Album reviews: Haim, Dierks Bentley, Curtis Nowosad, Melbourne Symphony

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This article was published 20/06/2025 (466 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

ROCK

Haim

I Quit (Polydor)

Haim has declared this season to be “single-girl summer” and offered us the soundtrack. Heartsick never sounded so good.

I Quit, the fourth full-length album from the trio, is a breakup collection that never gets too weepy. You can dance to a lot of it. Even the song Cry, which name-checks the seven stages of grief, is an upbeat bop.

Six years after the trio released their jazzy, Lou Reed-y single Summer Girl, the mood has somewhat soured this summer. Across 15 tracks, the songs are about fresh splits, old wounds and newfound independence.

Sisters Este, Danielle and Alana Haim found themselves all single for the first time in a long time while making the album, looking back with equal parts venom and guilt.

The Farm has a rootsy twang, Down to be Wrong has a Sheryl Crow vibe and Take Me Back has a Go-Go’s feel. Love You Right is pure Fleetwood Mac harmonies. Spinning is a slice of house bliss with overlapping harmonies, easily the most danceable Haim song since I Want You Back. The wistful, warm Million Years leans into electronica.

The bluesy Blood on the Street has more vitriol (“I swear you wouldn’t care/If I was covered in blood lying dead on the street”) but ends with freedom: “Now the sun’s up, I’m out, and that’s that.” And Relationships is a standout on a standout album, with Danielle Haim’s falsetto exploring the agony of romantic ties and her sister’s bass thumping.

But the best song has to be Everybody’s Trying to Figure Me Out, in which each Haim shines as tempos change and the song morphs from folk to indie rock to blissed-out ’70s, with the final mantra: “You think you’re gonna die/But you’re not gonna die.”

The album is co-produced by Danielle Haim and Haim’s frequent collaborator Rostam Batmanglij of Vampire Weekend. The trio’s usual producer, Ariel Rechtshaid, split with Danielle Haim, which may account for the new energy. ★★★½ out of five

Stream: Everybody’s Trying to Figure Me Out; Relationships

— Mark Kennedy, The Associated Press

COUNTRY

Dierks Bentley

Broken Branches (Capitol Nashville)

Nashville hitmaker Dierks Bentley has delivered Broken Branches, his 11th studio album that leans into some well-tread country rock territory, the kind that invariably involves broken hearts, trucks and a cold beer.

Look, Bentley knows what he’s doing. The album is 11-tracks of catchy, country rock radio filler and there’s not much mystery to its musical roadmap. But therein lies his calling card: dependable songs with few rough edges.

Thematically, many of the tracks on the superstar’s latest effort hint at internal struggles, but allow Bentley and the listener to escape them unscathed.

On the title track, the jukebox stomp Broken Branches, Bentley gets a nice assist from fellow country hitmakers John Anderson and Riley Green. Ostensibly it’s an energetic drinking song about family lines, but lyrics such as, “We shoulda gone to college / Coulda gained a little knowledge,” which pull from a popular childhood rhyme, feel like they’re underperforming.

What Bentley does extremely well is execute what his — and the modern genre’s — biggest fans might expect. Tales of a tough exterior with a warm, if fragile, heart underneath. But his familiar is derivative.

Palatable country is how you get on the radio and stay on it. Songs about beer and trucks are Spotify deliverables. If you like your country artists with a longer rap sheet, you’ll need to look further. Even the few attempts at invention don’t totally land, such as the rowdy, rocking She Hates Me, which includes a surprising interpolation of post-grunge band Puddle of Mudd’s 2001 hit She (Expletive) Hates Me.

If there’s a pleasant find here, it’s Stephen Wilson Jr. duetting with Bentley on the opening track, Cold Beer Can. It’s the most memorable song on the album — with its plucky instrumentation and ascendant chorus, which showcase Wilson Jr.’s rich voice and guitar talents.

It also does what Bentley aims for, but misses, throughout the record: It addresses life’s touching moments over brews. ★★★ out of five

Stream: Cold Beer Can; She Hates Me

— Ron Harris, The Associated Press

JAZZ

Curtis Nowosad

I Am Doing My Best (La Reserve)

Winnipeg-bred drummer Curtis Nowosad has established a solid reputation in New York and worked with many top names in jazz. This album is his fourth as leader and he returns to familiar names from home to assist him in a very fine release.

The album is significant in his career, as it is the first to feature all-original music and lyrics, demonstrating his talent with words as well as on drums. Personnel here are co-producer and well-known Winnipeg singer and guitarist Joey Landreth, guitarist Andrew Renfroe and vocals shared with Joanna Majoko.

The music is strong throughout, defined by Nowosad’s powerful leadership. The instrumental tracks are terrific; the opening We Do We to Mythologies and Echo Delta feature great string solos by Renfroe and Landreth. Much of the writing is Renfroe’s and it is complex, melodic and offers space for some pretty great drumming.

The concept of the album involves a personal examination of self-healing and impacting the wider world. The lyrics are interesting in that they don’t simply sound like mindless pop sentiments. Several of the vocal tracks sound somewhat pop/rock in form but maintain the lyrical integrity of the album concept.

Landreth’s input is also tangible, aiding in the changing moods expressed from track to track. Renfroe is simply stellar. Check the solo on No Such Place as Away.

It has been a treat to watch Nowosad’s development over the years from a budding local talent to his comfort and involvement with the best in the competitive jazz environment of New York. His coming home for this important album in his career is a fine gift to all of us here. It seems pretty obvious that he is indeed doing his best. ★★★★ out of five

Stream: The Archer (I Am Doing My Best); Echo Delta

— Keith Black

CLASSICAL

Melbourne Symphony Orchestra

Gustav Holst: The Planets; Deborah Cheetham Fraillon: Earth (LSO Live)

The Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, led by chief conductor Jaime Martin, takes listeners on a cosmic journey through Holst’s The Planets in this recent recording.

The seven-movement orchestral suite inspired by the 20th century composer’s fascination with astrology, and how celestial bodies might impact human personalities, has enchanted listeners since its 1918 première. It also showcases Holst’s richly imaginative orchestration teeming with tonal colours and special effects, including the incorporation of an offstage women’s chorus during its finale, VII. Neptune, the Mystic.

The enthralling I. Mars, the Bringer of War, its driving 5/4 ostinato and clashing harmonies performed with gusto, is quickly contrasted by the more serene II. Venus, the Bringer of Peace.

The composer’s personal favourite, V. Saturn, the Bringer of Old Age, builds to a thundering climax, while VI. Uranus, the Magician unfolds as a rollicking, clumsy dance. Last but not least, VII. Neptune, the Mystic rounds out the whirlwind journey with adventuresome dissonances, its final wordless chorus lending further mystery and majesty to the overall performance.

One planet that has always been missing, by design, is our own home. Aboriginal Australian composer/soprano/playwright Deborah Cheetham Fraillon’s Earth cleverly fills that void, with her seventh commissioned work for the Melbourne musicians.

Following a dramatic opening replete with striking brass dissonances and pounding percussion, the highly textured, one-movement piece intended to reflect our own humanity subsides into gentler climes. Cheetham has not only composed the music, but also sings her own original text, her soaring soprano voice further putting her personal stamp on this attractive satellite work to Holst’s pleasing, planetary wonders. ★★★★ out of five

Stream: II. Venus, the Bringer of Peace; VII. Neptune, the Mystic; Earth

— Holly Harris