Album reviews

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ROCK

Idles

Tangk (Partisan)

Idles has expanded its horizons. The five musicians from Bristol released four pummelling albums in five years, beginning in 2017 — each of which decried the inhumanity of the world, raged against the machine and exorcised the many demons of singer Joe Talbot. On its fifth record, released just after Valentine’s Day, the group fully embraces a new lyrical attitude and refines how it expresses itself in the studio.

This latter development is a result of working with producer Nigel Godrich (Radiohead), who brings new sonic ideas and techniques to the Idles production team of Kenny Beats and guitarist/keyboardist Mark Bowen. The 11 songs here are thus rooted in various approaches to beats and sound-making, from the humongous, hypnotic bass and drums of Gift Horse (one of the album’s three out-and-out bangers — the others being Hall & Oates and Gratitude) to the treatments of Bowen’s piano on Idea 01 or A Gospel and the gentle, droning synth and sax vibes of album-closer Monolith.

When combined with Talbot’s unabashedly effusive lyrics about new love, new fatherhood and stripping the world down to the basics of empathy and joy, Tangk (onomatopoeia for the band’s guitar sound) unleashes an effusively uplifting combination of jubilation and contemplation.

In the song Pop Pop Pop, for example, Talbot takes the concept of “freudenfreude” (the antithesis of schadenfreude), applies it to the joy of watching his daughter and exults in the feeling. Roy is the sound of Talbot unabashedly singing the praises of his new partner to a taut beat and then rejoicing in an unironic refrain of “baby, baby, baby.”

Dancer, meanwhile, brings the voices of James Murphy and Nancy Whang of LCD Soundsystem to the party, sets them to a huge, sinuous bassline and invites the world to lose themselves in the moment. It’s followed immediately by Grace, a drum ’n’ bass-ish cut on which Talbot emphatically declares “No God, no king, love is the thing.”

He’s not wrong. ★★★★ out of five stars

Stream: Gift Horse; Pop Pop Pop; Dancer

— John Kendle

POP

Declan Mckenna

What Happened to the Beach? (Tomplicated)

British pop singer-songwriter Declan McKenna is back with his third studio album, the bright and experimental What Happened to the Beach?

At 16, McKenna burst onto the music scene with his 2015 hit Brazil” a protest song about FIFA’s politics, a song that’s since earned over 480 million streams on Spotify. McKenna went on to win Glastonbury’s emerging artists award in 2015 and released his debut album What Do You Think About the Car? in 2017 followed by the 2019 concept album Zeros, which rose to No. 2 in the UK charts.

What Happened to the Beach? purposefully moves away from the artist’s previous thematic projects and instead reveals that McKenna, now 25, is focused on sonic experimentation. Many of the tracks act like soundscapes, collages of feelings and observations represented by layered instrumentals, found sounds and distorted vocals.

That’s especially felt in Breath of Light, with its lyrics: “Would you catch me in the centre of your cosmic sin/Where the devil’s sippin’ cordial I just can’t win,” set to a background of guitar, percussion and synths with contorted whispers and hums.

Some tracks have more traditional indie pop hooks: Nothing Works is fast-paced, upbeat and catchy; It’s an Act softens into a trippy serenade; Mulholland’s Dinner and Wine reflects on the characters and setting of Los Angeles with a warped production that recalls other contemporary psychedelic pop such as Still Woozy and Glass Animals.

But then there are moments such as I Write the News, Wobble and the album’s three collaged interludes, Mystery Planet Pt. 1-3, that shake the listener out of that familiar atmosphere for a moment, almost as if to remind them they’re under McKenna’s trance.

Throughout the project, it’s clear that this is simply a freer version of the McKenna listeners have come to know at play — one who’s willing to make boundary-pushing, personality-revealing choices with his productions, just as he always has with his lyrical topics. ★★★½ out of five stars

Stream: Breath of Light; I Write the News; Nothing Works

— Elise Ryan, The Associated Press

JAZZ

Chien Chien Lu

Built In System (Live From New York) (Giant Step Arts)

The vibraphone in jazz has developed over the decades from being predominantly a rhythm instrument to a full melodic contributor. There are a number of excellent current vibraphone players that continue to stretch the possibilities of the instrument. Chien Chien Lu adds a huge skill in composition to her albums that is most apparent in this release. Along with Lu on vibes for this second release as leader are Jeremy Pelt on trumpet, Richie Goods on bass and Allan Mednard on drums.

Lu and Pelt met at a 2017 residency at the Banff Jazz institute and have collaborated on several of Pelt’s albums since then.

Lu was born in Taiwan and studied both classical and jazz percussion before finding her niche with a master of music in jazz studies in Philadelphia. The music here is both complex and beautifully melodic. Her gentle tracks such as Hsiu Chin and Träumerei are actually hummable. Tracks such as Chun Yi add rhythmic density and changing moods led by drummer Mednard while always retaining accessibility.

Lu’s writing is often deceptive in that the references and influences are revealed within music that is enjoyable and that goes in surprising ways that just seem perfect.

The relationship between the quartet members is extremely tight. Solos flow from the melodic lines demonstrating an understanding of where each is coming from. Percussion Song (The Wheel Of Fate), is a brief trio track, featuring only bass and drums, which packs numerous subtle hues into that short duration.

Pelt’s trumpet throughout is fully in sync with the style of the music. The trumpet could overwhelm the band but it absolutely does not. Bassist Goods is a treat with great solos as on tracks such as Just Listen and Full Moonlight, another trio track that ends the album on a lushly beautiful note.

A completely enjoyable session. ★★★★ out of five stars

Stream: Boulanger’s Variation; Hsiu Chin

— Keith Black

CLASSICAL

Matteo Mela, Lorenzo Micheli

Scarlatti, 12 Sonatas (Evidence)

In this new digital release, classical guitarists Matteo Mela and Lorenzo Micheli perform 12 arrangements of Antonio Scarlatti’s 555 keyboard sonatas, proving how beloved Baroque works can still pop whether performed in transcription or in their original versions.

Their choice of repertoire also further belies the Spanish influences on the 18th century Italian composer, with his tightly knit, contrapuntal music, typically rendered on harpsichord, teeming with filigreed ornamentation and rhythmic vitality.

Bilingual liner notes penned by Micheli, while providing fascinating historical lore and background information on Scarlatti’s music, are strangely shy on actual details for each selection — or how the musicians even determined which works to include out of the 555 — leaving listeners to their own devices for further exploration.

Nonetheless, highlights include Sonata K. 24, which provides the first taste of the duo’s simpatico artistry, or an effervescent Sonata K. 455, performed at blistering speed. Sonata K. 87 displays the players’s lyrical phrasing, as does Sonata K. 8, while Sonata K. 519 serves as testament to the composer’s dramatic proclivities.

Last but not least, the guitarists perform their final offering, Sonata K. 386 with aplomb, its virtuosic runs cracking with energy and as hot as an Iberian sun. ★★★½ out of five stars

Stream: Sonata K. 455; Sonata K. 519; Sonata K. 386

– Holly Harris