You wouldn’t like to guess what Bob Dylan might be into. Announced last year but delayed tocoincide with the centenary of FrankSinatra’s birth, Shadowsfinds Dylan covering songs Sinatramade famous–the legendary vocalist covered by anincreasingly idiosyncratic one. It’s vulnerable andtouching, sumptuously arrangedand–especiallywhen heputs the lightsdowntoplaythe stuff on tour – dramatic, too.
MY MORNING JACKET - The Water Fall Album Review
JimJames’sband candomost things –CrazyHorse jams and’80sdiscoto namebut two–so it was no surprise that their first albumfor four years shouldbegin withananthemic drivingsong that seemedtobe samplingearly Kraftwerk.Some tropesofanthemic ’80s rockwere flirtedwith, fromU2 toVanHalen,but suchis theband’s over-arching vision, they made themtheirown.
PANDABEAR - PandaBear VsTheGrimReaper Review
TheGrimReaper inquestionwas apparently Sonic Boom,who worked on this fourth album by Animal Collective’sNoah Lennox.AswiththeclassicPerson Pitch, thisworkeditsmagicthrough the layering of Panda Bear’svoice –aPandaBear record will imagine achoir of digital Beach Boys singing theme lancholyof a future Byrds –but entropicbeats like “Mr Noah” moved the game on.
Katy Perry - Preps 'Prismatic World Tour Live - Review (COMPILATION)
Rating: 6/10
Over the last decade, the emergence of Lady Gaga, Katy Perry and Lana Del Rey, would-be iconic performers who rely on battalions of co-writers and producers, has proved more entertaining to document as a pop phenomenon than the many, mostly forgettable hits they have recorded. The aforementioned triumvirate hasn’t quite knocked off their stride Cher, Madonna and Kylie, the
previous incumbents to the Queen of Pop throne, though Perry has come closest, due to her level-headedness, her ability to skip through major record labels and having the nous to team up with Britain’s Cathy Dennis and Sweden’s Max Martin to concoct smashes such as I Kissed A Girl. This slick DVD certainly dazzles, but it’s no in-depth docu. Smashes like If We Ever Meet Again, California Gurls and E.T. are all included here without the co-stars who couldn’t join her in Sydney for the visual extravaganza, but you’re more likely to get an exposé about the exploitative practices behind the making of her eyecatching stage outfi ts than to see the California girl come over all refl ective about the way she passes herself off as a singer-songwriter with a retinue of players at hand. Still, this is a nice, colourful package. The Perry brand rolls on.
Over the last decade, the emergence of Lady Gaga, Katy Perry and Lana Del Rey, would-be iconic performers who rely on battalions of co-writers and producers, has proved more entertaining to document as a pop phenomenon than the many, mostly forgettable hits they have recorded. The aforementioned triumvirate hasn’t quite knocked off their stride Cher, Madonna and Kylie, the
previous incumbents to the Queen of Pop throne, though Perry has come closest, due to her level-headedness, her ability to skip through major record labels and having the nous to team up with Britain’s Cathy Dennis and Sweden’s Max Martin to concoct smashes such as I Kissed A Girl. This slick DVD certainly dazzles, but it’s no in-depth docu. Smashes like If We Ever Meet Again, California Gurls and E.T. are all included here without the co-stars who couldn’t join her in Sydney for the visual extravaganza, but you’re more likely to get an exposé about the exploitative practices behind the making of her eyecatching stage outfi ts than to see the California girl come over all refl ective about the way she passes herself off as a singer-songwriter with a retinue of players at hand. Still, this is a nice, colourful package. The Perry brand rolls on.
Dave Gahan & Soulsavers - ANGELS AND GHOSTS Album Review
Rating: 8/10
Depeche MoDe’s venerable singer anD stoke’s best-connecteD proDuction teaM reunite for a seconD albuM of heavy soul-searching. they won’t let you Down
The clue’s in the title: Angels And Ghosts. It’s as if production duo Rich Machin and Ian Glover hadn’t made their intentions clear enough by calling themselves Soulsavers. Not that anyone expects Gahan – who, when discussing his 1996 drug overdose, once claimed, “my screaming soul floated above me” – to collaborate on a collection of pop ditties about bunnies, but he and his new musical soulmates clearly mean to make no secret of the fact that their second collaboration finds the Depeche Mode singer addressing the “darker side of myself, which torments me” against a largely ominous backdrop. The boys have perfected their vocabulary, and now they’re going to use it. That said, this isn’t an album devoted solely to doom-laden hand-wringing. In fact, so joyful are Gahan’s epiphanies that opener Shine – which begins with the rattle of slide guitars and uplifting gospel harmonies – sounds as if it could have dropped off Primal Scream’s Screamadelica. The choir also make their presence felt on All Of This And Nothing, in which Gahan moves “from the dark” to a chorus in which he’s become “the sun that rises while you’re sleeping”, and Don’t Cry, a slow-paced rocker full of crunchy guitars and reassurances that “it’ll be alright”. But the choir is equally apparent on the stark Lately, in which, over little more than resonant guitars and piano, Gahan lays bare the emptiness of his soul, and on the desolate strains of The Last Time, which reveals that Jesus “lives in downtown LA/ He’s coming, he’ll be here”. Redemption, you see, could always be around the corner. It’s certainly close on One Thing, the album’s centrepiece, where, with his voice exposed and vulnerable thanks to the song’s simple piano and string arrangement, Gahan laments the possibility of a happiness that remains – for now – out of reach. In the end, the mood remains anguished, as on You Owe Me, whose atmosphere – with Gahan declaring that “there’s nowhere left to hide”– is so close to funereal that you’d think they’d hired The Bad Seeds. Angels And Ghosts offers an opportunity to hear Gahan in a fresh environment, one that may at times recall Depeche Mode, but – thanks to its non-electronic setting – never mimics it. The devil, perhaps, is in that detail.
Depeche MoDe’s venerable singer anD stoke’s best-connecteD proDuction teaM reunite for a seconD albuM of heavy soul-searching. they won’t let you Down
The clue’s in the title: Angels And Ghosts. It’s as if production duo Rich Machin and Ian Glover hadn’t made their intentions clear enough by calling themselves Soulsavers. Not that anyone expects Gahan – who, when discussing his 1996 drug overdose, once claimed, “my screaming soul floated above me” – to collaborate on a collection of pop ditties about bunnies, but he and his new musical soulmates clearly mean to make no secret of the fact that their second collaboration finds the Depeche Mode singer addressing the “darker side of myself, which torments me” against a largely ominous backdrop. The boys have perfected their vocabulary, and now they’re going to use it. That said, this isn’t an album devoted solely to doom-laden hand-wringing. In fact, so joyful are Gahan’s epiphanies that opener Shine – which begins with the rattle of slide guitars and uplifting gospel harmonies – sounds as if it could have dropped off Primal Scream’s Screamadelica. The choir also make their presence felt on All Of This And Nothing, in which Gahan moves “from the dark” to a chorus in which he’s become “the sun that rises while you’re sleeping”, and Don’t Cry, a slow-paced rocker full of crunchy guitars and reassurances that “it’ll be alright”. But the choir is equally apparent on the stark Lately, in which, over little more than resonant guitars and piano, Gahan lays bare the emptiness of his soul, and on the desolate strains of The Last Time, which reveals that Jesus “lives in downtown LA/ He’s coming, he’ll be here”. Redemption, you see, could always be around the corner. It’s certainly close on One Thing, the album’s centrepiece, where, with his voice exposed and vulnerable thanks to the song’s simple piano and string arrangement, Gahan laments the possibility of a happiness that remains – for now – out of reach. In the end, the mood remains anguished, as on You Owe Me, whose atmosphere – with Gahan declaring that “there’s nowhere left to hide”– is so close to funereal that you’d think they’d hired The Bad Seeds. Angels And Ghosts offers an opportunity to hear Gahan in a fresh environment, one that may at times recall Depeche Mode, but – thanks to its non-electronic setting – never mimics it. The devil, perhaps, is in that detail.
David Bowie’s birthday star
Three years after his shock return with Where Are We Now?, pop’s greatest enigma has confi rmed he will release Blackstar on 8th January 2016, the day he turns 69. The seven-track follow-up to The Next Day was recorded at The Magic Shop in New York with producer Tony Visconti and a new cast of musicians. The striking artwork comes courtesy of Jonathan Barnbrook; a simple black star design fl oats on a white background, with further fragmented star elements spelling out Bowie’s name below it. The title track – out now – also serves as the theme tune to new Sky Atlantic crime series The Last Panthers. Director Johan Renck got a little excited when he found out Bowie was on board. “I was looking for an icon of my youth to write the music for the title sequence, but was presented with a God. The music he laid before us embodied every aspect of our characters and the series – dark, brooding, beautiful, sentimental. All along, the man inspired and intrigued me and I was overwhelmed with his generosity. I still can’t fathom what actually happened…”
Supergrass - I Should Coco Reissue (Discography Download)
Gaz Coombes and Danny Goffey have both recently released solo albums but they’ll always be associated with the none-more-Britpop enthusiasm of their old band’s debut. The 20th anniversary vinyl version adds a 7” featuring rarities Stone Free and Odd; a 3CD version adds six B-sides, 12 demos, a song recorded at the Mercury Music Prize ceremony, two previouslyunheard songs plus two gigs recorded in Bath and France. Coombes says: “There’s still a lot of love for I Should Coco. We’re really happy to get it out there again.”
Duran Duran - Paper Gods Review and Download
STILL HUNGRY AFTER ALL THESE YEARS, DURAN DURAN RETURN WITH ALBUM #14, AS WELL AS, APPARENTLY, THE SECRET TO ETERNAL YOUTH. IS THERE SOMETHING WE SHOULD KNOW?
Having navigated the highs (the entire Eighties), the lows (1995’s covers album, Thank You) and more than a couple of comebacks, Simon Le Bon and his three remaining colleagues understand what it takes to survive. The answer is to surround yourself with people who know best how to serve you. In their case, this means producers Nile Rodgers, who oversaw their first reinvention on 1986’s Notorious, and Mark Ronson, who helped mastermind 2011’s All You Need Is Now. The former’s stamp is all over Pressure Off, whose rigid funk riffs and inspired keyboard stabs heralded their return with a triumphant co-vocal from Janelle Monáe. Ronson, meanwhile, co-wrote the track – as well as the lengthy Only In Dreams – with Rodgers and another vital collaborator, Kanye West’s Brummie pal, Mr Hudson. The latter became a third producer for the album, alongside a fourth, Ronson’s engineer, Josh Blair, after Ronson stepped away to work on his own record, and if this suggests a troubled gestation, there may be truth in that: Le Bon has suggested that he wanted the record to sit alongside his favourite albums – including, surprisingly, Neil Young’s Harvest and The Rolling Stones’ Let It Bleed – and admits they took their time.
Inevitably, they fall short of such lofty targets: Change The Skyline’s melody, despite the presence of Mew’s Jonas Bjerre, is as obvious as some of its keyboards are cheesy, and What Are The Chances seeks to repeat the arena-friendly balladry of Save A Prayer only to end up like an A-ha B-side. But the presence of yet more guests – including John Frusciante (ex-Red Hot Chilli Peppers) and Canada’s Kiesza, who lends lusty lungs to the club-friendly Last Night In The City – adds further spice, while the ambitious title track, with Mr Hudson, never outstays its seven-minute welcome. Even Lindsay Lohan pops up on the thumping Danceophobia, playing a seductive doctor amid bouncing keyboard lines that recall Prince’s Erotic City. Ultimately, there are enough distinctively Duran Duran moments here to suggest that this extensive roll call of stars is the result of determination, not desperation. How much longer they can maintain their relevance is hard to say. But, as long as they can surprise with the unexpectedly tense social commentary of the sevenminute title track and the slick, soft rock of Sunset Garage, there remains a place for these aging, well-connected wild boys.
Rating: 80/100
Having navigated the highs (the entire Eighties), the lows (1995’s covers album, Thank You) and more than a couple of comebacks, Simon Le Bon and his three remaining colleagues understand what it takes to survive. The answer is to surround yourself with people who know best how to serve you. In their case, this means producers Nile Rodgers, who oversaw their first reinvention on 1986’s Notorious, and Mark Ronson, who helped mastermind 2011’s All You Need Is Now. The former’s stamp is all over Pressure Off, whose rigid funk riffs and inspired keyboard stabs heralded their return with a triumphant co-vocal from Janelle Monáe. Ronson, meanwhile, co-wrote the track – as well as the lengthy Only In Dreams – with Rodgers and another vital collaborator, Kanye West’s Brummie pal, Mr Hudson. The latter became a third producer for the album, alongside a fourth, Ronson’s engineer, Josh Blair, after Ronson stepped away to work on his own record, and if this suggests a troubled gestation, there may be truth in that: Le Bon has suggested that he wanted the record to sit alongside his favourite albums – including, surprisingly, Neil Young’s Harvest and The Rolling Stones’ Let It Bleed – and admits they took their time.
Inevitably, they fall short of such lofty targets: Change The Skyline’s melody, despite the presence of Mew’s Jonas Bjerre, is as obvious as some of its keyboards are cheesy, and What Are The Chances seeks to repeat the arena-friendly balladry of Save A Prayer only to end up like an A-ha B-side. But the presence of yet more guests – including John Frusciante (ex-Red Hot Chilli Peppers) and Canada’s Kiesza, who lends lusty lungs to the club-friendly Last Night In The City – adds further spice, while the ambitious title track, with Mr Hudson, never outstays its seven-minute welcome. Even Lindsay Lohan pops up on the thumping Danceophobia, playing a seductive doctor amid bouncing keyboard lines that recall Prince’s Erotic City. Ultimately, there are enough distinctively Duran Duran moments here to suggest that this extensive roll call of stars is the result of determination, not desperation. How much longer they can maintain their relevance is hard to say. But, as long as they can surprise with the unexpectedly tense social commentary of the sevenminute title track and the slick, soft rock of Sunset Garage, there remains a place for these aging, well-connected wild boys.
Rating: 80/100
Paul Weller - Saturns Pattern Review and Download
The Jam and The Style Council have had several luxurious reissues recently, so it seems right that Weller’s fi rst new album since 2012’s Sonik Kicks is available as a deluxe box-set as well as regular black vinyl. The £40 box includes a coloured vinyl with exclusive artwork, the deluxe CD with three extra tracks, a DVD, a 20-page photo booklet and a 24”x24” poster. The DVD has a track-by-track interview, a documentary on the album, a behind-the-scenes photo shoot feature plus videos for White Sky and Long Time.
ELLA EYRE - FELINE Album Review and Download
Given her three Top 20 hits, and two Top Five smashes as a featured artist, it’s imprudent to suggest Ella Eyre doesn’t know her own strengths. Listening to the 21 year old’s debut, however, some of those biggest songs prove the most frustrating. Together, If I Go, future single Good Times and Gravity – a collaboration with DJ Fresh – are strong showcases for Eyre’s powerhouse voice, but each one is marred by scattergun, drum‘n’bass percussion tracks so restless they sound like they’ve
slept less than Margaret Thatcher. Clearly, this is a sound ‘the kids’ can’t resist, but perhaps Eyre is more impressive when she appears less desperate to be contemporary. The success of Comeback – a sassy piece of upbeat soul – suggests there’s a commercial appetite for her less frantic material, even if its cause may have been furthered by potty-mouthed lyrics like “Just take that pain and let that motherf***er burn”. With luck, therefore, the hits won’t overshadow the likes of Deeper, Two and All About You, which display a playfully retro, Amy Winehouse-like swagger, or Even If, an earnest piano ballad. Even better is the witty Typical Me, inexplicably buried at the album’s end despite a monstrous hook that declares, “This is the f***-up of the year”. It’s not.
slept less than Margaret Thatcher. Clearly, this is a sound ‘the kids’ can’t resist, but perhaps Eyre is more impressive when she appears less desperate to be contemporary. The success of Comeback – a sassy piece of upbeat soul – suggests there’s a commercial appetite for her less frantic material, even if its cause may have been furthered by potty-mouthed lyrics like “Just take that pain and let that motherf***er burn”. With luck, therefore, the hits won’t overshadow the likes of Deeper, Two and All About You, which display a playfully retro, Amy Winehouse-like swagger, or Even If, an earnest piano ballad. Even better is the witty Typical Me, inexplicably buried at the album’s end despite a monstrous hook that declares, “This is the f***-up of the year”. It’s not.
Bjork - VULNICURA Album Review and Download
There’s something remarkably intimate about hearing Björk, in that Icelandic-accented, birdsong voice, confi ding on History Of Touches how “I wake you up in the middle of the night/To express my love for you”. If that thought appeals, think again: Vulnicura is a bleak, complex break-up album about her relationship with artist Matthew Barney – which ended in 2013 – and each song is dated for its place in that process. History Of Touches’ text relates a period “three months before”, but by Black Lake, fi ve months later, she’s declaring, “I am one wound”. Violently happy she is not. Björk’s been moving increasingly in this elaborately sophisticated direction for a while.
In 2004 on Medúlla she was experimenting with an a cappella approach, and 2011’s Biophilia wasn’t exactly easily digestible. Fortunately, Vulnicura isn’t as intimidating as her soundtrack to Barney’s Drawing Restraint 9: on Lionsong, her voice traces a simple melody, an understated beat twitching beneath her vulnerable wails, while Atom Dance finds her voice hushed amid pizzicato strings, with Antony Hegarty’s treated choirboy vocals like shattered, frosted glass.
Nonetheless, Vulnicura’s occasionally self-referential content insists upon careful attention. Wordy lyrical themes are investigated over different songs, and its melodies, too, are sometimes familiar: the opening moments of History Of Touches, for instance, recall 1993’s The Anchor Song. But though much here is bewildering, bewitching and exotic, by the time Quicksand closes the record, Björk’s almost approachable again. Vulnicura is hardly easy listening in any sense. Sure, there’s a 14-piece choir on Mouth Mantra, as well as strings arranged by Björk herself, but this is a stark and demanding collection of confrontational, confessional art, underlined by the presence of perfectionist programmerproducers The Haxan Cloak and Arca. Documenting her progress from a need to “synchronise our feelings” – on the forlorn but sophisticated Stonemilker – to her resolution to “step into the beam” amid the skittering, percussive Quicksand, Vulnicura is often draining, yet fulfi lling for those prepared to immerse themselves in its depths.
Score: 80/100
In 2004 on Medúlla she was experimenting with an a cappella approach, and 2011’s Biophilia wasn’t exactly easily digestible. Fortunately, Vulnicura isn’t as intimidating as her soundtrack to Barney’s Drawing Restraint 9: on Lionsong, her voice traces a simple melody, an understated beat twitching beneath her vulnerable wails, while Atom Dance finds her voice hushed amid pizzicato strings, with Antony Hegarty’s treated choirboy vocals like shattered, frosted glass.
Nonetheless, Vulnicura’s occasionally self-referential content insists upon careful attention. Wordy lyrical themes are investigated over different songs, and its melodies, too, are sometimes familiar: the opening moments of History Of Touches, for instance, recall 1993’s The Anchor Song. But though much here is bewildering, bewitching and exotic, by the time Quicksand closes the record, Björk’s almost approachable again. Vulnicura is hardly easy listening in any sense. Sure, there’s a 14-piece choir on Mouth Mantra, as well as strings arranged by Björk herself, but this is a stark and demanding collection of confrontational, confessional art, underlined by the presence of perfectionist programmerproducers The Haxan Cloak and Arca. Documenting her progress from a need to “synchronise our feelings” – on the forlorn but sophisticated Stonemilker – to her resolution to “step into the beam” amid the skittering, percussive Quicksand, Vulnicura is often draining, yet fulfi lling for those prepared to immerse themselves in its depths.
Score: 80/100
KATE BUSH - THE RED SHOES (REISSUES)
New American reissue imprint Analog Spark gets off to a flyer by finally giving a vinyl reissue to Bush’s The Red Shoes, unavailable on vinyl since 1993. Bush has long criticised the original album’s digital mastering, eventually having it remastered in 2011 as part of The Director’s Cut. Analog Spark’s 180gm vinyl, competitively priced at $25 (£16.50), is taken from those 2011 remasters, overseen by Sterling Sound engineer Ryan Smith. Expect Analog Spark vinyl reissues of albums by Ben Folds Five, The Dave Brubeck Quartet and Laura Nyro.
GODFATHERS of Pop - MARC ALMOND
In 2010, Marc Almond announced that Varieté was likely to be his final pop album. Five years later, he’s thankfully changed his mind with the “polished posh pop” of The Velvet Trail. Made with Rihanna/Lana Del Rey producer Chris Braide, it’s vintage Almond – but what persuaded the ex- Soft Cell man to break out the “satin, velvet and eyeliner” again? What made you decide to come back to making pop music?
After Varieté, my inspiration dissipated. I put a lot of myself into it and felt I’d said all I needed to say. I thought “How many more albums do I need to make?” It felt like the right time to get out. But I also felt I was moving away from the heart of what I like to do. Pop music is what I love most and, however classical or avant-garde a project is, I try to put rock and pop at the heart of it. I did an EP, The Dancing Marquis, with Tony Visconti last year, but I couldn’t afford to do a full album with im! So I was thinking “What next?” when this great gift arrived in the shape of these songs from Chris Braide. Why did he send you the songs?
He’s a lifelong fan. Unbeknownst to me, Chris had been writing songs he thought I should sing, a mixture of elements from throughout my career. But, when my manager received the songs, he was told “Chris would love Marc to put lyrics to these songs for someone else to sing”. I was so upset. I thought “I love these songs, why can’t I sing them myself?” My attempts to write songs for other people have always been disastrous, anyway. I can only really write for my own world. Thankfully, Chris sent another email, saying that I should sing them if I want. Was this the first time you’d
swapped song ideas via email?
It was. At fi rst, I thought “Does this even count as making a record?” I’d write lyrics and record guide vocals, then two days later a recording would arrive that sounded as if it was from a million-dollar album. I could tell Chris knew my music. Songs like Winter Sun and Minotaur have an Eighties element that are very Soft Cell. Until now, I’d have bolted at that idea. Whenever anyone has tried to write songs like that for me, they always get it wrong and I think “You’re trying too hard to please me”. But these were executed so well, they were too good to ignore. So I thought I’d embrace that side of me, rather than trying to push it away. How hard is it to embrace your past without becoming a parody of your Eighties self?
It depends how you execute it. It’s easy for older artists to fi nd comfort in the persona of when you were most successful. There’s nothing wrong with that. It’s like being an actor – you’re an entertainer playing the part that makes people happy. When I do nostalgic festivals like Rewind, I have to embrace that. I can’t go on stage thinking “I’m going to do one of my prog songs from The Tyburn Tree” and look dour in jeans. I have to celebrate my past, but that doesn’t mean I have to become a cliché of my Eighties image, wearing bangles and chicken bones round my neck! Part of me is an artist, part of me is an entertainer. I know when to bring those together and when to separate them.
Does it feel the right time to make this album for what the public want from you too?
I’ve given up wondering what the public want! It’s a very strange musical world now, where parents and kids listen to each other’s music. That shockability has gone – parents grew up buying Madonna albums, so they’ve seen it all before. I’m so lucky to have had success in the Eighties, when record companies were more maverick. If you had two flop albums, they’d go “Oh, we’ll do it on
the next one”. You were allowed to grow and explore, which is why a lot of artists from that period have lasted until now. Lyrically, The Velvet Trail is a very romantic album…
I have an almost childlike naivety towards romance. I try to retain that, to crush the cynic and nurture the romantic. Aside from the title track, which looks back at growing up in Southport, I wanted it to refl ect how I feel about life now. Today’s culture can be very mean. I feel the world is losing romance, so I try to work against that and look at where it can still be discovered. When I wrote for
Soft Cell, that was a more cynical side of me. Maybe that was from working with Dave Ball, I don’t know. But a cynic is a disillusioned romantic. Did writing songs as sexually charged as Pleasure’s Wherever You Are and Demon Lover solidify your views on romance?
Not really, it was more “This is how I am”. I had various people from my past in mind when I wrote Pleasure’s Wherever You Are and it’s such a “me” song – exploring mystical worlds and the twilight life. Chris and I wanted this album to be very velvet and satin, which is how a lot of people see me. He said “I can just see you in the Pleasure… video wearing loads of smoky eyeliner”. I found I was putting a lot of mythology in the songs. There’s a strong pagan feeling in there, because I’m basically a hippy at heart. At 13, I had long hair, burnt joss sticks and wore loon pants. I got into glam rock and punk, but I’ve rediscovered that hippy side now. I love nature and the pagan side of life. The most glam-rock song on the album, When The Comet Comes, is a duet with Beth Ditto…
Chris Braide was producing Beth at the same time and he played some of the songs to her. I’d met Beth, thought she was fantastic, but never in a million years would have it occurred to me to duet with her. Besides, when a duet is planned, invariably it’s a pain in the neck. I set out not to have any duets on this album, because other singers come in with their own agendas and commitments. But I
love it when they’re not contrived and they just happen, like this one. How did you and Chris get on?
Well, we decided early on that we weren’t going to actually speak, not even on the phone, until the album was finished. We didn’t want to ruin the magic! So we were exchanging six emails a day, discovering a shared love of artists like T-Rex. Once the album was finished, Chris was due to be in
London, so we arranged to meet for tea at The Delauny restaurant. He walked through the door, and I said “Hang on, I know you!” Chris hadn’t told me, but he was one of the backing singers on
[Soft Cell’s 2002 reunion album] Cruelty Without Beauty! We’d often passed in the studio corridor, and Dave Ball was one of the people who taught Chris how to use a programmer. I knew Chris’ name
from somewhere, but I hadn’t made the connection because, even though I knew he’s really from Cheshire, I couldn’t stop thinking of him as this hotshot young LA producer type. We still email all the time and meet up when he’s in London. So, is The Velvet Trail your final pop album?
I don’t plan anymore. I can’t say “I’ll make a pop album next year”, because offers come along to push me in another direction. I’m getting enquiries now that might see me in the theatre. My long-term plan is that, because I turn 60 in 2017, I want to make that a celebration. I’ve provisionally booked to play the Royal Albert Hall on my birthday. I’d love to do an anthology of my favourite songs, because so much of my stuff has been overlooked. A singles compilation would be great. I’m fighting to get the rights back to some of those, and it’s slowly going my way. And I’d love to do a Soft Cell box-set. I’ve got loads of unheard concerts from our early days, even if
some of it’s on not-great-quality cassettes.
LiLac time again
The long-awaited return of The Lilac Time is finally upon us. No Sad Songs arrives 6th April and it’s the first to be released under the band’s original name (rather than as Stephen Duffy And The Lilac Time) since 2001’s Lilac6. Stephen and Claire Duffy, along with multiinstrumentalist Nick Duffy, recorded the 10 songs in Cornwall including the first single She Writes A Symphony.
Robot no show
Kraftwerk fans were left disappointed when a former band member failed to turn up to the first-ever academic conference on the German techno pioneers. Fans and professors including Stephen Mallinder from Cabaret Voltaire read papers and discussed the Dusseldorf act’s merits at the snappily titled Industrielle Volksmusik For The Twenty-First Century: Kraftwerk And The Birth Of Electronic Music In Germany over two days at Aston University in Birmingham. However, keynote speaker and former Kraftwerk mainstay Wolfgang Flur was a no-show. “He did not turn up,” said Aston University’s Uwe Schutte, who put the event together. “It’s disappointing, but that’s what you expect from Kraftwerk.”
MANY HAPPY RETURNS FOR ABC
ABC are taking The Lexicon Of Love back on the road. Following a series of acclaimed shows in recent years, Martin Fry returns to perform the band’s classic debut album at fi ve UK shows this coming November. The Southbank Sinfonia Orchestra and original orchestrator/ conductor Anne Dudley will join ABC for the dates, which kick off at Liverpool Philharmonic Hall on 4th November before rounding off at Birmingham Symphony Hall on the 9th November.
Duran hungry for a deal
Duran Duran are putting the finishing touches on a follow-up to 2010’s All You Need Is Now. “We’re not hurrying,” Simon Le Bon explains. “It’s being mixed, and a couple of people want to make guest appearances. And we’re looking for a record deal.” These days the band, who will perform live at Bestival in the summer, prefer to shop for a deal with each new project. “We’ve done short-term deals because we wanted freedom,” Simon says. “We can’t go to a record company and say, ‘We’re going to do an album’ – you have to present music to them. I’m aware that if you’re Lady Gaga then they’ll give you what you want, but we’re different.”
Baton is better
Former Talking Heads man David Byrne is twirling the baton for his next project in order to introduce the world of ‘colour guard’ – the fl ag and rifl e-twirling marching practice showcased at military demonstrations in North America – to theatres. Byrne is orchestrating 10 colour guard teams at Toronto’s Luminato Festival on 22nd & 23rd June, where they will perform routines soundtracked by live artists including St. Vincent, Dev Hynes, tUnE-yArDs, Kelis, Nelly Furtado and many more. Byrne is also following in the footsteps of David Bowie and Jarvis Cocker by curating 2015’s Meltdown festival at the Southbank Centre in London between 17th-28th August. “I plan to invite performers I’ve seen,” says Byrne, “and others I’ve missed… or have dreamed of seeing.”
In honour of Steve Strange
It is with great sadness that the entire Classic Pop team pays tribute to Steve Strange, who passed away unexpectedly on 12th February 2015. The wonderful Welsh singer, who fronted Visage, was just 55 when he died of a heart attack at a hospital in Egypt. Strange – real name Steve Harrington – was a leading light on London’s New Romantic scene and became a fi gurehead for the new wave fashion and music scenes throughout the Eighties and beyond. His “heartbroken” friend Boy George led a wave of touching eulogies from the pop world. “We are devastated,” read a statement by Spandau Ballet, who dedicated their performance at the Sanremo music festival to him. “Steve was a lovely warm, generous, kind-hearted man, always full of fun. He will be sadly missed.” Simon Le Bon described Strange as “the leading edge of New Romantic”, while Heaven 17’s Martyn Ware called him “a gentle and respectful friend”.
Still coming to terms with tragedy, Strange’s agent Pete Bassett revealed, “Up until last year he was putting together a book of fashion styles based on the New Romantic movement, and it comes as a great shock. We understood that he had certain health problems, but nothing we knew was life-threatening.” Steve Strange was one of the most important fi gures to emerge from the Eighties. In 1978 he and Rusty Egan began holding David Bowie-themed nights at Billy’s club in Soho beneath a brothel. A year later they moved to The Blitz in Covent Garden where they soon attracted an incredible clientele including Boy George, Marilyn, and house band Spandau Ballet, all of whom would conspire to alter the course of the era’s music. “We played Bowie, Roxy [Music] and electro,” said Strange. “It was where our friends could be themselves.”
David Bowie famously hand-picked Strange to appear in his groundbreaking Ashes To Ashes video following a visit to the Blitz club. Mick Jagger was not so lucky; recalling the infamous incident where Jagger was denied entry, Strange wrote in his autobiography, “Mick got annoyed and said, ‘Don’t you know who I am?’ before storming off in search of nightlife elsewhere.” Strange had already been in various bands including the Moors Murderers and the Photons before forming Visage with Egan, Midge Ure and members of Magazine. They scored a huge hit with Fade To Grey in 1980, and – despite struggles with addiction – Strange continued to produce music and host club nights throughout the decade. After a lengthy absence Strange returned to Visage for 2013’s Hearts And Knives, and last year revisited the band’s early work via the Orchestral album.
ALISON MOYET - THE MUST-HAVE ALBUMS
Which women sum up British music in the Eighties? Surely Kate Bush, Annie Lennox, Sade… but equally dominant in that decade was Geneviève Alison Jane Moyet of Basildon – or Alf, if you wanted the friendly diminutive. With her powerhouse vocals she was, in a way, the Adele of her day, while her gritty working-class soul girl demeanour made her the precursor to Amy Winehouse. This no-nonsense, down-toearth anti-glamour made her the very opposite of the era’s American superstars, and yet she was as integral a part of that decade as Madonna or Janet Jackson. Moyet emerged out of Seventies blues, pub rock and punk, and was a member of The Vandals, The Screamin’ Ab Dabs, The Vicars and The Little Roosters, none of which made much impression.
An advert she placed in Melody Maker led her to Vince Clarke, who she’d known since they were 11 years old. One fateful day, Clarke called Moyet at her parents’ house and asked if she’d sing on a demo he’d just written. Its name? Only You. The rest is history. The pair formed Yazoo and in so doing invented electronic soul. Despite having a relationship that Moyet has since compared to an arranged marriage – distant and functional – it proved the ideal vehicle for Clarke’s synth-based dance music and Moyet’s passionate vocals. By 1982, Yazoo were as much a part of the electro landscape as Clarke’s previous band Depeche Mode, The Human League, Soft Cell et al. But by 1983 it was all over for Her And Him Both: Yazoo split, leaving Clarke to form The Assembly and Erasure, and Moyet to go solo. Over the next three decades, she would have hits such as All Cried Out, Love Resurrection, Love Letters, That Ole Devil Called Love, Is This Love? and Weak In The Presence Of Beauty. She performed at Live Aid, won the Brit award for Best British Female in 1985 and 1988, and continued to record in the Nineties and beyond. In 2013, she made an album, the minutes, considered by many to be her best. And throughout it all there has been that voice, as warm and familiar as Yazoo’s early music was alien and cold; the booming, bluesy sound of the uncrowned Queen of Essex.
UPSTAIRS AT ERIC’S
1982
The birth of electronic soul
The fi rst Yazoo album offered a new
paradigm: fi re and ice, via Vince Clarke’s cool
electronics and Alison Moyet’s heated vocals.
It was named after producer EC Radcliffe’s
studios (and not the Liverpool punk-era
club, as some have said): Blackwing, where
Depeche Mode recorded their own debut
Speak & Spell. Several of the songs, without
the vocals, could almost have belonged to
Depeche Mode, only with Yazoo they had,
because of that voice, far greater emotional
heft. “An album of rich, dark passion, forever
burying the hoary old moan that electronics
and synthesisers will never be any good
because they don’t have a button on the
front that says ‘emotion’,” as Melody Maker
opined. The cover featured two mannequins
in a sparsely furnished loft, and two Top 3
singles in Don’t Go and Only You. It also
showcased Moyet’s writing skills, containing
no fewer than four of her compositions: the
forlorn Midnight, Goodbye 70’s (addressed to
trend-obsessed punks), piano ballad Winter
Kills and Bring Your Love Down (Didn’t I).
The album reached No. 2, which really was
not bad for a record dismissed by Clarke as
“a bit of a mishmash”.
YOU AND ME BOTH
1983
And then there was one
Yazoo’s second album was also their last.
Despite being even more successful than its
predecessor – it reached No. 1 in the UK – it
had an air of fi nality about it. It started
with the title, a pointed expression of the
duo’s increasingly estranged relationship,
and continued with the sleeve image of
two dalmatians fi ghting against a snowy
backdrop: they announced their split a few
weeks before the record’s release. Vince
Clarke evidently imagined his tenure with
Yazoo would be as short-lived as his one
with Depeche, while Moyet saw it as more
long-term. Further problems arose from their
differing working methods at Eric Radcliffe’s
Blackwing Studios: Clarke was meticulous
and strategic, Moyet looser and more
spontaneous. The resulting record wasn’t as
sombre as you might think, notwithstanding
the songs about war (Unmarked) and death
(And On). No, the music was as perkily
poignant as ever, although there was only
one track issued as a single – Nobody’s
Diary, which reached No. 3 – and Moyet
refused to sing the ironically jaunty Happy
People, the only Yazoo song on which Clarke
takes lead vocals.
ALF
1984
Adele, Schmadele
Today, you could argue that Alison Moyet’s
solo debut album sounds more dated than
her earlier work with Yazoo. However,
in a way, that’s a plus point: if you want
a perfectly focussed snapshot of where
commercial music was at in the period
between ZTT and PWL, then look no
further than this soul-pop masterclass. The
production, courtesy of Steve Jolley and
Tony Swain (Spandau Ballet, Bananarama,
Imagination), is so perfectly 1984 it’s hardly
true, all dazzling surfaces and walloping
drums. Love Resurrection, All Cried Out and
the Lamont Dozier-penned Invisible were
the big hits (No’s 10, 8 and 21 respectively),
but there were other, equally fi ne examples
of Moyet’s ruminations on the dark side of
love, notably Twisting The Knife and the
haunting Where Hides Sleep. The album
was her fi rst solo UK chart-topper, and it
fared well around the world, going Top 5
in Germany, Switzerland and Norway, and
even made the US Billboard top 50. The idea
that Moyet was too parochial for continental
tastes was roundly trashed by Alf, the record
that established her as one of the biggest
homegrown female artists of the decade.
THE MINUTES
2013
Back to the electronic future
Moyet’s eighth album marked a return to
her electronic roots. The 11 tracks were
co-written with Guy Sigsworth (Björk,
Madonna), her most compatible partner
since Clarke, and tinged with dubstep, house
and R&B (of the contemporary variety).
The Minutes (stylised as the minutes) found
Moyet in an electronic context for the fi rst
time since her days in Yazoo, but that didn’t
mean it looked backwards. If anything, it
was her most modern-sounding record for
decades. “It’s quite dark and defi nitely not
aimed at the charts,” she said. “It has an
electronic bias, but isn’t retro.” An album of
sedate jazz and soul covers this wasn’t, much
to the relief of Alf, who called it “easily my
happiest studio experience”, a strange thing
to say, perhaps, about an album of songs
on the subject of schizophrenia: Remind
Yourself and When I Was Your Girl were, she
explained, about “the opposing dialogues
within oneself”. The results – including the
singles When I Was Your Girl, Love Reign
Supreme and Changeling – were dramatic
and atmospheric, not to mention her most
successful for years: it was her highestcharting
album since 1987’s Raindancing.
TV Tropicana
A new documentary marking 30 years since the end of Wham! is in development. George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley have been approached by fi lmmakers for the 2016 project, as have backing vocalists Shirley Holliman and Pepsi DeMacque. In more Wham! news, Andrew Ridgeley – who has stayed largely out of the limelight ever since the band’s big send-off at Wembley, aside from a solo album and a stint as a racing driver – could be coaxed back if BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing keeps knocking. “I’ve been asked once or twice, and it’s one of the few things that might tempt me back into the public eye,” he says. As for George, he has recently strenuously denied tabloid reports that he had entered a Swiss rehab clinic. He posted on his Twitter profi le, “To my lovelies, do not believe this rubbish in the papers today by someone I don’t know anymore and haven’t seen for nearly 18 years.”
LISA STANSFIELD - LIVE IN MANCHESTER Review
She’s been around the world and she can’t find her baby, but Lisa Stansfield still loves her hometown, “because everyone gets so excited that it gets really sweaty”. Live In Manchester reveals that the feeling is reciprocated, its two CD set of her September 2014 show at the city’s Bridgewater Hall documenting the affection in which this partisan crowd still holds a woman whose multi-million sales are often forgotten. This at times sounds like it was recorded at the back of the room, but it’s a still decent document of slick, funky, soulful performances covering her entire career, from All Around The World to tracks off her last album, Change, via her cover of Barry White’s Never, Never Gonna Give You Up.
Single Review: A-HA - UNDER THE MAKEUP
Very huge and symphonic, which made it hard to get into, but Morten Harket is a beautiful singer and the melancholic feel emerged eventually. A-ha have made some amazing songs – Take On Me is one of the best singles ever, and I loved Analogue. I’d love to see Morten collaborate with Johnny Marr. Imagine how good that would be!
The Classic POP OF . . . BOND (All James Bond Soundtracks)
1963: From Russia
With Love
The first film to be scored
by John Barry and with Matt
Monro delivering a rousing
vocal for the end titles.
1964: Goldfinger
Every musical element gels
for the first time and sets
the template for the genre
of music that is Bond. The
first of three title songs by
Shirley Bassey.
With Love
The first film to be scored
by John Barry and with Matt
Monro delivering a rousing
vocal for the end titles.
1964: Goldfinger
Every musical element gels
for the first time and sets
the template for the genre
of music that is Bond. The
first of three title songs by
Shirley Bassey.
Marc Bolan - Love and Death Review
Limited to 1,000 copies, Love And
Death is based on 12 very early
demos from 1966 made by Marc Bolan for his
first manager, Simon Napier-Bell. The demos
remained unheard until extra instrumentation
was added in 1981. The album’s release at
that time by Cherry Red came as a picture disc
with a free interview book, You Scare Me To
Death. Let Them Eat Vinyl’s reissue omits the
book and is pressed on heavyweight white
vinyl. It also drops the three songs Cherry Red
added for the album’s 1998 CD version, which
came from Bolan’s single The Wizard.
Deafheaven: New Bermuda - Album Review
With their third album
Deafheaven continue to push
the boundaries of what is
expected within black metal.
Returning to their heavier
roots on ‘Brought To The Water’, the progression
of the band since 2013’s ‘Sunbather’ is
incredible, mastering technicality and emotion
with an eight-minute epic of soaring
instrumentation. With veteran producer Jack
Shirley at the helm, the Californians’ direction is
breathtaking with some mind-bending time
signatures. Each song showcases a part of this
band’s diversity and ‘Baby Blue’ utilises the dark,
brooding type of chord progression that we have
come to love from the experimental five-piece.
DO THE JACKO
It seems that everything Michael Jackson
touches still turns to gold. The rights to
the comedy song Do The Bartman, which
the star wrote for an episode of The
Simpsons, recently sold for $38,000.
Simpsons boss Matt Groening said back in
1998, “It has always been amazing to me
that no-one ever found out that Michael
Jackson wrote that song.” In other news,
Jackson’s sound engineer Michael Durham
Prince claims he has 20 unfi nished tracks
by the late pop star on his computer, but
can’t let anyone hear them due to an
agreement with Sony.
Tidal goes purple
Prince has released his latest
album HITNRUN exclusively via
Jay Z’s Tidal streaming service. “After one meeting, it was
obvious that Jay Z and the
team at TIDAL recognise and
applaud the effort that real
musicians put in2 their craft
2 achieve the very best they
can at this pivotal time in the
music industry,” said Prince in
a statement. “Secondly, TIDAL
have honoured Us with a nonrestrictive
arrangement that once
again allows Us to continue
making art in the fashion we’ve
grown accustomed 2 and
We’re Extremely grateful 4 their
generous support.” His all-girl
backing band 3RDEYEGIRL
seemed pretty excited by the
new music: “Super hardcore
Prince fans that know every song
he’s ever recorded – we refer
to them as The Purple Collective
or The Purple Army – and this
album is absolutely for them,
because it’s super funky.”
Absolutely Kylie’s Flying Circus
Kylie Minogue has added her musical talents to Terry Gilliam’s fi rst
directorial project in two decades, contributing a brand new track entitled
Absolutely Anything to the Monty Python man’s sci-fi comedy of the
same name. The movie stars Simon Pegg and Kate Beckinsale alongside
Sanjeev Bhaskar, Eddie Izzard and Joanna Lumley, and concerns a group
of aliens who confer the power to do absolutely anything upon a human being. It
also features the vocal talents of Robin Williams in his last-ever role, plus the entire
Python team – Michael Palin, Terry Jones, Terry Gilliam, John Cleese, and Eric Idle.
The project is a dream come true for fan-girl Kylie. “Growing up in Australia,
Monty Python thrilled, baffl ed and entertained my entire family,” she says. “I’m such
a fan, so to record the theme song was a great honour.” The feeling is mutual: “I
was thrilled Kylie recorded the fi lm’s end title song,” adds Gilliam. “She’s not as
small as everyone says she is.” Oh, yes she is…
Surrender to Hurts
Synth pop aficionados Hurts
return with a third studio album,
Surrender, on 9 October.
The duo have a fine ear for
classic pop melodies but this
time they have expanded their
sound, citing Fleetwood Mac,
Steely Dan, and even Motown
as influences.
“We decided to see how
things would turn out if we
enjoyed ourselves!” singer
Theo Hutchcraft explains. “It
was quite a dark time making
the last record, and the content
was quite refl ective of our state,
but once we’d finished it and
exorcised the demons our mood
shifted quite a lot.”
The duo joined forces with
Madonna’s Grammy Awardwinning
producer Stuart Price
and Ariel Rechtshaid (Haim,
Vampire Weekend) to sculpt
the new opus, and a first
taster, Some Kind of Heaven, is
available on iTunes now.
Aero Flynn - Aero Flynn Album Review
Worthwhile addition to
the burgeoning ‘Bon Iver
and related’ section
An old pal of Justin
Vernon’s from the
University Of Wisconsin –
Eau Claire, Josh Scott was highly regarded
by his peers but turned his back on music
for 10 years while suffering from kidney disease
and depression. Coaxed back into the studio by
Vernon, this is Scott’s debut solo album.
Understandably there is a tense, troubled
air to many of these songs, the combination of
tightly coiled guitar or piano figures, glitchy
rhythms and Scott’s high, keening vocals
inviting comparisons with Alt-J and various
Thom Yorke projects. But the likes of “Plates2”
and “Moonbeams” mirror the story of the
album by unfurling gloriously into expansive
soft-rock vistas.
Classic Pop: Boy George - Everything I Own Album
Written by singer
David Gates as a
tribute to his father
after attending his
funeral, Gates’ band
Bread took Everything I Own to No. 5 in the
US in 1972. Two years later, prolific reggae
singer Ken Boothe took it to No. 1 in the
UK and it was his version that Boy George
echoed in his first single following Culture
Club’s split. Seven months after his arrest for
heroin, it appeared to mark calmer times
for George as he launched his Sold album.
“I’m still trying to fi nd out why I got on
drugs in the first place,” he said at the time.
“When I have the answer, I’ll be able to tell
people ‘Look, don’t do it.’” Other covers
of Everything I Own have included Shirley
Bassey, *NSYNC and Rod Stewart.
JOSS STONE - WATER FOR YOUR SOUL Album Review
Despite having one of the fattest address
books in contemporary pop, Joss Stone
disappeared in a camper van to travel
Europe anonymously – perhaps motivated
by 2011’s bizarre plot to behead her –
returning with songs infl uenced by her
adventures. These the barefoot soul contessa
added to reggae-fuelled tracks inspired by
weed-fuelled sessions with Damian Marley
and Dennis Bovell to deliver Water For Your
Soul, a jubilant journey into (the) Stone(r)’s
self-confessed hippie psyche. It’s a colourful
departure but her fruity voice perfectly
matches the Caribbean-vibed Love Me and
Harry’s Symphony, while the vintage soul of
Sensimilla and This Ain’t Love give Alicia Keys
a run for her money. Stone free!
Rating: 80/100
PAUL WELLER - GOING MY WAY Single Review
An outstanding song with great melody and
lyrics, but the mix is all wrong. Paul’s vocals
have developed wonderfully over the years,
but you wouldn’t guess from this. The vocals
aren’t loud enough, they’re double-tracked
in the wrong place, there’s too much reverb.
Top marks for Weller, but a kick up the arse
for the mixer. I’d be telling him: “I can’t
hear my own vocals!”
DURAN TO RUN AND RUN
With new album Paper Gods arriving on
11 September, Simon Le Bon is sounding
committed. “The big thing is to keep
Duran Duran going. I want to make a
really serious body of work. That’s my big
ambition.” The band will tour the UK this
winter, kicking off at Manchester Arena
on 27 November. Pick up the next issue of
Classic Pop for an exclusive feature!
5 BEST BB KING ALBUMS (Top BB King Records)
SINGIN’ THE
BLUES
(1957)
King’s debut
compiled some of
his most successful
singles to date, including four R&B No 1s: “3 O’Clock
Blues”, “You Know I Love You”, “Please
Love Me” and “You Upset Me Baby”. It
may say “Singin’” on the sleeve, but
guitar playing is really what’s going on
as this strong primer for King’s early
work amply illustrates.
Marilyn’s Sweet Dreams
For his second Under-g cover story, Marilyn Manson met writer Chris Heath at a Wolfgang Puck
restaurant in Hollywood and saw the Christina Ricci movie The Opposite of Sex.
Jason Isbell’s New Morning
Jason isbell felt a rush of
familiarity when he watched the
final episode of Mad Men on his
tour bus.As he saw Don Draper
go AWOL from his advertising job and
embark on an aimless cross-country road
trip, Isbell recalled his own life around
2008, after his first marriage had fallen
apart and he’d been fired from the
Drive-By Truckers due largely to his heavy
drinking. Isbell bought a motorcycle and
took off from his home in Alabama. “I
drove down to Florida, back up through
Georgia and visited some of the girls I had
met on the road,” he says in a husky Alabama
drawl. “It’s a wonder I didn’t kill myself.
I got home feeling and looking worse
than when I’d left, just completely lost.”
Isbell eventually went to rehab and
turned his dark past into some of the best
music to come out of Nashville this decade.
On 2013’s Southeastern, he reflected
on cocaine nights at Super 8’s, mistreating
vulnerable women, and starting over. “I
was behaving in a way that was deplorable
on a lot of levels,” Isbell says, drinking Red
Bull and smoking cigarettes on his tour
bus, outside the Capitol Theatre in Portchester,
New York, one recent afternoon.
Keith Richards “Trouble”
Spin this salty jam for
the first time, and you
just might think you’ve
stumbled across a
most excellent outtake
from Nellcôte in the
Seventies. Nope – it’s
a promising preview of
Keith’s upcoming solo
album, Crosseyed
Heart, due this fall.
JASON DERULO RELEASES NEW TRACK "BROKE" FEATURING STEVIE WONDER & KEITH URBAN
Jason Derulo releases the 4th instant grat track today "Broke" featuring Stevie Wonder and Keith Urban produced by Charlie Puth from his upcoming fourth studio-album Everything Is 4(out June 2). The 11-track album features more appearances such as Jennifer Lopez, Meghan Trainor, K. Michelle, Matoma, and pop-songwriter Julia Michaels.
Music requests: Foo Fighters - Sonic Highways (2014)
I'm looking for Foo Fighters - Sonic Highways CD that was released this year. Anyone have it??
Country: USA
Genre: Alternative Rock
Release: November 10th, 2014
Quality: MP3@CBR 320 kbps
Size: 96.56 MB (.rar)
01. Something From Nothing
02. The Feast and the Famine
03. Congregation
04. What Did I Do?/God as My Witness
05. Outside
06. In the Clear
07. Subterranean
08. I Am a River
Country: USA
Genre: Alternative Rock
Release: November 10th, 2014
Quality: MP3@CBR 320 kbps
Size: 96.56 MB (.rar)
01. Something From Nothing
02. The Feast and the Famine
03. Congregation
04. What Did I Do?/God as My Witness
05. Outside
06. In the Clear
07. Subterranean
08. I Am a River