STACK #210 Apr 2022

REVIEWS MUSIC

Jack White Fear of the Dawn

FEATURE ARTIST

“Jack White: ‘Ok I’ll do the vocals, guitar, bass and drums on this one’ – reads a LOL- worthy comment under Taking Me Back ’s striking music video, which stars White as one-man super- band, on YouTube.

Demented, distorted keys, primal-screeching guitars and strutting drums usher in this LP’s dangerous, addictive opener. As hard-hitting sounds ping-pong wildly between left and right earbuds, we brace ourselves for a bluesy rock’n’roll baptism while fighting the urge to fling both arms in the air – as if plummeting down a rollercoaster’s steep descent – before witty rhyming lyrics seal the deal: “When you listen to mystics/ As you lay out your picnics...” Somewhat like Prince before him, White’s guitar-playing majesty never seems to receive the accolades it so richly

Colin Hay Now and the Evermore

Colin Hay once proclaimed he was “waiting for my real life to begin”. But on his 15th solo album, he’s contemplating the end. “Nobody gets a sequel,” he notes in the title track, which features Ringo Starr on drums. “Everyone gets shown the door.” Hay dedicates the album to Men At Work’s tour manager Ted Gardner, who died last year. But despite death looming large, Hay – one of our finest singers and songwriters – is in a sunny state of acceptance, and Now and the Evermore is a moving meditation on life, loss and love. “Ain’t nobody going to bum my high,” he declares in Love is Everywhere. Later, he has “said goodbye to sorrow”, though in the closing track, he ponders: “When does the end begin?” But this album shows that it’s too soon to be reflecting on a remarkable career. Colin Hay remains in top form. (Lazy Eye/Sony) Jeff Jenkins

deserves – what the flamin’ heck are those droid sounds he wrenches out during this record’s title track, which boasts a relentless, galloping tempo akin to Wolfmother’s Woman !? Ominous keys usher in The White Raven ’s hardcore industrial rave and Q-Tip collab Hi-De-Ho is as off- kilter and phantasmagorical as its title suggests, with White sampling Cab Calloway before the A Tribe Called Quest rapper contributes some scatting of his own. The first of two albums the musician will release this year (his self-described “more mellow” set, Entering Heaven Alive , scheduled to follow in July) , Fear of the Dawn is sickeningly good. Oh, how we’ve missed White unleashing his brilliantly bonkers brand of blues-infested rock’n’roll fury! And the drumming slaps hard throughout. “Are you taking me back?” White inquires during the lead single, before taunting (probably with one perfectly arched eyebrow raised), “I’ll bet you do!” In Fear of the Dawn ’s wake, we’re officially even more obsessed with White. And the blue hue of his current ‘do is *chef’s kiss*. (Third Man Records) Bryget Chrisfield

Charli XCX Crash On her fifth record, Charli XCX finds herself once more as one of the most interesting and dynamic pop artists of the time. Without a doubt her most polished production work yet, Crash is a step away from the lightning-in-a bottle hyperpop that has become synonymous with the Cambridge artist in recent years, and roots itself firmly in vibrant, eclectic pop that belongs on all nightclub dancefloors. With well-placed features (including Christine and the Queens and Caroline Polachek on New Shapes , and Rina Sawayama on Beg For You ) and a stronger focus on her voice than we’ve seen previously, Crash would perfectly soundtrack the In Living Colour ’s Fly Girls in the early '90s. It’s impossible to ignore the urge to turn it up loud, and cut some shapes. (Warner) Jacqui Picone

PUP The Unraveling of PUPTheBand

Hatchie Giving the World Away

Fontaines D. C. Skinty Fia

If Kylie had continued down the IndieKylie path she explored on the Impossible Princess album, she would sound like Hatchie. The second album for the Brisbane singer (real name: Harriette Pilbeam) is filled with shimmering electro beats and dream-pop hooks. How the first single, This Enchanted , didn’t become a smash hit is one of 2021’s great mysteries. It sounds just as good now, “washing over me” as it transports you back to the ’90s. There’s a restlessness at the heart of Giving the World Away as Hatchie deals with dreams and desire, self-esteem and self- confidence. “If I had everything I wanted,” she wonders in Quicksand , “would I want more?” But this album shows that Hatchie is the real deal. And like all great pop music, it manages to sound both nostalgic and right now. Some kind of bliss, indeed. (Ivy League) Jeff Jenkins

Haunting, mournful and full of a simmering, relentless rage, Skinty Fia is an unravelling of sorts. It’s music that sets you on edge, knee bouncing in anticipation of the moment singer Grian Chatten’s drawling baritone drops out and the instrumentation wails a symphony of chaos and cultural angst. With every release, Fontaines D.C. consistently produce music that is utterly unique. It is truly difficult to compare or contrast the Irish outfit to any other group, when their material remains, at its core, reflective of very singular and personal experiences. Fists clenched against the world, howling in defiance, there is a rareness to Fontaines D.C. that makes Skinty Fia another beautifully bold feather in their near-perfect cap. (Partisan/Liberator) Jacqui Picone

Marked by their always intriguing juxtaposition of darkly comedic lyrical work and joyfully chaotic riffs, PUP’s follow up to 2019’s Morbid Stuff is an exercise in evolution and reflection. As the record reaches its crescendo, it’s hard not to notice the self-titled unravelling at the forefront of each track. It almost feels like the soundtrack to a slow and inevitable breakdown – a self-destruction in the modern age. Brash, debauched, and screaming towards a cliff that you can’t quite bring yourself to pull back from, The Unraveling of PUPTheBand stands tall above previous work as their most unflinching and engaging record to date.

(CookingVinyl) Jacqui Picone

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