This week’s latest releases feature Mumford and Sons’ return to tepidity, Iggy Azalea and Britney Spears’ tragically bad new collaboration, and Canadian punks METZ blowing everyone else out of the water. Here’s our roundup.
Album of the Week
Mumford & Sons
“Wilder Mind”
★½
It’s out with the boring banjos and in with the humdrum electric guitars. For their third album, the British outfit have expanded their sound, and while the effort to progress beyond folk-twangers should be applauded, results are mixed. Many songs were written in New York, and impressions of the city filter through on the striding opener “Tompkins Square Park” and the title track, both of which nod heavily toward Brooklyn gloom-rockers the National. But the move into middle-of-the-road indie works against them too; songs like “Monster” have more in common with dreary Coldplay castoffs. “Wilder Mind” has been touted as a revolution of sorts, but Mumford & Sons’ new direction is deceptively conservative.
Downloads of the Week
Iggy Azalea & Britney Spears
“Pretty Girls”
½
Remember 2014, when music was better? Iggy Azalea obviously does, and that’s why her long-awaited Britney Spears collaboration has turned out to be a woefully formulaic rehash of last summer’s smash “Fancy.” Flimsy electro breaks, Britney’s plastic sassiness, and another inane Iggy rap make this an embarrassment for all concerned.
My Morning Jacket
“Get the Point”
★★★
Kentucky’s ever-reliable country-rock jammers are in good form throughout their new album “The Waterfall,” but it’s when they strip back the solos that the real magic happens. On the fragile “Get the Point,” singer Jim James captures the sorrow of a dead relationship with a poignancy that recalls Harry Nilsson at his best and most heartbreaking.
Ciara
“Dance Like We’re Making Love”
★★
Jay Z’s old touring buddy often sounds desperate to score a hit on her new album “Jackie,” but the plastic R&B beats and obvious hooks fall short. Interest peaks briefly with this icily seductive album cut, which sounds like a lost Janet Jackson demo unearthed from the early ’90s and given a modern, electronic makeover. But even with a good song behind her, Ciara still lacks the star power to make it count.
Metz
“Spit You Out”
★★★½
The latest album from these Canadians (simply called “METZ II”) is just a half-hour long, but every minute is invigoratingly brutal. Recalling early Nirvana on a particularly nasty day, “Spit You Out” is a vicious blast of sludge-punk, featuring a guitar solo so feral, it feels like it could leap out of the speakers and claw your face.
Torres
“The Exchange”
★★★
Music doesn’t get much more personal than the sound of Brooklyn-based singer-songwriter Mackenzie Scott (a k a Torres) recounting her own adoption as a child. Much of her second album, “Sprinter,” echoes the ragged indie-rock of early PJ Harvey, but on this eight-minute closing track, it’s just Torres, an acoustic guitar, and her painful experiences sung with a whisper, but carrying the emotional impact of a hammer.