Albums of the week (Feb 27-March 5)

The latest album releases reviewed by the Evening Standard's music critics
Authentic: Kelly Clarkson is the real deal in US pop
Evening Standard Critics27 February 2015

Pop

Kelly Clarkson

Piece by Piece

(RCA)

★★★★

She may have found fame via TV as the first-ever American Idol in 2002 but Kelly Clarkson is a rare example of authenticity in slick US pop. The hard-working Texan’s seventh album arrives just eight months after her baby daughter. On the heartfelt title track she praises her husband as a devoted father who “never asks for money” (always a bonus for the celebrity half of a couple). There’s something reassuring about her traditional pop compared with modish chart rivals. Clarkson dips her toe into dance music on Take You High, though she’s more comfortable with gargantuan, hook-filled anthems like Heartbeat Song, Invincible and Nostalgic, as well as robust balladry ( John Legend helps out on Run Run Run). Tried and tested it may be, yet Clarkson is clearly still hungry for hits.

Andre Paine

Nick Jonas

Nick Jonas

(Island)

★★

It seems like a million years ago, but just prior to Biebermania the Jonas Brothers were the American pretty boys who rated highest on the screa-o-meter. Those Disney Channel pups were a bland version of Busted, and even made a US hit of the Brit band’s single, Year 3000. Now their youngest member is trying to do a Timberlake with a first proper solo album of polished electronic R&B. It’s far less bold than Timberlake’s music — Warning and Avalanche are mature pop songs designed for cosy Radio 2 rather than Radio 1. Jonas’s voice remains high and sweet and devoid of individual character. The retro-funk of Teacher is the most fun but it already feels like this 22-year-old’s most exciting moments are behind him.

David Smyth

Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds

Chasing Yesterday

(Ignition)

★★★★

Larceny was always a grand Gallagher brother tradition — and it’s one the older brother proudly upholds on his second post-Oasis album. Whether it’s the title of Nick Drake’s Riverman or the chords of New Order’s Blue Monday, you can usually detect the leaping-off point for these 10 songs. Genius steals? Well, sometimes. The Ballad of the Mighty I is his most inspired melody for some time (if only Liam were singing it!), Lock All the Doors grinds fiercely, and throughout, the late-Paul Weller vibe suits him well. It helps that Noel is finally comfortable unleashing a major seventh or a baritone sax without worrying someone will call him a ponce. Disappointed The Right Stuff isn’t a New Kids on the Block cover, mind.

Richard Godwin

Gang of Four

What Happens Next

(Membran)

★★★

In 1977, when Gang of Four were the most politically literate of the angry punks, it would have been most unlikely that anyone would write a biography of Prince Charles for their leader, Andy Gill. But Catherine Mayer’s Charles: Heart of a King is dedicated to her husband, Mr Gill. To coincide, Gill has reconvened Gang of Four with new singer John “Gaoler” Sterry and sprinkled their ninth album with guest stars including The Kills/Dead Weather’s Alison Mosshart and David Bowie’s bassist Gail Ann Dorsey. If the record lacks the anger of former singer and co-lyricist Jon King, it’s a densely layered, jagged affair that simmers rather than shouts. It meanders like Nineties Bowie, but at its best on First World Citizen and Isle of Dogs, they can still punch their musical and intellectual weight.

John Aizlewood

World

Anouar Brahem

Souvenance

(ECM)

★★

It’s an image from Tunis in January 2011 on the cover of this disc by Tunisian oud (lute) player Anouar Brahem. The title, Souvenance (Remembrance), indicates that this double album for oud, piano, bass clarinet and bass guitar with string orchestra is inspired by the upheaval that kicked off the Arab Spring in Tunisia and then elsewhere. “I don’t claim a direct link between my compositions and the events,” writes Brahem, “but I have been deeply affected by them.” I wish there was more of a link, or more focus, at least. The music is slow, uneventful and sombre, with not a trace of drama. Disappointing, when Tunisia’s revolution is the only one that can be considered a success.

Simon Broughton

Jazz

Eberhard Weber

Encore

(ECM Records)

★★★★

German composer and double bassist and ECM label stalwart Eberhard Weber is renowned for his work with the Jan Garbarek Group, his distinctive tone and subtle, thoughtful phrasing adding dark and light to the Norwegians’ airy sound palette. Weber was touring with Garbarek in 2007 when he suffered the stroke that interrupted his performing life and saw him improvising with one hand on keyboard or piano. On Encore, a companion piece to 2012’s acclaimed Resumé, the iconic 75-yearold plays keyboard alongside Dutch flugelhorn player Ack van Rooyen. The emphasis here is on the electric bass solos Weber played with Garbarek from 1990-2007, each recording edited and rearranged with the aid of digital effects and visionary verve.

Jane Cornwell

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