Linkin Park’s From Zero is a scream – plus the week’s best albums

Emily Armstrong performing with Linkin Park
Emily Armstrong performing with Linkin Park - Jim Dyson

It’s fair to say that September’s unveiling of Emily Armstrong as the new singer of Californian nu-metal band Linkin Park was met with a mixed reaction by fans. Opinions on social media ranged from “absolutely disgusting decision” to “f–king phenomenal”. It was easy to see why emotions were running high: the band had been on hiatus since the 2017 suicide of much-loved lead vocalist Chester Bennington. And here they were returning with a female singer to take his place.

There were complications. Armstrong’s links to Scientology brought further criticism, and it emerged that in 2020 she attended a court hearing in support of now-convicted rapist Danny Masterton, for which she apologised. The metal community got in a froth. It took the sage words of hard rock deity Gene Simmons from KISS to help calm things down. “In rock and roll, there are no rules,” proclaimed the heavy metal Zeus days after Armstrong’s appointment. But the thing that really convinced fans that the 38-year-old was the right fit for the band was her voice. Or rather, her scream.

There’s a moment one minute and 50 seconds into Heavy Is The Crown, the second single taken from Linkin Park’s comeback album From Zero, when Armstrong releases a scream so powerful that I feared for my eardrums. It is so crunchingly heavy that our cat bolted out of my study in terror. But Armstrong can sing too, up in the high range that Bennington occupied. Allied with strong melodies, this is why From Zero works: it’s a solid and uncompromising piece of work. There are no laurels being rested on here.

On first listen, the album doesn’t stray far from the template that made Linkin Park one of the biggest bands of the Noughties. Hits such as In The End combined rap with heavy metal and turntable scratches. Their songs dealt with existential angst and followed a soft-loud-soft dynamic. Mike Shinoda, who produced From Zero, shared vocal duties with Bennington, as he does here with Armstrong. Less crude than nu-metal contemporaries Limp Bizkit and more commercial than Korn, Linkin Park’s Grammy-winning first album, Hybrid Theory, sold 32 million copies and became the best-selling debut album since Guns N’ Roses’ Appetite for Destruction in 1987.

Lyrically, we’re still in angstville (“I’m a tightrope held up by a clothes pin,” sings Shinoda at one point). But dig a little deeper and From Zero contains some interesting musical variations. Cut The Bridge has a stripped-back punk vibe and is almost (whisper it) fun. The poppy Over Each Other showcases Armstrong’s expressive singing voice but it’s followed by Casualty, a track best described as bruising (“get your screaming pants on” a bandmate tells Armstrong as it starts). Lasting just over two minutes, there’s no fat whatsoever on Casualty. And then you have Stained, a track whose soaring chorus and harmonised coda bring to mind Taylor Swift. Take the walloping guitar away and perhaps this is a pop album after all.

Despite early reservations, Linkin Park know they’ve won. The day before this album was released the band announced a show at London’s 90,000-capacity Wembley Stadium next summer. You don’t do that unless you’re brimming with confidence. The title From Zero suggests a band starting again. That’s not strictly true. But it sounds like a thrilling second chapter. James Hall


Shawn Mendes, Shawn, ★★★☆☆

Shawn Mendes
Shawn Mendes - Island Records

Nothing says “musical reinvention” like the mandolin. Just ask Rod Stewart or REM, who turned to the instrument when their careers required an overhaul. To this plucky list we can add 26-year-old Canadian singer-songwriter Shawn Mendes, who has gone down the folk-pop route for his fifth album, Shawn. You can’t blame him: Mendes has had a tricky few years. It’s just a shame that the Mumford-isation of his once-glossy sound, pleasant though it is, lacks originality.

Mendes’s last album was 2020’s Wonder, which featured a duet with Justin Bieber. After its release, Mendes cancelled a vast world tour after only a handful of shows citing mental health issues. He also had to deal with a much commented-on split with girlfriend and singer Camilla Cabello (with whom he collaborated on 2019 monster hit Señorita). Then last month he was forced to comment on his sexual orientation after being hounded by so-called fans (“I’m just figuring it out like everyone,” he said).

His mental health struggles are dealt with head-on on opening track Who I Am. Over spare acoustic guitar and airy production, Mendes sings that he’s “got a lot of talk in my brain right now” and he doesn’t really know who he is. I genuinely hope he’s OK. Who’d be a pop star, eh? Why Why Why is a mandolin-heavy campfire hoedown, while That’s The Dream is rather lovely. Nobody Knows and Isn’t That Enough sit somewhere between the balladry of Ed Sheeran and Bon Iver circa 2007.

Does the world really need another cover of Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah? No. But we get one on this album. Mendes should be given credit for using a harmonium as the song’s base ingredient. Unfortunately the song becomes melisma spaghetti.

This is a brave album both sonically and strategically. Mendes’ previous four albums topped the US album chart so changing lanes is admirably risky. But I’m unconvinced this represents a great leap forward. James Hall


Pa Salieu, Afrikan Alien, ★★★★★

Over recent years the talented Coventry rapper Pa Salieu has lost close friends to knife attacks, and served time in prison himself. A previous BBC Sound winner, the artist’s talent has never been in question. The way he flips between raucous Gambian rhythms and blunt hood raps that tackle navigating the concrete jungle (see breakout hit, Front Lines) makes him an always exhilarating experience.

With his new album, Afrikan Alien, Salieu cements all this raw potential by creating a galvanising record that roots itself in uplifting immigrants and unifying warring factions of an inner-city community. Only free since September, Salieu sounds re-energised, and like he found more of a peaceful purpose while having more time to slow down and think in jail. “A great man must finesse and invest,” raps Pa Salieu on Belly, a lyric that seems to best reflect his change in living for the future rather than just the now.

Mainstream UK rap right now is severely lacking in perspective for those with nothing in their pockets, which makes the swinging afro-futurist funk of Afrikan di Alien instantly compelling, especially Salieu’s empathetic bars about struggling Brits “dying of hunger” and this being a “hostile planet” where even “the children can’t sleep at night”. The urgent, rough-around-the-edges, 2Pac-esque introspection is finely balanced with bass-heavy big hitters (see the swinging, Fela Kuti percussion of Allergy), so obviously designed to rip up the dancefloor.

Pa Salieu has that rare ability to spark profound thoughts in a sweaty night club setting, like on YGF, where whizzing strings and gully drums keep your head nodding despite all the morose lyrics: “I wonder to myself, will death give me more peace?” He seems just as comfortable leading a protest (Dece (Heavy)) as he does being the Black Casonova (“Round and Round”), and this project’s breezy, shape-shifting ability should make Afrikan Alien the album that truly crosses Pa Salieu over into the mainstream. Thomas Hobbs


070 Shake, Petrichor, ★★★☆☆

Ever since that song-stealing appearance on mentor Kanye West’s 2018 hit Ghost Town, New Jersey’s 070 Shake has cemented herself as a voice of the lost by expertly towing the line between wounded emo and resilient hip hop.

But while in the past she felt like somewhat of a mainstream outlier, 070 Shake is now in a very different space, with a paparazzi-baiting relationship with actress Lily-Rose Depp, 10 million monthly Spotify listens, and memorable guest vocals on Raye’s smash-single Escapism.

New album Petrichor (the name an ode to the cosy smell of wet earth after rainstorms that the artist used to savour during childhood trips to visit family back in the Dominican Republic) reflects all these pressures and how the artist has exchanged loneliness for love, and the gloomy concrete jungles of New York City for the brighter sunsets of her new home, Los Angeles.

The shoegaze-indebted Elephant gets lost in a 2am argument between a couple, before fully embracing being “under your spell, again”. 070 Shake’s smoky vocals sound seductive despite their scratchiness and this song completely nails the vibe of a rollercoaster relationship unfolding beneath a sweltering sun. Winter Baby x New Jersey Blues is even better and, thanks to its layered, jolly guitar line, seems to be 070 Shake’s own take on a lovelorn, Phil Spector-produced 60s groove. “Found the girl and she’s worth all the pain,” she sings jubilantly, her audible contentment feels like real growth from the detached sentiment of a lot of her previous material.

Yet the way a lot of the other songs abruptly switch from buttery hooks and beautiful cascading piano harmonies into chaotic heart attack drums (Into The Garden) can be jarring to listen to; too often this music feels like it’s guilty of experimentation for experimentation’s sake. What’s Wrong With Me is a great example of this. A song that initially soothes a deep depression suddenly pulls the carpet from under the listener’s feet, exchanging an emotive choir arrangement for uncomfortable splintering, scurrying synths.

While Petrichor is a solid album that will surely cement 070 Shake’s visibility, it would be good if she embraced more of the poppier moments instead of obscuring them under foggy soundscapes. This approach, you feel, will be the thing that takes her records from being interesting to unforgettable. TH


Flo, Access All Areas, ★★★☆☆

Flo
Flo - Darren Little

Getting the star of the autumn’s biggest blockbuster to declare “Planet Earth was in dire need of bad b—-h replenishment” in the opening seconds of your debut album is quite the vote of self-confidence.

But Wicked’s Cynthia Erivo is just the latest big-name – after SZA, Missy Elliott and Stormzy – to throw herself behind FLO, the British girl group whose entire mantra is self-confidence, and who last year won the Brit Rising Star award and the prestigious BBC Sound Of poll, quickly being labelled the ones to watch in global pop.

Their debut album Access All Areas has taken longer than expected to be unleashed on the world, and as a result, it sounds like a record that has been prodded and polished by countless producers and executives, losing essential charisma in the process. Overtly influenced by American R&B stars like Destiny’s Child and Aaliyah, as well as their Brit predecessors Sugababes, FLO – made up of Jorja Douglas, Stella Quaresma and Renée Downer – are superb vocalists; there’s not a note or pitch out of place throughout the album’s short 47-minute run time, and their harmonies flow with the sweet ease of honey.

The album’s strongest tracks are the titular AAA, a sensual slow-jam inviting a lover to fall under their spell (“Come take a tour / Access all areas / Tonight, it’s yours”), and In My Bag, featuring Memphis rapper GloRilla, which comes closest to emulating the infectious, catchy nature of their 2022 breakthrough single Cardboard Box. Produced by MNEK, who has worked with the likes of Madonna, Beyoncé and Dua Lipa, the rest of Access All Areas blends into a fun if forgettable rush of punchy, innuendo-filled songs about red flag-boyfriends and disappointing lovers (IWH2BMX, How Does It Feel) and ballads (Soft, Trustworthy) that do, at least, give the girls’ vocals time to shine.

However, in the strongest year in pop for a decade, when Chappell Roan and Sabrina Carpenter took over the world with their originality and candid flair and Charli XCX became a byword for having a good time, FLO’s debut has one glaring problem: it fails to make these girls seem real. They’re excellent singers, yes, but there’s no introspection, no personality, that shines through Access All Areas. A new artist needs to earn your respect; they need to make you care about their future. FLO have gone down the opposite route – most of the songs on Access All Areas choose to insist how great they already are, rather than promising how great they’re going to be. Poppie Platt


Best new songs

By Poppie Platt

Cat Burns, Teenage Dirtbag
It seems fitting that Wheatus’s timeless Noughties anthem about moody teenagers living on the “outside” should be covered by Burns – recently nominated for the Mercury Prize for her debut album, Early Twenties, which covered similar themes: she’s an indie artist with a real knack for articulating complex feelings. You’ll still find yourself thinking of Mena Suvari in the original video, though.

Cat Burns
Cat Burns - Gareth Cattermole

Elton John and Brandi Carlile, Never Too Late
Elton and his long-term friend, the Americana great Brandi Carlile, team up for this gorgeous duet that also gives his new retrospective documentary (released on Disney+ today) its name. As the pair reflect on the passing of time, Elton’s voice still has the power to send a dagger through your heart, while Carlile, who wrote the song, further establishes herself as the modern heir to artists of Elton’s stature.

Mahalia, Pick Up the Pace
The Leicester-raised R&B singer shows off her smooth-as-silk vocals on this dancehall-infused new track (featuring Jamaican artist Bayka) where she implores a new lover to finally commit to her (”Take your foot off the brakes / Gimme touch and affection, don’t make me wait”).

Sam Fender, People Watching
North Shields’s musical hero always gets compared to Springsteen, but his music has long owed a debt to the soaring, epic indie-rock of The War on Drugs – and now, the Pennsylvania rockers’ own Adam Granduciel has produced this new track, Fender’s first in three years. As expected, it’s excellent: big vocals and powerful lyrics (“I fear for this crippled island / And the turmoil of our times”) set against thrashing guitars and erratic synths, echoing the might of TWOD’s Red Eyes (or, ok – Born to Run). Will we be hearing it sung atop the Pyramid Stage next summer, or are the rumours of Fender’s Glastonbury headline slot just that?