while You Need
to Calm Down is a sly dig at her detractors.
Swift, 30 this year, was also back to her heartfelt
best on the Archer.
n August 23 on EMI.
LANA DEL REY
the New Yorker’s sixth album looks set to
perpetuate her good-girl-gone-bad persona.
Called Norman f***ing Rockwell! in a crude
reference to the American illustrator, it
reunites the singer with producer Jack
Antonoff. Despite that title, the tracks released
to date are impressive. Doin’ time is an
inspired cover of a track by ska-punk band
Sublime. Lana’s dry wit is to the fore on hope
is A Dangerous thing for A woman Like Me
to have — But i have it.
n August 30 on Polydor.
SHERYL CROW
CROw has assembled such a stellar cast for
her forthcoming duets project, threads, that
she has hinted it may be her final album. how,
she reasons, can you follow a record that
co-stars Stevie Nicks, Sting, Johnny Cash, eric
Clapton and members of the Stones and
eagles? A record about being young at heart,
it differs from most duets collections in putting
the onus on new songs. Live wire, with Mavis
Staples and guitarist Bonnie Raitt, is a soulful
swamp-blues.
n August 30 on Valory Music.
IGGY POP
iggY now collects vintage furniture and
watches BBC’s Countryfile instead of rubbing
broken glass into his bare chest onstage, but
the rocker, 72, is still going strong in the studio.
his forthcoming album, free, does signal a
change of tack, though. whereas 2016’s Post
Pop Depression harked back to 1977’s Lust
for Life, he is promising something more
contemplative on free. the title track is a
jazzy, spoken word piece and James Bond a
jangling guitar number.
n September 6 on Loma Vista.
LIAM GALLAGHER
gALLAgheR’S second solo album, why Me?
why Not, was previewed by a barnstorming
glastonbury set in June, and looks primed to
pick up from where 2017’s chart-topping As
You were left off. Of his recent singles, Shock-
wave was a full-throttle, glam-rock stomp and
Once an epic power-ballad. Producers Andrew
wyatt and greg Kurstin, who both worked on
As You were, contribute again as
co-writers. Says Liam: ‘i know my
strengths and limitations. i’m an
OK songwriter, but a great singer.’
n September 20 on Warner Records.MAHALIA
fOLLOwiNg in the footsteps of Adele,
Mabel, Anitta and rapper Dave, slow-
burning R&B singer Mahalia is the
latest no-surname pop star. having
signed her first record deal eight years
ago, the Leicester native, 21, has
taken her time making debut
album Love & Compromise, but
is finally ready to unveil it next
month. it should appeal to fans
of fellow Midlander Jorja
Smith, with i wish i Missed My
ex, an Amy winehouse-like jazz
number, and Do Not Disturb, a
dance track.
n September 6 on Atlantic.CHRISSIE HYNDE
She calls herself a devout rocker, but
Chrissie hynde’s honeyed voice is also
well-suited to jazz and she declares her-
self ‘happy to jump on the bandwagon’
with Valve Bone woe, her first album of
standards from the great American
songbook and the annals of Sixties pop.
Nancy wilson’s how glad i Am and the
bossa nova classic Once i Loved are
wonderfully melodic, while Chrissie also
tackles songs by Sinatra, Charles Mingus
and her ex-partner Ray Davies.
n September 6 on BMG.EMELI SANDÉ
SANDé reigned supreme when her
debut album, Our Version Of events,
was the biggest of 2012, and she sang
before a tV audience of 900 million
during the London Olympics. its follow-
up, Long Live the Angels, sold poorly in
comparison, but the Scottish singer —album hopes And fears. An autumn
tour includes two dates at the Royal
Albert hall.
n September 20 on Island.THE BEATLES
the repackaging of the Beatles, which
has already given us superb
deluxe editions of Sgt Pep-
per and the white Album,
continues with a 50th
anniversary revamp of
1969’s Abbey Road. Newly
mixed by giles Martin, son
of original producer george,
it’s boosted by session record-
ings and demos. Among the
bonus tracks are Paul McCartney’s
homemade demo for goodbye
(written for Mary hopkin) and
an early version of george
harrison’s Something.
n September 27 on Apple.THE DARKNESS
the Darkness rose to fame
spectacularly with 2003’s
Brit-winning Permission to
Land before suffering an
equally remarkable demise.
Singer Justin hawkins has since
steadied the ship and easter is
Cancelled will be the Lowestoft
quartet’s first concept album.
As Justin explains: ‘human-
kind must consider the essen-
tial truths of existence.’ As
always, tongues are firmly in
cheek. New single Rock And
Roll Deserves to Die is all fal-
setto vocals and power chords.
n October 4 on Cooking Vinyl.Rock and
roll on
autumn
with pop’s
big hitters
now sans the blonde quiff — will
be hoping to reinvigorate her
career with new album Real
Life. Recent single extraordi-
nary Being heralds a change,
too, being driven by swirling
disco strings.
n September 13 on EMI.CHARLI XCX
She is one of Britain’s most
prolific pop artists, but Cam-
bridge singer Charli XCX has
concentrated on singles, ePs
and tours with taylor Swift
and Katy Perry since her last
full album five years ago. She
returns to the longer
format with next
month’s Charli, a
collaborative
effort containing duets with
Christine & the Queens,
haim and Aussie singer
troye Sivan. Revamped
from her mix-tape Pop 2,
Blame it On Your Love
is a party anthem co-
starring rapper Lizzo.
n September 13 on
Atlantic.KEANE
the boys from Bat-
tle return next month
after a lengthy break
that has seen frontman tom
Chaplin release a confes-
sional solo record and an
upbeat Christmas collec-
tion. Comeback album
Cause And effect is Keane’s
first since 2012’s Strange-
land and its 11 new songs
include the melancholy Love
too Much plus the soaring,
Killers-like rocker the way i
feel, harking back to debutPictures: REX / WIREIMAGE / FILMMAGIC / GETTY(^) Daily Mail, Friday, August 16, 2019