Artist: Natalie Maines
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Title: Mother (Sony)
Genre: Rock
Rating: ★★★½
In short: Serious
LET’S keep this brief: Natalie Maines is the Dixie Chicks singer who copped a severe backlash over a misquoted anti-George Bush diatribe in 2003.
Ok, onto the new music.
Back with gusto and a distinct new direction, Maines impresses on Mother, her debut solo CD.
“I think this is very different from anything the Chicks could make,” she says.
“That separation and distinction was important.”
It is. From the soaring title track — a Pink Floyd cover — to the crunchy, punchy rock of Silver Bell, it’s obvious Maines needed to explore avenues outside the realms of country.
The aching Lover You Should Have Come Over, a Jeff Buckley tune, is a bluesy highlight that showcases Maines’ emotive vocal style. Ditto for the stunning Take It On Faith.
And Ben Harper helps bash out another rockin’ highlight in Trained (doing an impressive Lenny Kravitz impersonation).
Artist: Daft Punk
Title: R??andom Access Memories (Sony)
Genre: Electronica/funk
Rating: ★★★★
In short: Reprogrammed
LIKE Spiderman’s uncle told him: “with great power, comes great responsibility”. In Daft Punk’s case it might be: “with great hype, comes intense pressure.”
Let’s face it, the robotic French duo’s last record wasn’t that flash, even with all that neon attached.
Random Access Memories is Daft Punk close to their best.
We’ve all heard the No.1 single Get Lucky, an old-school feel-good funkfest and there’s more where that came from.
Pharrell, who appears on Get Lucky, also paces the similarly-delicious Lose Yourself To Dance while 73-year-old dance pioneer Giorgio Moroder recalls his career in a monologue on the epic cruiser Giorgio By Moroder.
Julian Casablancas, from The Strokes, is almost unrecognisable on the single-worthy Instant Crush and the space-age closer Contact gives songwriting credit to our own Daryl Braithwaite, courtesy of a Sherbet sample.
Artist: Walk The Moon
Title: T??ightrope (Sony)
Genre: Pop
Rating: ★★★
In short: Upbeat
IF you love super-catchy pop hooks with an indie lean, Walk The Moon is for you.
The US four-piece has certainly made an impression on plenty of big names within the music industry, currently touring with P!nk and having opened for Macklemore and Ryan Lewis and Fun.
They are in Australia right now supporting The Rubens and might well steal the show.
You’d probably know the punchy single Anna Sun (with the hook “do you know this house is falling apart”.) It’s got a vague 1980s nu-wave nod which pops up throughout Tightrope.
The pacy title track is a bit gruffer while keeping that pop exterior, the moving Iscariot is the album’s finest moment, while Shiver Shiver, while simplistic, is a surprise grower that is likely to implant its falsetto chorus in your head.
Artist: Eve
Title: ???Lip Lock (Sony)
Genre: hip-hop
Rating: ★★★½
In short: Eve-olution
THE last time we heard Eve, she was the protagonist in Guy Sebastian’s No.1 dance hit Who’s That Girl.
Now the hip-hop veteran and Grammy winner is back with her fourth album but first in more than a decade.
As it turns out, Lip Lock has been in the pipeline for some time with sessions dating back to 2007.
And if her fans have decided to hang around, they’ll be happy with Lip Lock, which is stocked with unmistakable Eve attitude, straight from the name-spelling opener E-V-E.
Also in true hip-hop fashion, Eve brings in plenty of help with Cobra Starship’s Gabe Saporta on the earthy single Make It Out This Town.
Missy Elliott jumps in on the speed-rap effort Wanna Be and Snoop Dogg features on the rhythmic Mama In The Kitchen.
And the upbeat Keep Me From You, with Dawn Richard, is a likely future pop hit.
Artist: Bobby McFerrin
Title: S??pirityouall (Sony)
Genre: World
Rating: ★★★½
In short: Gentle
BOBBY McFerrin is a 10-time Grammy Award winner. Read that sentence again.
And you thought McFerrin’s only claim to fame was 1988’s Don’t Worry Be Happy.
Away from the pop world, McFerrin, 63, has carved a strong career of equally feel-good music that spans reggae, folk, jazz and world music.
Spirityouall is no different and a beautiful reintroduction to the man who made us all smile in the late 1980s.
The foot-tapping opener Everytime makes you want to hear more.
It’s worth doing so.
A gentle cover of the early 1900’s American negro spiritual Swing Low is stunning before leading into the lively scat-driven Joshua.
The reimagination of these historic gems of Americana has McFerrin crossing genres effortlessly with Woe, Wade Into The Water and Bob Dylan’s I Shall Be Released among many standout tunes.
Artist: Baby Bee
Title: ???The Shaker EP (Universal)
Genre: Rock
Rating: ★★★½
In short: Exciting
IT’S a mega sound from a mini band.
Like The Black Keys and others before them, Baby Bee consists of just two members — brothers Joe and David Stark.
And the sound: as big as a full-blown five-piece rock band.
Joe Stark’s vocals remind often throughout the EP of a young Lenny Kravitz, especially on the irrepressible retro rocker Jet Black.
EP opener, and lead-off single, High Heeled Leather Boots has everything its title suggests it should.
It’s a song that’s getting Baby Bee noticed quickly and justifiably so.
At times, they are reminiscent of our own, now gone, Jet, especially on Another and Another.
The boys save their best for last with the rousing and incredibly catchy swamp rock anthem Bang It Out.