2019-07-01_Uncut_UK

new albums

juLY 2019 • uNCuT• 27

SAR AHdAVAC H I
PaleBloom
W.25TH

8/10

Powerfullyresonantminimalism,
poisedandenduring
Canadiancomposer
SarahDavachihas
beenworkingata
fierceclipinrecent
years,releasing
fivealbumsover
thepasttwoyearsalone:she
seemsparticularlydriventowards
exploration,nudginghermusic
intonewterrain.WithPaleBloom,
sheembracesoneofherearliest
instruments,thepiano,hijackingBach
onthethree“Perfumes”modulesthat
makeupthealbum’sfirsthalf:these
arequietlyquixoticpieces,richand
poignant,possessinga stilled,slowly
unfoldingmelancholia.Therestof
thealbumis oneside-longstretchfor
strings,a minimalistfantasiathat’s
asbeautifulasit is bare-boned.
JONDALE

THEdIVINECoMEdY
officePolitics
PIAS

8/10

unlikelyvictoryforthecomicmuse
Thirty years in, Neil
Hannon seems like
he still can’t decide
whether he would
rather be Scott Walker
or Richard Stilgoe.
On the face of it, Office Politics, his 12th
LP, feels like a victory for the Stilgoe
tendency: a bathos-heavy double
album of character sketches and
ballads about sexual frustration and
PowerPoint. But somehow it works:

“Norman And Norma” rhymesCromer

with pneumonia, but unfurlsintoa

touching piece of, if not yachtrock,

then pedalo pop, while “PhilipAnd

Steve’s Furniture RemovalCompany”

builds from sitcom premiseintoa

funny, peculiar, epic pieceofpop

minimalism that could beno-oneelse

but Hannon. STEPHEN TROuSSÉ

PERRY FARRELL

Kind Heaven

BMg

5/10

Somehow only the secondsolo

albumbyoutlandishformerJane’s

Addictionfrontman

A conscientious

hedonistwhosenasal

shriek suggestsRobert

Plant reincarnatedas

a VeniceBeachsurf

rat, PerryFarrellwas

one of the most charismaticfrontmen

of the pre-grunge era. Thirtyyearsafter

the heyday of Jane’s Addictionand

nearly 20 after the releaseofhisonly

solo record, he remains compellingly

chameleonic on Kind Heaven, playing

a convincing crooner on“SnakesHave

Many Hips” and a raver hypemanon

“Spend The Body”. Sadly,hedoesn’t

have the material to matchhisdelivery.

Not even Tony Visconti’sambitiously

widescreen production can salvage

his simplistic songs about sex, drugs

and a certain US president.

JOHNNY SHARP

K E L LY F I N N I g A N

The Tales People Tell

CoLEMINE

6/10

Blue-eyed ’60s soul pastiche

from the Bay Area

Finnigansingsand

playsorganina

SanFranciscoband

calledMonophonics,

whoseretrosoundis

pitchedsomewhere

betweenBigBrother& TheHolding

CompanyandStax.Hisfirstsolo

album,however,dialsupthe’60s

soulcomponent,with 10 originals

thatsoundasif theywererecorded

atMuscleShoalsin1965.Multi-

instrumentalistFinniganis joined

byguestsincludingfunklegend

JamesGadsonondrums;dramatic

ballads(“EveryTimeIt Rains”),Otis-

styleheartbreakbelters(“I’llNever

LoveAgain”)andJamesBrown-ish

hornworkouts(“ICalledYouBack

Baby”)aresmartlywrittenand

impressivelydelivered,butnever

quiteriseabovethelevelofpastiche.

JOHNLEwiS

FRoTH

duress

PIAS

7/10

Californiadreamerslookupfrom

theirshoesonfourthalbum

On2017’sOutside

(B r ie fl y), thisLA

quartet’sValentines-y

templatesounded

prettyassured,

butheretheytake

promisingstepsfurtherout.Thebed

ofkraut-yelectronicnoodlesthat

underpin“77”andthefreeformswirls,

bleepsandwarpednonsequitursof

“JohnPeelSlowly”suggesta band

unafraidtoexperiment.Theystill

farebestonhometerritory,though,

where“Laurel”and“Dialogue”

takeshapearoundinfectiousriffs

andfuzzyguitarpatterns.And

despitethesomnambulantdrone

ofJoo-JooAshworth’svocaldelivery,

there’sanoddlyeffervescentquality

abouttheupbeat“A2”,likeRide

remixedbyThePrimitives.

JOHNNYSHARP

FRuITBATS

goLdPASTLI FE

MERgE

8/10

well-pitcheddeliveryfrom

formerShinscollaborator

Oftenstylistically

restless,EricD

Johnsonembraces

hisinnersoftrocker

onhisseventhFruit

Batsalbum.His

newfocusis especiallyclearonthe

titletrack,whichsoundslikethe

Bee Gees playing Elton John, while

his keening voice threatens to defy

“A Lingering Love”’s pedal-steel

inclinations by breaking into “Stayin’

Alive”. Mostly, though, youthful

folk-rock tendencies are sacrificed

for Wilco’s mature Americana, as

on “Only Dream Would Breathe”,

while additional late-Beatles flavours

enhance “Barely Living Room”, and

“The Bottom Of It” adds hints of Jeff

Lynne. “Ocean”’s soothing simplicity,

meanwhile,unexpectedlyrecalls

contemporaryIndianduoParekh&

Singh.wYNDHAMwALLACE

jAKExERxESFuSSELL

outofSight

PARAdISEoFBACHELoRS

9/10

Outstandingcollectionof

DeepSouthballadsgiven

renewedmeaning

Fussell’ssublime

thirdalbumseesthe

singerandguitarist

onceagainexploring

thefurthestreaches

ofAmericanfolk

andblues,excavatingthatseemingly

bottomlessarchiveandgivingthese

lostsongsa freshlife.Fussellis a

fantasticsingerandarrangerand

herehe’sworkingwitha fullbandfor

thefirsttime;theirnumberincludes

NathanBowlesondrums.Theydeliver

a beautifulsuiteofdiversesongsthat

includefishmongercries(“TheRiver

StJohns”)andIrishballads(“Michael

WasHearty”),allsungwithsincerity

butneversoundingdryordecrepit.

Theunquestionablehighlightis

theseven-minuteversionof“The

RainbowWillow”,butthere’sso

muchtoadmirethroughout.

P ETE RwATTS

gNooMES

Mu!

RoCKETRECoRdINgS

7/10

Russianpsychonautsvoyage

deeperintoinnerspace

Siberianpost-

rockpsych-kraut

cosmonautsGnoomes

haveexpandedfor

theirthirdalbum,

beefinguptheirsound

withextraguitarsandnewlyrecruited

synthplayerMashaPiankova,the

wifeofbass-playingvocalistAlex

Pyankov.Thepulsinganalogue

electronicsthatshapedtheir 2017

releaseTschak!anddrummerPavel

Fedoseev’ssideprojectKikokarestill

prominent,butwithaddedfuzz-drone

layerslendinganMBVfeeltobliss-

noisetrackssuchas“Utro”and“Ursa

Major”.Despitetheirretrosignifiers

andFloydianflashbacks,thereis still

a refreshinglyoff-the-mapexploratory

vibetomostoftheselysergically

enhancedjamswiththeirrolling

motorikrhythms,spookedTheremin

warblesanddreamyvocalharmonies.

ST E P H E NDA LTO N

Crumb:

wobbly

psych pop

with a side

order of

humour

SALIM GARCIA, ANNIE BEEDY

Fruit Bats’

Eric d

johnson