ALBUM OF THE WEEK
BEYONCÉ
Lemonade
Parkwood
When social media went into meltdown last weekend at the news that Beyoncé had, without warning, released a new album, one Twitter post stood out. “This is the night when Bey started workin on these songs,” it read, beneath a photo of the singer and her husband, Jay Z, emerging from an elevator in a New York hotel on the night of May 5, 2014. Beyoncé looks regal, inscrutable; Jay Z feels his face, which has apparently just been struck by his wife’s sister, Solange. The subsequently leaked footage of what reportedly occurred during that elevator ride went viral, the blurry images of Solange appearing to assault Jay Z sparking fresh rumours of his infidelity. For the most part, Beyoncé simply stands by, seemingly indifferent to what is occurring. What was going through her mind, fans wondered? Well, here is the answer.
As savage and feral a collection of songs as pop has ever produced, Lemonade is Beyoncé’s revenge, and she’s serving it ice cold. The opening Pray You Catch Me, one of two co-writes with James Blake, describes the period when that dish was first set on the stove, its opening line — “You can taste the dishonesty, it’s all over your breath” — setting the scene for what will follow.
Rarely have lyrics been this unambiguous. “Who the f*** do you think I am?” she spits on the Led Zeppelin-sampling Don’t Hurt Yourself, a brutal sonic assault featuring Jack White, on which Beyoncé’s voice is an ominous snarl as she warns: “If you try this shit again, you’ll lose your wife.”
Sorry’s breezy electro-pop and mellifluous vocal, on the other hand, are in stark contrast to the lyrics, which are full of glancing blows (“Big homie better grow up”) and direct hits (“Suck on my balls, I’ve had enough”). The sensational Hold Up, which contains elements of Andy Williams’s Can’t Get Used to Losing You and Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ Maps, belies its easy-come-easy-go lilt with an expression of pure pain. And the skittering, claustrophobic 6 Inch reminds hubby what he was in danger of losing.
Jay Z may come close to being forgiven by the time All Night heaves to, but it’s on Beyoncé’s terms, and that is Lemonade’s key point. There’s no obvious single here, the album emerged from nowhere and her choice of collaborators and samples is bracingly eclectic (the aforementioned, plus the Weeknd, Malcolm X, Animal Collective, OutKast and, on the ferocious Freedom, Kendrick Lamar). She balances the personal, the political and the universal, as if to say: “This is where my talent has got me. And this is what I’m going to do with it.”
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The extraordinary, signifier-filled “visual album” that preceded this is for another review. It deepens and enlightens your experience. But Lemonade the album will suffice. It’s stunningly good. Inscrutable? She was just hard at work. DC
Stream it via the ST website
KAYTRANADA
99.9%
XL
The step up from buzzed-about remixer/producer to name-above-the-title artist doesn’t always go to plan, but somebody forgot to tell Kaytranada, who achieves it with almost casual ease. The Haitian-Canadian’s debut captures his genre-bending proclivities to a T: 99.9% is the late-night mixtape of your dreams, evoking both the reckless highs and the ennui-heavy lows to a soundtrack that veers between woozy, dubby hip-hop, spry jazz and convulsive electro. The presence of guests such as Anderson .Paak, AlunaGeorge, Vic Mensa and Craig David suggests that Kaytranada’s address book must be as diverse as his musical brain. DC
Buy it via the ST website
CYNDI LAUPER
Detour
Sire
Right back at the start, in the title of her debut, Cyndi Lauper pointed out that she was “so unusual”. And her recent career has been just that: an electro-pop album, a blues album, a musical (Kinky Boots) and now a country album. Presumably, she is merely visiting Nashville before moving on to the next project (rap? heavy metal?) — just as well, because Detour is not her finest hour. An ill-conceived duet with Willie Nelson on Night Life is the low point, but guest appearances by Emmylou Harris and Alison Krauss are wasted, too. Fans will, however, welcome Lauper’s simple yet effective take on the torch songs Misty Blue and I Fall to Pieces. ME
Buy it via the ST website
Debut of the week
IMARHAN
Imarhan
City Slang
If you love Tinariwen, you’ll want to hear Imarhan, a younger outfit who share links with the older band (their debut album is produced by Tinariwen’s bassist, Eyadou Ag Leche, who is the singer Sadam’s cousin), but have carved out their own distinctive variant of the “desert blues”. This reflects the fact that they’re based in Algeria, not Mali, and grew up in a city, Tamanrasset. The slower numbers are filled with a sense of longing, but it’s upbeat, groove-packed jams like the title track and Assossamagh that demand your attention. Tahabort, a genre-straddling mix of influences from Algeria, Mali and much further afield, serves as a brilliant calling card for the band. ME
Buy it via the ST website
MIKE POSNER
At Night, Alone
Island
Posner’s recent stint at No 1 with I Took a Pill in Ibiza hasn’t helped to clarify his sound. Six years ago, he was a synth-pop star with a signature song called Cooler Than Me. Two shelved albums later, he was a hitmaker for hire for Bieber, Avicii and Maroon 5. At Night, Alone was supposed to showcase his acoustic side, until the Norwegians SeeB remixed Ibiza and turned it into a global dance hit. Hence, two-thirds of the tracks are pretty, melody-driven, Passenger-style accounts of the wispy-voiced Detroit singer’s life, played largely on piano, sometimes with strings. The rest are fun remixes destined to spend the summer in clubs. LV
Buy it via the ST website
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JUDITH OWEN
Somebody’s child
Twanky Records TWR00149
Two decades ago, when she was playing laid-back support sets at Ronnie Scott’s, it was obvious that Owen was a singer-pianist with an uncategorisable sensibility — embracing grown-up pop, jazz and blue-eyed soul à la Steely Dan. Her latest outing could well be her best yet. Leaving aside the slightly mawkish opener, she delivers one studiously understated original after another, pokes gentle fun at our obsession with social media on Send Me a Line, and adds a sultry cover of that 1960s anthem Aquarius. CD
Buy it via the ST website
Reviews by Dan Cairns, Mark Edwards, Lisa Verrico and Clive Davis
Must-have reissue
John Martyn: solid air (UMC)
Remastered to vinyl at Abbey Road at half speed (to produce a deeper, clearer sound quality), Martyn’s 1973 classic is one of six albums — the others are Exile on Main Street, Cream’s Disraeli Gears, Free’s Fire and Water, New Gold Dream by Simple Minds, and Ghost in the Machine by the Police — that make up the first tranche of a planned series. Up this close, Solid Air’s purist-offending hybrid of folk, rock, jazz and blues sounds as if it was recorded yesterday, and makes a compelling case for the process.
Buy it via the ST website
Dan Cairns
The hottest tracks
Flume featuring Tove Lo: Say It
Harley Streten teams up with the Swedish singer on a glitchy, Jam and Lewis-worthy stunner.
Listen here
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Kllo: Bolide
The lead track from the Melbourne duo’s brilliant new EP, this is after-hours electro-soul at its most haunting and spare.
Listen here
Muna: Winterbreak
This Haim-like LA trio meld Fleetwood Mac and R&B beautifully. Their double-take lyrics are filled with shards.
Listen here
Dan Cairns
Breaking act
Weaves
Who are they?
A Toronto quartet whose berserk effervescence and lurking sense of menace recall Pixies at their most malign and unsettling, with a side order of Karen O and Song 2-era Blur. Propelled by the charismatic, vocally confrontational Jasmyn Burke, the band’s self-titled album is already sounding like one of the debuts of the year.
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When’s the music available?
June 17, on Memphis Industries; soundcloud.com/weavesmusic.
Dan Cairns