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Albums of the week: Jess Glynne’s in the groove and she’s going global

She's back: Singer Jess Glynne: Brian J Ritchie/Hotsauce/Rex
She's back: Singer Jess Glynne: Brian J Ritchie/Hotsauce/Rex

Jess Glynne​ - Always in Between

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Jess Glynne​ - Always in Between
Jess Glynne​ - Always in Between

When I’ll Be There became her seventh No 1 in the summer, Jess Glynne extended her record as the British female artist with the most chart-topping singles. But the bigger prize would be global success like Adele, her fellow big-voiced, heart-on-sleeve singer from North London. Glynne is halfway there with her 2015 debut, I Cry When I Laugh. A winning combination of bangers and ballads, it has sold almost 1.2 million copies in the UK alone. Always in Between could easily have been one of those difficult second albums; LA sessions with top songwriters apparently didn’t suit the down-to-earth Glynne.

After regrouping back home, she got things back on track with a set of tunes that frame her soulful yet never overpowering vocal. Despite a few lyrical references to booze and getting high alone, it’s ultimately an uplifting record with the sort of pop platitudes that can appeal to a demographic aged eight to 80. There’s feelgood funk on 1,2,3, a rubbery groove and soaring chorus on current hit All I Am and a seamless melding of acoustic strumming and swish electronics on Never Let Me Go. Among the quota of ballads, the standout is Thursday (co-written with Ed Sheeran), a towering anthem of self-acceptance that will soon be hard to avoid every day of the week.

Always In Between is a superior blend of pop, soul and R&B that suggests Glynne will join Sheeran and Adele in doing her bit for British music exports.

(Atlantic)

Kurt Vile - Bottle It In

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Kurt Vile - Bottle It In
Kurt Vile - Bottle It In

Kurt Vile’s seventh studio album took over two-and-a-half-years to make. It was recorded at multiple destinations while he was travelling across the US — and the result is liberating. Combining classic moments of Tom Petty-esque rock with psychedelic snatches, Vile flits between the playful and the painful.

The fun One Trick Ponies delights as does the dreamy Mutinies, an impressive track featuring Kim Gordon. Many songs sprawl well over the seven-minute mark; ideas, rather than structure, is often favoured. The result is an album which sounds closer to a mix-tape, where a song reflecting an open highway is preferable to one with polished perfectionism. It’s a style that suits Vile’s troubadour spirit well.

(Matador)

Elvis Costello & The Imposters - Look Now

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Elvis Costello & The Imposters - Look Now
Elvis Costello & The Imposters - Look Now

At 64, there is little that Elvis Costello doesn’t know about the well-made pop song. His 33rd album is full of rueful, tasteful, carefully crafted Sixties-inflected heartbreakers that remind you what a technically accomplished songwriter he is. And also how technical accomplishment isn’t everything — oh, for some of the jagged gawkiness of his new-wave youth.

I Let the Sun Go Down is a lament for Brexitland from his American exile; Under Lime is an arch morality tale about an old star making a comeback.

The arrangements are gorgeous, some of the chorus hooks less so, and overall the laid-back Broadway-meets-Abbey Road vibe suits his adroit observations well.

(Concord)

John Grant - Love is Magic

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John Grant - Love is Magic
John Grant - Love is Magic

John Grant received huge acclaim in 2010 for his debut solo album Queen of Denmark, which mixed beautiful balladry with wild lyrical imagery delivered in the Michigan musician’s languorous baritone. Wide appeal seems almost too easy for this ambitious songwriter, who attempts something stranger on this fourth release. Metamorphosis is his attempt to explore “the mess of the human mind”, which means screeching electronica and a yelping, unhinged tone to his voice. On Diet Gum he plays a stupid man having an argument — funny once, irritating thereafter. The band sound is gone in favour of stark analogue synths. He still conjures warmth from them on The Common Snipe and the title track, but much is hard going.

(Bella Union) ​

Moses Boyd Exodus - Displaced Diaspora

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Moses Boyd Exodus - Displaced Diaspora
Moses Boyd Exodus - Displaced Diaspora

London’s new jazz scene isn’t so new any more. But three years ago, before all the hoopla, drummer Moses Boyd was in a studio with mates including reedswoman Nubya Garcia and tuba player Theon Cross.

The results of these sessions captured the scene’s raw energy, busting out from players with jazz chops and a thing for grime and beats; Boyd released the lauded Rye Lane Shuffle, and includes it again here. Opener Rush Hour/Elegua begins with police sirens before percussion by Kevin Haynes takes it deep; singers Zara McFarlane and Terri Walker lend beauty but it’s Boyd’s fierce, intricate drumming that drives this story home. Superb. He plays Islington Assembly Hall, N1, on November 24.

Le Trio Joubran​ - The Long March

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Le Trio Joubran​ - The Long March
Le Trio Joubran​ - The Long March

Le Trio Joubran are a brilliant Palestinian oud (Arabic lute) trio and they’ve been busy making a name for themselves for 15 years. It’s almost as if the three brothers, Samir, Wissam and Adnan, are playing one instrument, so deftly do their lines mesh together. Although it’s the plucked and tremolo strings that are to the fore, there are crucial piano glimmers on The Hanging Moon and superb percussion from Youssef Hbeisch on The Age of Industry.

The track that will get the most attention is Carry the Earth, a lament for four boys killed by an Israeli warship on the beach in Gaza while playing football, with spoken words by Pink Floyd’s Roger Waters.

Le Trio Joubran play the Barbican on February 3 next year.

(Cooking Vinyl)​