New music

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This article was published 21/02/2025 (401 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

ROCK/POP

Sharon Van Etten & the Attachment Theory

Sharon Van Etten & the Attachment Theory (Jagjaguwar)

Sharon Van Etten’s seventh album is, as suggested by its title, a “band” album, written and recorded with the core members of her touring group. As such, it’s a musically unified collection of 10 groove-and-synthesizer-based tunes, produced by Marta Salogni (Björk, English Teacher), which naturally leans heavily into icy, post-punk atmospherics, yet remains recognizably a Van Etten album, owing to her rich voice, melodic essence and her ability to peel away the layers of modern life to get the basics of finding community, love and meaning. That said, she’s not above taking a few pokes at all the madness in the world, as on Idiot Box and Southern Life (What Must It Be Like). ★★★★ out of five

Stream: Afterlife, Trouble, Somethin’ Ain’t Right

Jade Turner

Breathe (Independent)

Jade Turner is an angel-voiced singer/songwriter from Misipawistik Cree Nation, near Grand Rapids, who should be much better known. Breathe, her third album, could very well be the calling card that will have Turner’s rich alto voice ringing out of speakers from coast to coast to coast. Working with producer/arranger/guitarist Murray Pulver (Crash Test Dummies, Doc Walker), Turner and her excellent band have crafted a rich, intensely melodic blend of 11 country and Americana songs that explore familiar themes of staying true to oneself (That Wind) and the vagaries of love (Slow Dance) while also touching on social themes such as homelessness and addiction (Marion), mental well-being (the title track) and dealing with naysayers and trolls (Deadweight). ★★★★ out of five

Stream: That Wind, Marion, Taking it Easy

— John Kendle

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HIP HOP

Drake

$ome $exy $ongs 4 U (Ovo Sound)

Just for a moment, try to forget the past 3,486 days of Drake’s musical life and flash your mind’s ear back to that fine Friday in July 2015 when Hotline Bling breezed its way into our collective consciousness. This was it, right? The apex. The power spot. The elusive Goldilocks zone that Drake had been seeking — a love song, yes, but more so a mode that honoured his gift for easy melody and the palatability of his softer side.

But, in the end, the Canadian rapper chose to make himself into a more regular kind of rap star, a natural sweet-talker cosplaying as a hardened tough-talker, until his hubris eventually steered him into the path of Kendrick Lamar. The two swapped diss tracks over the summer and we all know how that went for him.

Now Drake is trying to do some damage control in the form of a duets album with his loyal apostle, the singer PartyNextDoor. The album is titled $ome $exy $ongs 4 U, and on its cover, the duo have concealed their identities beneath the hoods of their fur coats.

How do you make love songs when you hate your life? Maybe these aren’t love songs. What’s clear is that there are nearly two dozen of them, with Drake instead reverting to his callous lothario factory settings, singing about breakups, infidelities, regrets and double-downs.

On an album so defeated, so familiarly bland, the embarrassments jump out. He lays bare his shallow deepness in the album’s opening line: “The city is pretty when it’s dead just like a flower.”

The elephant in the room only gets a few peanuts. On Gimme a Hug, it’s hard to tell whether Drake is putting on a brave face or forfeiting the last of his self-awareness: “(Forget) a rap beef, I’m trying to get the party lit!” Keep trying, guy.

He’s hiding his face on the album cover for a reason. ★★ out of five

Stream: Nokia

— Chris Richards, The Washington Post

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JAZZ

Jon Irabagon

Server Farm (Irabbagast)

Saxophonist Jon Irabagon is no stranger to experimental and challenging jazz. With this release he moves into a whole new level of innovation. Server Farm is a five lengthy track adventure into the rock and hard place world of understanding and working with artificial intelligence. To accomplish this, Irabagon uses pianist Matt Mitchell, electric bassist Chris Lightcap, drummer Dan Weiss, violinist and vocalist Mazz Swift, trumpeter Peter Evans, guitarists Miles Okazaki and Wendy Eisenberg, acoustic bassist Michael Formanek and percussionist and electronic musician Levy Lorenzo.

This music is not for the faint of heart. It is extraordinary and wildly engaged in outlining the problems with AI and its growing place in our lives. Each track pushes the envelope of dissonant challenge. There are moments that also slide from clamorous to melodic and then explode into further apparent anarchy. The track Singularities is 14 minutes of a non-stop blend of all the ideas in Irabagon’s compositions. The result is truly amazing.

The opening track, Colocation, begins with a vibraphone like solo that opens into full ensemble response. The shortest track, Routers, is perhaps more immediately accessible while giving full rein to solos. Graceful Exit begins with a gentle acoustic bass before adding piano, electronics, trumpet, violin and other solos by Irabagon and guitars. At 15 minutes, the final track, Spy, encapsulates all the often audacious ideas in this music. It adds vocals while the band swirls around the lyrics.

The jazz world is always restlessly moving in new directions. This album is a wonderful example of this journey. It is not “easy” but is increasingly amazing with each listen. ★★★★½ out of five

Stream: Colocation Graceful Exit

— Keith Black

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CLASSICAL

Elizabeth Sombart

Mozart: Piano Concertos 9 & 12 (Rubicon)

Acclaimed French pianist Elizabeth Sombart performs two Mozart pianos as her second offering in an ongoing series.

The musician immediately displays her sensitive artistry during the first few bars of the Piano Concerto No. 9 in E flat, K. 27a, a.k.a. the Jeunehomme, penned by the composer at age 21, with the Royal Philharmonic led by Pierre Vallet becoming her equal partner throughout the opening Allegro movement.

Sombart then infuses the subsequent Andantino slow movement with elegiac sensibility, before the more rollicking finale, Rondeau: Presto, caps the work with flashes of bravura delivered with aplomb.

Piano Concerto No. 12 in A, K. 414, one of Mozart’s three Viennese concertos written in 1782, is always a delight to hear, while especially showcasing Sombart’s technical virtuosity during her sparkling opener Allegro.

The following Andante ushers listeners into more introspective climes, including lyrical sweeps by the strings, before Sombart’s crisply rendered finale Allegretto ends the work — and entire album — on a sunny-spirited, more ebullient note. ★★★★ out of five

Stream: Piano Concerto No. 9 in E flat, K. 27a, Andantino; Piano Concerto No. 12 in A, K. 414, Allegretto

— Holly Harris