But far too many songs meander without purpose.Īs well as an extensive back catalogue of studio albums, Rufus Wainwright has an opera (Prima Donna) to his name – and another in the pipeline – so Take All My Loves, released to coincide with the 400th anniversary of William Shakespeare's death, isn't his first foray into theatrical music.Ī variety of thesps lend their voices, including Carrie Fisher, Helena Bonham Carter and William Shatner, while the music world is represented by the likes of Florence Welch and Wainwright's singer-songwriter sister, Martha. The best song is the lovely and plaintively sung Lady Of The Ark, while opening track Eye Of A Hurricane finds the listener reaching for the repeat button. That is not to say Craft is without talent, although anyone looking for something a bit different from the plethora of alt country/Americana shtick that has been pedalled so successfully over the past decade or two is in for a disappointment. Maybe Eno's not a genius, but on The Ship he shows a justified and enjoyable confidence in his ability to make great, if odd, music.ĪMERICAN singer-songwriter Kyle Craft clearly fancies himself as the next Bob Dylan, but Dolls Of Highland, his first album for trendy record label, Sub Pop, is certainly not the next Blood On The Tracks.Ĭraft's vocal style is a bit like Marmite, you will either love it or hate it, but the mannered style of his delivery begins to jar over the course of 12 tracks. Plus, after slogging through some weird, but beautiful 40-odd minutes, Eno pulls out an amazingly radio-friendly pop song in Fickle Sun (iii).
You do feel like you've been on a journey come the end. The lyrics are weak, trying a bit too hard to be poetic, but in ways hard to pinpoint, it gets in. The Ship isn't the most listener-friendly album and it'd be easy to dismiss its mix of low atonal sounds, slow repetition and mystifying lyrics as pretentiousness, but if you let its 20-minute long songs in, it's transformational. WORDS like 'musical genius' can be thrown around too easily, but Brian Eno remains one of the few who can get away that label. While Honey might not be the most cohesive album, it's a minor flaw to forgive in exchange for a set of excellent tracks. She's back at it again six years since her smash hit of a debut, On A Mission, and 2014's Little Red, with her unique mix of dance and pop, although this time she's brought a plethora of big-name artists along with her on collaborative-heavy album, Honey.Įach track features contributions from a different helping hand, from KAYTRANADA on glittering opening track Honey, to Geeneus and Novelist closing the album on Honey (Outro).Ĭontributions from Four Tet and Floating Points can be heard on silky club-tastic number Calm Down, while the prince of garage himself, Craig David, teams up with Major Lazer on Who Am I. IF THERE'S one artist you should be tuning into in 2016, it's Katy B. Love Drought is a languid low point, but Freedom anthemically stomps.įorward is a beautiful, softly furled snapshot of a song that ought to be extended into a 20-minute swamp of fizzing base and whispered lyrics. There's almost a viciousness to Lemonade at times – particularly the shrieking, gravelly Don't Hurt Yourself featuring Jack White.
She scrimps on nothing: not honesty, pain or rage, opening with Pray You Catch Me, a track that swims with accusation. Lemonade, the surprise 'visual' album she dropped on Saturday night exposes her more sinuously than ever before. Whether it's through her videos, her clothes, her instagram, her music – she manages to transmit an all-consuming mightiness that drugs you on beauty, talent, hard graft and the blazing spectacle of what she is capable of.
THE thing about Beyonce is that she makes you feel strong.