New music: William Prince, Khalid, Satoko Fujii & Natsuki Tamura, Raphael Severe, Adam Laloum

ROOTS/COUNTRY

WILLIAM PRINCE
Further from the Country (Six Shooter)

William Prince’s 2023 album, Stand in the Joy, felt like a victory lap. No wonder – the Juno-winning Winnipeg-based singer/songwriter had become a household name and was exulting in the glow of making his personal and family life whole.

Musically and professionally, that record was a big swing for Prince, recorded and produced in Savannah, Ga., by Dave Cobb (Jason Isbell, Brandi Carlile), and it was certainly a success — leading to a second Juno Award for contemporary roots album, successful tours and several high-profile gigs.

It’s interesting, then, that for his fourth album of original material (he’s also released a gospel album), Prince has immersed himself wholly in his hometown scene. He describes Further from the Country – the album title, song and the project as a whole – as symbolic of his determination to chase his dreams ever further from his roots in Peguis First Nation. To achieve that musical end, he set up shop at Winnipeg’s No Fun Club studio with producer Liam Duncan (a.k.a. Boy Golden, his Six Shooter labelmate) and Duncan’s organic band of tight friends and top-notch musicians, all of whom come together to create a joyous noise on this record’s nine songs.

The album’s opening title track, a six-minute opus which switches gear mid-song – from propulsive roots/rock to expansive, almost orchestral acid-folk and then swings right back again – lays out Prince’s ambitions in no uncertain terms. He’s going to ride this road wherever it takes him.

The rest of the album’s nine songs focus on Prince doing what he does best — using his baritone voice to tell keenly observed, finely parsed tales of love and regret, hope and loss, lofty dreams and gritty realities. ★★★★ out of five

Stream: Further from the Country; Thousand Miles of Chain

– John Kendle

 

R&B

Khalid
After the Sun Goes Down (LABEL)

If you want to know how far Khalid has travelled in a year, just look at his album covers.

His summer 2024 16-track Sincere showed the R&B star solo, in black and white, looking at the camera equal parts faded and standoffish. On his new one, he’s at the centre of a crowd of sweaty dancers and lovers, clearly in his element. He’s looking at the camera, but this time inviting us in living colour, his hair blue.

The 17-track After the Sun Goes Down is an upbeat, slightly throwback meditation on love in all its forms — lusty, ecstatic, devoted, flirty, defiant, apprehensive, revengeful and even post-passion cold. It’s a welcome return after his dour last outing.

One big thing that’s different this time is that Khalid is publicly out and proud, a change that has gi1ven his music a directness. “You’re my type, fly dark and handsome,” he sings in Momentary Lovers. On the opening cut, Medicine, he’s lovesick: “You got me feeling stimulations I never felt.” 1

Tove Lo gets writing credit for two tunes, the sun-kissed Instant and the shimmering Tank Top, and Julia Michaels helped birth a pair, the falsetto-fuelled Angel Boy and the pop-forward Yes No Maybe. Darkchild swirls Out of Body with Middle Eastern rhythms and producer Ilya pops up all over the album, helping background vocals, too.

Some things haven’t changed, such as Khalid’s love of car culture, name-checking the Cadillac Eldorado, Lexus and an old Mercedes, having the windows down or the windows up, driving with the sunroof off. “Ride me like autobahns/Be on autopilot,” he sings on Rendezvous.

Last year, his album included the warning song Please Don’t Fall in Love With Me. This year, that’s going to be hard. ★★★★

Stream: In Plain Sight; Reendezvous

—Mark Kennedy, The Associated Press

 

Jazz

Satoko Fujii & Natsuki Tamura
Ki (Libra Records)

One of the pleasures of listening to jazz is the constant aspect of surprise.

Pianist/composer/leader Satoko Fujii and her partner trumpeter Natsuki Tamura are capable of spectacular leaps of wild phrases that are always exciting. On this duet album, however, the biggest initial surprise is that it is quietly melodic and patiently unravels in unhurried beauty. Seven of the compositions are Tamura’s and each is the name of a tree.

This couple is obviously completely attuned to the interpretation of the melodies. They allow each tune to develop with leisurely beauty often with echoing fades and exquisite held notes. The impact is one of peace, deliberate enhancement and a mood that exemplifies the usual meaning of the album title; namely life energy, spirit and mind that permeate each of us.

There is an unhurried mood in each track, with only occasional flurries of tension and more urgent tempi. Tracks such as Hinoki are marked by extended quiet solos that weave a sense of timelessness that is totally effective.

Fujii’s solo work here is awesome. Quiet fades and reverbs are messages of deep meaning. This is in no way background peacefulness. Meditative and seeking of spirit meaning are the messages. Kusunoki uses a repeated phrase as a base for swirling and interlocked solos. There is an underlying sense of calm throughout with an absolute sense of control and direction. There is silence at times that reflects the meditative reality of the tune.

Tamura’s trumpet is as haunting as the piano passages with fades at the end of many riffs. The unity of their responses to the fascinating melodies makes this album a stunning and beautiful gift.

This couple has offered many fascinating albums, but perhaps none as overwhelmingly beautiful as this one. This surprise is a wonderful keeper. ★★★★★ out of five

Stream: Arakashi; Icho

— Keith Black

 

CLASSICAL

Raphael Severe, Adam Laloum
Sing! Songs Without Words (Harmonia Mundi)

In this upcoming release, acclaimed French clarinettist/arranger Raphael Severe and pianist Adam Laloum join forces in a program of lieder transcribed by Severe for their respective instruments, featuring intimate, much beloved chamber works by Schumann, Brahms and Wagner.

Severe has beautifully captured the pure lyricism of the human voice, the hallmark of traditional German lieder, during each of his 27 arrangements, translating it to the clarinet’s own melodious, singing tones that compels.

An immediate highlight is Schumann’s Widmung from his song cycle Myrthen, Op. 25, penned by the 19th century Romantic composer’s as a wedding gift for his bride, Clara Schumann, that immediately sets the tone for the rest to follow.

Others include Hor’ ich das Liedchen klinger, from the same composer’s Dichterliebe, Op. 48, equally showcasing Severe and Laloum’s expressive artistry, as well as a second excerpt from the same work, the more dramatically intense Und wussten’s die Blumen.

Brahms lovers will enjoy several selections from 9 Lieder und Gesange, Op. 63, and 5 Lieder, Op. 105, among others, with Madchenlied, from the latter particularly exhibiting Severe’s graceful, long-arching phrasing underpinned by Laloum’s sensitive, wholly responsive keyboard accompaniment.

The program rounds out with three pieces: Nos. 1, 4, and 5, from Wagner’s Wesendonck-Lieder, WWV 91, bringing the entire album to a peaceful, contemplative close with no words required. ★★★★ out of five

Stream: Widmung; Wie Melodien zieht es mir; Traume

— Holly Harris