Classic_Pop_Issue_30_July_2017

90

LONDON GRAMMAR

TRUTH IS A

BEAUTIFUL THING

METAL & DUST/ MINISTRY OF SOUND

TLC

TLC

COOKING VINYL

© Eliot Lee Hazel

© Getty Images

to the melismatic mores of the

day. Her tone is uncommonly

folkish, and though she offers

grace notes aplenty, she rarely

overemphasises them.

On Big Picture, there’s an

almost Celtic quality to her tone,

her restraint matched by her

understated accompaniment,

the song’s crescendo unhurried.

Oh Woman Oh Man starts

as a quiet piano ballad, then

explores the same territory as

that aforementioned Morcheeba

track, and is none the worse

for it. Everyone Else is full

of picturesque space, drums

dampened, taut guitar strings

brushed, while on Bones Of

Ribbon Reid reaches for high

notes against a shimmering

backdrop always one step

away from tempestuous. And

that title track? Impeccable.

Yes, it’s safe. But so is Tom

Hanks’ Big. Sometimes fun for

all the family is just what you

need. WW

With their debut EP described

in The Guardian by Classic

Pop’s own Paul Lester as

“so tasteful it cries out to be

defaced”, and initially touted

as “the new xx” – or, in Lester’s

words again, “the PG xx” –

London Grammar first appear

to be doing little original.

There’s a multitude of politely

passionate singers out there,

male and female, blurring

the lines between hipster

electro-soul and this kind of

music – its mood obsequious,

its surfaces polished – that’s

just waiting for Ryan Gosling

and Scarlett Johansson to get

it on to in some stylish, but

underwhelming, tear-jerker.

Two significant things stand

in London Grammar’s favour.

One: they sound unusually

sincere rather than emotionally

manipulative. Two: damn it!

Hannah Reid can sing! These

impressions are obviously

subjective. They are, most likely,

interlinked, too.

While London Grammar

are conservative, there’s an

undeniable beauty to this

album. It shares qualities that

drew people to Morcheeba

when they first began. But just

because similarly polite music

has become overly familiar, that

doesn’t mean this should be

written off.

Instead, one ought to revel

in how Reid refuses to bend

time as the one-time trio. On

Interlude, too, we’re treated

to tape recordings of happier

times, while on Joyride we’re

advised that “I’ma take it back

down memory lane tonight”.

Top that off with the sounds of

It’s Sunny, whose brash disco

sounds like the Spice Girls –

and which leans so heavily

on Boney M’s Sunny it even

samples it – and it’s enough to

make one forget what century

it is. Nonetheless, the message

that made them so beloved

remains intact.

Perfect Girls finds them,

against acoustic guitars, pianos

and a primitive beat, reminding

us how you’ve “gotta learn to

love yourself”, while on the

subdued American Gold they

are “feeling undefeated”.

Surprises are few, however,

and nor are there many

classics: the effervescent pop

of Haters, frankly, could have

been penned by anybody.

There’s plenty to remind one

of TLC’s appeal, of course, but

too much of it is unnecessarily

flagged. WW

So confident are Tionne

‘T-Boz’ Watkins and Rozonda

‘Chilli’ Thomas that everyone

remembers them that their fifth

album – their first in 15 years –

begins with No Introduction.

“We gon’ do it in the future

like we did it in the past,” they

announce, adding a little later,

“We keep the hits coming”.

And no doubt they will. They

are, after all, the US’s biggest-

selling girl group ever.

It’s odd, though, that they

spend so much time on TLC

reminding us of this. For an

act so admired for songs of

female empowerment, they

can sometimes appear awfully

insecure. There’s no need for

reinforcement: we know what

they can do.

We were excited when

they announced that this new

album “will stay true to the TLC

sound”, and since they touted it

as their ‘final album’, wrapping

up loose ends is fair enough. It’s

just that this is a lot of nostalgia

to deal with at once.

Here they are on the

throwback R&B of Way Back,

surrounded by squidgy synths,

convincing us how easy this is –

“It’s nothing but a thing/ To pick

up where we left off” – before

reminding us of “that other shit

we went through”.

There are references to

“Prince and Marvin Gaye”,

“James Brown and Michael J”,

underlining their place in the

grand canon, and a throwback

appearance from Snoop Dogg,

who emerged around the same

CP30.reviews.print.indd 90 08/06/2017 11:16