STACK #153 Jul 2017

MUSIC REVIEWS

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Haim Something To Tell You Everyone’s favourite musical sisters Haim are back with sophomore album Something to Tell You, the follow up to 2013’s Days Are Gone . Want You Back is a buoyant opener that spins a narrative around a fragmented relationship, Nothing’s Wrong continuing this thread before reaching a surprising bridge that has Danielle Haim’s vocals changed beyond recognition. Ready for You sings of the heady moments of initial attraction, while percussion on Something to Tell You accentuates the song’s passionate lyrics. Kept Me Crying impresses with a soaring guitar solo. While the lyrics centre on falling in and out of love, the emotions coalesce into an anthemic sound cementing Haim’s infectious energy. (Universal Music) Holly Pereira Jeff Tweedy Together at Last Ever wanted to hang out with Jeff Tweedy in his Chicago studio The Loft? With him strumming on a guitar and singing a collection of his songs? Well here’s your chance. The first in a series of Loft acoustic sessions he aims to release is dubbed Together At Last . Highlighting the true songsmith that is Tweedy solo, this reimagines songs from his extensive songbook in a career of over three decades and 20 albums. Laid bare with just vocals, guitar and occasional whistling are songs from some of his various bands Wilco, Loose Fur and Golden Smog. Intimate, raw and alluring — like it’s all just for you.

Meg Mac Low Blows

Meg Mac's star has been on the rise since picking up

Lorde Melodrama Ella Marija Lani Yelich-O'Connor, better known by stage name Lorde, was called ‘the future of music’ by no less than the late David Bowie. No pressure, then. She first permeated the airwaves at a mere 16 years old (remember Royals ?). She’s best known for her lyrical prowess and wonderful word-weaving, and those skills that see her one-up

Unearthed Artist of the Year in 2014, a handful of swaggering soul tracks making her talent obvious. Since then, Mac's gone from homegrown champion to citizen of the world. International tours — where she nabbed co- signs from legends D'Angelo and Gary Clark Jr — and recording abroad give Low Blows its worldliness: from the swirling drama of its title track, to the slow burn of Cages and Brooklyn Apartment, Low Blows casts a loving eye at one of music's richest traditions. Mac's debut record demonstrates the young crooner has an old soul.

her debut release Pure Heroine – four years later – with Melodrama. Her almost spoken-word approach to production gives her a sound many marvel at, and she’s right back in with the heavy hitters here. There are some definite Tennis Court meets Yellow Flicker Beat feelings on Sober – a celebration of long nights and good vibes – and Liability is a touching self-reflection on how friends treat you like the plague, when you wind up in the public eye. None of this 11-track foray wastes a moment, and if you were at all a fan of Pure Heroine you’ll adore Melodrama. She’s the Queen of the scene right now, and the intervening years don’t seem to have done her any harm. Pay close attention, too, to album highlight Supercut ; it’s a real, close look at relationships – “In your car the radio up/we keep trying to talk about us”. (Universal Music) Alesha 'Ice' Kolbe

(Emi/Universal) Jake Cleland

Public Service Broadcasting Every Valley Music and politics go hand-in-hand for London duo Public Service Broadcasting. On Every Valley they capture the shining promise of the Welsh mining industry, through to its dramatic collapse, never once missing a beat. Instrumentally, strings heighten tension and rhythmic synths engage, while soundbites from real life broadcasts contextualise the Welsh mining culture. The voices of notable Welsh performers are also heard, via James Dean Bradfield of Manic Street Preachers and Camera Obscura's Tracyanne Campbell. There’s much to be said about a band who explore issues through their music, Public Service Broadcasting proof of the importance of music in social commentary. (Inertia) Holly Pereira

Cornelius Mellow Waves

Neil Young Hitchiker

You’re more likely to hear of BABYMETAL as definitive of

These long-lost solo, acoustic tracks recorded live, in one take in August 1976, when Young had released only six studio albums, are some of his best loved songs. Pocahontas, Powderfinger, Human Highway , and other hidden gems that would appear in subsequent years. Ride My Llama, a fantasy meeting with a "man from Mars", Captain Kennedy , the story of a young mariner re-enacting his father's career, and Campaigner – inspired by news footage of US President Richard Nixon visiting his wife in hospital, after she suffered a stroke. Also included are two previously un-released tracks, Hawaii and Give Me Strength.

Japanese music, but Cornelius is an example of how the country’s producers have reinvented pop as we know it. Since the mid-'90s, Cornelius has thrilled soundhounds with intricate compositions, skewing influences like the Beach Boys and Beck through found sounds and rhythmic experiments. That’s given him a reputation as music for trainspotters outside of Japan, but MellowWaves makes it plain that Cornelius is always working in service of his – and his audience’s – pop fandom. With stunning, elaborate melodies and rhythm that triggers both familiar

and novel parts of the brain, MellowWaves is sublime. (Spunk) Jake Cleland

(Anti) Denise Hylands

(Warner Music) Billy Pinnell

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JULY 2017

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