February 2009 Archives

Jem
Down to Earth
Genre: Pop
Highlight: It's Amazing

MUSIC critics may have been singing the delights of Duffy in recent months, but in doing so they've missed the return of another Welsh wonder.

While Duffy's debut Rockferry has won multiple awards and become 2008's best-selling album in the UK, Jem has seen her comeback album delayed by several months, and then eventually choke into the charts at number 64. It almost seemed as if the UK had forgotten the singer-songwriter from Penarth altogether.

But Down to Earth, her second album, and follow-up to 2004's Finally Woken, has been worth the wait. Jem's first album impressed critics with its eclectic musical stylings when that came out, wandering into the surreal sounds of trip hop, and her second release sees another exploration of the weird and wonderful side of pop music.

There's still plenty of the trip hop sound in most of Jem's songs - clearly she's taken inspiration from the likes of Massive Attack and Portishead - but on the latest album the diversity expands ever further. There's ballads, there's hip-hop sampling, there's duets with African vocalists, and most of it sounds brilliant.

It's just a shame some of the braver efforts try and ultimately fail. Aciid!, in particular, comes across as a misguided attempt to do dance music, and not only sounds dreadful but doesn't seem to sit on the tracklisting comfortably.

Yet almost all Jem's songs, and particularly lead single It's Amazing, just seem so much braver than anything her counterparts put out. Think of it as Dido with a more daring edge.

Album provided by Tesco, Llandudno Junction

Franz Ferdinand
Tonight: Franz Ferdinand
Genre: Art Rock
Highlight: Lucid Dreams

IMPROVING on an icon is never an easy job.

Just ask Franz Ferdinand, whose latest record Tonight: Franz Ferdinand, went on sale earlier this month and follows in the footsteps of one of the most hummed tunes released this decade. Take Me Out - and the eponymous debut album it came from - has quietly earned its stripes as an indie anthem, so following it on with just about anything would have been impossible.

So rather than stray into the trademark sound which so obviously dominated 2003's Franz Ferdinand, the Glaswegian art rockers have decided variety is the spice of life for their third album, and have gone for a dizzying rush of different styles and influences throughout the twelve tracks.

Ulysses, the album's lead single, makes you think the album might have taken on a darker tone than its predecessors, and there's something very Joy Division about its steely sound. It's a promising start, but get past this and it's clear that Tonight isn't going to be as guitar-twangingly memorable as their older songs.

There seems to be an eternity of fairly ho-hum indie efforts throughout the first half of the album, and you begin to wonder whether ditching the studio sessions with Girls Aloud producers Xenomania was really such a good idea. It's far more diverse than second album You Could Have It So Much Better, but anthems seem conspicuous by their absence.

Luckily the best tracks are the later ones, with Live Alone and Can't Stop Feeling sounding very party-friendly. Yet the highlight really is Lucid Dreams, which improves massively on the single version released last year with an epic acid instrumental.

Tonight is a massive departure from Franz's usual fare. Great in parts, but iconic it isn't.

Album provided by Tesco, Llandudno Junction

Lady GaGa
So Real
Genre: Pop
Highlight: Summerboy

IF ANYONE ever gets round to drawing up a list of albums which sum up the squalor and misery of the credit crunch, it's fair to assume this won't be on it.

The Fame, debut album from sultry New York songstress Lady GaGa, isn't exactly this year's subtlest release. It's a bling-friendly and very American effort, making absolutely no apologies for its repeated references to a world where everybody is a Range Rover-driving rap star. Not that it needs to, because its sixteen songs will still go down a storm with UK pop fans.

Lady GaGa previously worked with the Pussycat Dolls and anyone who plucks for this album can expect the same sort of thing, with hints of Christina Aguilera, Pink and early Madonna thrown in for good measure. As an album it takes a while to get into its stride, but the greed-is-good vibe of Beautiful Dirty Rich pretty much sums it up perfectly.

Unfortunately it's just a little short of both Pussycat-style obvious anthems and real songwriting flair, treading the safe handbag territory currently dominated by the likes of Girls Aloud. Summerboy would be my bet on being a future smash hit, while the title track has an endearing quality, but far too many of Lady GaGa's songs sound like hen night hits crying out for a remix.

The Fame is a happy throwback to the glitzy 80s pop of Madonna and Michael Jackson and in its favour Lady Gaga does sound fresher than her immediate contemporaries, but anyone expecting the turntable to be reinvented is going to disappointed.

It's hardly Earth-shatteringly innovative, but for Friday-friendly pop you can't go far wrong.

CD provided by Tesco, Llandudno Junction