21 March/22 March 2020 ★ FT Weekend 17
WorldDavid Honigmann
ClassicalRichard Fairman
PopLudovic Hunter-Tilney
JazzMike Hobart
Critics’ choice
Lapsley
Through Water
XL Recordings
aaaae
Billie Eilish’s first single,
2015’s “Ocean Eyes”, was
inspired by a song called
“Station”, which she first
heard at school dance
classes. It was by another
teenager, Holly Fletcher, who
performs as Lapsley (it’s her
middle name).
While Eilish was
developing her sound in
California, the York-raised
Lapsley was making her own
way with her first album
Long Way Home, which came
out in 2016, when she was 19,
on XL Recordings, the same
record label as Adele.
Unlike Eilish, who went on
to become a superstar,
Lapsley’s debut proved only
modestly successful.
Nonetheless, the experience
appears to have been a case
of too much, too soon.
Through Water omesc
after a period of
reassessment. Its songs are
more self-assured than those
on her debut, which at times
lost its way by trying too
hard to follow in labelmate
Adele’s footsteps.
Self-produced by the
singer, the music is
sophisticated but
uncluttered; it flows along
easily, like the watery
imagery that recurs in the
lyrics. There is a sense of
space and growth, but also
responsibility: climate
change is another recurrent
theme. Lapsley’s vocals are
subtly expressive, a
melodious style pitched a
few notches in volume above
Eilish’s whisper.Morrissey
I Am Not a Dog on a Chain
BMG
aaeee
“I raise my voice, I have no
choice,” Morrissey declares
on his new album, casting
himself as a plucky St
Sebastian trilling through
the martyrdom. In his self-
besotted eyes, he is the last
upholder of free speech. To
others, including appalled
ex-fans from whose eyes the
scales have fallen, he is a
bigot who promotes far-right
politics and British nativism.
AlthoughI Am Not a Dog on
a Chain inds him uncontrite,f
it also tries to turn down the
heat, or at least not turn it
up. “Love Is on Its Way Out”
contrives to link “nerve-
gassed children” and “sad”
rich people hunting
“elephants and lions”. “The
Truth About Ruth” makes a
typically tactless foray into
the topic of gender identity.
But current affairs are kept
at arm’s length on other
tracks. “I do not read
newspapers, they are
troublemakers,” the singer
cries with a clumsy flourish.
The music is sharper than
usual. The reactionary who
once derided dance music as
a “refuge for the mentally
deficient” consents to a
modest but effective
electronic makeover on
several tracks. Motown
veteran Thelma Houston
adds a powerful guest vocal
to “Bobby, Don’t You Think
They Know?”, a swaggering
rock ’n’ soul standout.
Morrissey, too, is in good
voice. He billows and flutters
like a flag in a stiff breeze,
the proud marker of a
sovereign land where he can
do no wrong.
Bad writing proves
otherwise. Childish rhymes
are unfurled as though they
were Sondheim pearls
(“Bedsitter, bed-wetter or
penthouse go-getter”).
Awful alliteration makes a
mouthful of long lines
(“Mamma and teddy bear
were the first full firm
Shabaka and
the Ancestors
We Are Sent Here by History
Impulse
aaaae
The acoustic South African
Ancestors band are,
sonically, the warmest of
London-basedShabaka
Hutchings’ projects and
collaborations. Their springy
grooves, catchy riffs and
church-rooted harmonies
are uplifting, and Hutchings’
tenor sax and clarinet are
undoctored. Their central
themes, though, have a
disturbing core.
The band’s first album,
Wisdom ofElders, released
soon afterthey formed in
2016, warned of social
calamities to come.We Are
Sent Here by History, with its
opening track “They Who
Must Die”, could have the
subtitle “apocalypse now”.
Lyrics sung in Zulu, Xhosa
and English by Mthunzi
Mvubu move from sanctified
shout to graphic spoken
word, while outbursts of free
jazz underscore the end-of-days theme.Hutchings
builds his compositions on
the compelling power of
double bassist Ariel
Zamonsky laying down the
riffs of township jazz and
Caribbean dance. Middle
layers, throbbing with
percussion, mysterious
shouts and the resonance of
vibes and Fender Rhodes
keyboard, create acushion
for the front line — for which
Hutchings is the lead
instrumental voice. Mvubu
is acid-toned on alto sax;
keyboards, trumpet and
percussion also get a shout.
But there’s much more to
this album than strong solos,
springy rhythms and bouncy
riffs. The scene-setting
second number, “You’ve
Been Called”,supports
spoken blank-verse English
with fractured electronica,
before an improvised chant
comes with a surging pulse.
Most tracks change mood,
and some change tempo too.
“We Will Work (On
Redefining Manhood)”
references Africa’s musical
legacy, before a playful motif
combines voices with
Hutchings’ clarinet. The
album ends with a ballad,
“Teach Me How to Be
Vulnerable”, with Hutchings
capturing the sentiments of
the title to a T.Choir of Clare College,
Cambridge
Stabat: Arvo Pärt, James
MacMillan and Peteris Vasks
Harmonia Mundi
aaaae
When Steve Reich and Philip
Glass were busy establishing
minimalism in New York
back in the 1960s, they can
hardly have suspected that
a parallel strand wasunder
way in the chilly northern
lands of Europe. But while
this American minimalism
was born in the city, the
Europeans had their eyes
lifted to heaven.
The founding figureof this
so-called “holy minimalism”
was Arvo Pärt, the Estonian
composer whose sacred
music has a rapt
concentration that set it
apart. Pärt is paired here
with 21st-century works by
two similarly inspiring
voices, Peteris Vasks from
next-door Latvia and James
MacMillan from Scotland.
Pärt is heard at his most
consoling in the shortDa
pacem, Domine, a prayer for
peace written in 2004for
those who died in bombings
in Madrid. Altogether more
austere, the longest work on
the disc is his earlierStabat
Mater rom 1985f. Performed
here in the version for three-Tamikrest
Tamotaït
Glitterbeat
aaaaae
Three years after they made
Kidal, an angry album about
exile and dislocation in
Bamako, the Touareg guitar
band have been further
displaced— now recording
in rural France. But they are
still dreaming of the desert.
“My dearest wish”, thunders
Ousmane Ag Mossa on the
opening track, “Awnafin”, “is
to see the beloved flag raised
that will unite all the people
of Kel Tamasheq [the
Touareg’s preferredname
for themselves]”. The guitars
fuzz and the bass and
drums lope.
Most of the album
maintains this sense of
rebellious longing. The next
track, “Azawad”, opens with
a lonely guitar solo that
echoes in space. Ag Mossa ispart choir and string
orchestra, it barely moves
from its harmonic roots,
building to climaxes of
impressive intensity.enraptured by memories of
tifinagh, the Berber script
used for written Tamasheq,
engraved on walls, and by
the presence of “desert
dwellers/who refuse to live
subjected”. “Amzagh” is run
through with a pretty guitar
figure, deliberately vintage
in timbre, against which Ag
Mossa drops enigmatic
proverbs.The murmur of
“As Sastnan Hidjan” hides
the volcanic sense of
injustice in the lyrics with
a country-ish slide.
The pace picks up on
“Amidinin Tad Adounya”,
when the smouldering
interplay of guitars breaks
out into rhythm and blues
licks. The Moroccan singer
Hindi Zahra guests in
“Timtarin”, a lament for
extinguished youthful
passions. “Everything
passes”, she sings. And then,Touareg guitar band
Tamikrest —Ishida MasatakaJ Balvin Jazz musician Shabaka Hutchings —Douglas Mason/Getty
Colores
Universal
aaaae
Colombian reggaeton star
J Balvin asked fans earlier
this month if he should delay
Coloresdue to the
coronavirus crisis. Justly, he
chose not to. In the present
circumstances, it’s a relief to
encounter upbeat tunes with
a relaxed rather than grabby
approach to attracting the
listener’s attention,addressing topics that even a
non-Spanish speaker can tell
don’t extend far beyond the
now-cancelled activity of
dancing. Catchy in the best
sense, in other words.
Songs are named after
colours, a concept illustrated
by brightly hued artwork
by Japanese artist Takashi
Murakami, creator of the
Pop Art-influenced Superflat
movement. The music,
helmed by customary
producer Sky Rompiendo,
fluently fuses Latin and
US genres, a crossover style
that doesn’t lapse into
multinational
flavourlessness.
“Amarillo” combines a
looped traditional trumpet
melody with a marching beatCurrent affairs are kept at arm’s length: Morrissey performing at London’s Wembley arena this month —Redfernsand singsong flow
reminiscent of 50 Cent.
“Negro” filters US trap music
through Latin percussion.
Balvin’s semi-sung, semi-
rapped vocals are smooth
and unforced. His home city
of Medellín features
repeatedly in the lyrics.in English, “We are all fallen
stars... we light up the
world”. The track builds to
a crescendo fuelled by
handclaps and galloping
drums, male and female
voices intertwining. There is
a further country-ish swing
on “Tihoussay”, another love
song. The guitars slide and
slip, every scrape of
fingernails audible.
There is a final burst of
full-on rock on “Anha Achal
Wad Namda”. ut the albumB
closes with the heat haze of
“Tabsit”. Into this
soundworld fit,
unexpectedly yet perfectly,
the wobbly-tonedtonkori
of Oki Kano (the leader
of Oki Dub Ainu Band)
and the delicateshamisen
of Atsushi Sakta — a
Japanese infusion that also
makes the geographically
specificuniversal.Inspiration moves from
the cathedral to the outdoors
in Vasks’sPlainscapes romf
2002, which imagines the
flatlands and starlit sky of
Latvia. Violin and cello from
the Dmitri Ensemble join
the Choir of Clare College,
Cambridge, in an ecstatic
picture of a land racedg
with whistles, glissandi,
and birdsong.
Although dating from only
2009, MacMillan’sMiserere
has achieved the status of a
modern classic. This is not
minimalism but, in this
performance by the youthful
voices of the Clare choir
under Graham Ross, it feels
hardly less rapt. Three other
works byPärt fill the disc
with further visions of the
Composer Arvo Pärt —Getty spiritual in the modern era.spectrum of time”).
Mawkish sentimentality
(“My Hurling Days Are
Done”) rubs shoulders with
unpleasant misanthropy
(“Jim Jim Falls”). Flashes
of enduring quality are
suffocated by the thick fog
of disillusionment that has
settled over Morrissey.The citation is a sign not
only of Latin American pride
(all the vocals areSpanish),
but also a Colombian
challenge to Puerto Rican
and Panamanian dominance
of reggaeton. Local and
global coexist harmoniously
onColores.MARCH 21 2020 Section:Weekend Time: 3/202019/ - 17:01 User:paul.gould Page Name:WKD17, Part,Page,Edition:WKD, 17, 1