Cheer up Lewis! This hummable hit proves you’re a superstar
LEWIS CAPALDI: Broken by desire to be heaven sent (EMI)
Verdict: Superstar in the making
PAUL SIMON: Seven Psalms (Legacy)
Verdict: Finely crafted song suite
Has there ever been a singer whose personality is such a contrast to his music? It sure is hard to think of someone like Lewis Capaldi.
Known for his self-effacing banter, the Scot is one of the funniest men in pop music. Still, at least on his 2019 debut Divinely Uninspired To A Hellish Extent, his songs can be mundane.
Those browsing his sophomore album in search of the irreverence he displays outside the studio are in for a letdown. His new record picks up where the previous one left off: lots of serious ballads with instantly humming hooks.
Lewis, 26, admits he felt anxious ahead of today’s release. Given that second albums are notoriously difficult, that’s understandable.
The fact that his debut exceeded all expectations by being the UK’s biggest seller two years in a row won’t have calmed his nerves, but you’d be hard-pressed to find any jitters from the gigs here.
Lewis, 26, admits he felt anxious ahead of today’s release. Given that second albums are notoriously difficult, that’s understandable
It helps that the three singles released prior to the album have all raced to the top of the charts. Those songs — Forget Me, Wish You The Best and Pointless — are also the first three tracks on Broken By Desire…
The burden of proof is on Capaldi’s voice, which has taken on a harder, raspy edge since 2019. He often starts a song in an attractive lower register, before opening up to hit the higher notes with real conviction. Do you wish the best and have you never been in love before? building to big, Hey Jude-esque climaxes.
Songs of love and loss remain his trading stock. Four years ago he declared himself ‘a slave to heartache’, and he is still a slave to misery here. His voice cracks with emotion on Any Kind Of Life (‘I can’t explain the carousel of my constant pain’). How This Ends is also melodramatic.
There are a few upbeat songs to add variety. Heavenly Kind Of State Of Mind is rock-oriented, though the lyrics predictably set a low bar for his ideal date: “You’re the only one who does’t hate me… that’s enough.” Co-produced by big guns Max Martin and Mutt Lange, Leave Me Slowly adds a funky edge.
But it’s only when he addresses his own well-being that Capaldi begins to bridge the gap between his character’s two sides: personality and artist. Love The Hell Out Of You falls into dubious therapy language (‘you brought resounding techniques for my grounding’), but The Pretender takes a convincing look at the pitfalls of fame.
On How I’m Feeling Now there is also the feeling that the man and his music are in perfect harmony. “I won’t lie, I’m a mess,” he admits. “But I’ll get there.” Building on his debut, but without breaking new ground, this should still secure superstar status for the unassuming Scot.
He is perhaps best known for standards such as The Sound Of Silence and Mrs. Robinson, but Paul Simon has never been afraid to take risks. He broke new ground by combining South African township rhythms with Western pop on 1986’s Graceland and, more recently, revised his back catalog with a chamber music sextet.
Paul Simon has never been afraid to take risks. He broke new ground by combining South African township rhythms with western pop on 1986’s Graceland
On his latest album of original material, Stranger To Stranger, the 2016 UK chart-topper, he enlisted the help of Spanish flamenco players, Latin American percussionists and Italian dance artist Clap! Clap!
But even by his daring standards, his latest album is daring. Seven Psalms, a 33-minute continuous piece of music consisting of seven intertwined segments, contrasts his instantly recognizable voice with delicate acoustic arrangements and the backing harmonies of his wife Edie Brickell.
The singer, 81, seeks inspiration from the Old Testament, but the melodies and lyrics are his own.
Inspired in part by his dreams and written in the wee hours, the album opens, on The Lord, by praising The Almighty for all the good in the world. As the pace picks up, Simon switches to holding God responsible for pain and suffering, including the Covid virus. He even adds wryly, “The Lord is my record producer.”
There are nods to his legacy. There is a passing reference to his 1977 single Slip Slidin’ Away. My Professional Opinion — which carefully focuses on the artistic process and determines who the only person whose opinion really matters is God — returns to the bass harmonica of Simon & Garfunkel’s The Boxer.
The atmosphere is melancholic and mystical, but the writing is rich and sharp. The Sacred Harp, with Brickell’s voice in the foreground, tells of “two hapless hitchhikers” on the road of life.
Seven Psalms ends with a playful take on mortality. “I’m not ready, I’m just packing my things,” sings Simon. Heaven, it seems, can wait.
- Lewis Capaldi will be playing at festivals this summer (lewiscapaldi.com).
KESHA: Gag Order (RCA)
Verdict: Kesha opens up
The American Kesha Sebert can hardly be recognized by the party girl who announced herself in 2009 with the hedonistic Tik Tok. She called herself Ke$ha at the time and boasted in one song that she brushed her teeth with Jack Daniels. Today, she cuts a much more reflective figure.
The singer, 36, is in a legal battle with her former producer Dr. Luke, whom she sued for sexual and emotional abuse
The new album Gag Order takes Rainbow’s confessional template from 2017 and amps it up with raw lyrics and otherworldly arrangements that blend electronica and stripped-down folk. It was made with Rick Rubin, a producer with a knack for encouraging artists to be open and honest, and Kesha sticks to the brief.
The singer, 36, is in a legal battle with her former producer Dr. Luke, whom she sued for sexual and emotional abuse. Those claims were rejected by a court, and Dr. Luke (who denies any wrongdoing) filed a counterclaim for libel and breach of contract. Gag Order doesn’t mention the case, but there’s a sense of catharsis involved.
“All the doctors and lawyers cut the tongue out of my mouth,” she sings on Fine Line. The idea of muzzles extends to the Gag Order album cover, which features a disturbing photo of Kesha with a plastic bag over her head.
It’s challenging to listen to at times, largely due to some meandering musical passages. But there is lightness amidst the darkness, not least on The Drama – a song about reincarnation as a house cat – and closing ballad Hate Me Harder, on which Kesha from Nashville sings with an attractive, Tennessee twang.
A bootylicious blockbuster from Queen Bey herself
LIVE: BEYONCE (Principality Stadium, Cardiff)
Verdict: Sci-fi soul spectacular
When she released the Renaissance album last summer, Beyonce went to great lengths to emphasize that it was just Act One.
The first night of her UK stadium tour took place amidst a bouncing sea of tops, glitter and pink stetsons
The main focus was on the music – a euphoric celebration of disco, funk and house – with surprisingly little sign of the filmed extras that often accompany her major records.
She’s now adding Act Two – the renaissance live show – and we can safely say we now have the visuals to go with the numbers.
The first night of her UK stadium tour took place amidst a bouncing sea of tops, glitter and pink stetsons. . . and that was just her fans (the so-called BeyHive), who had packed the streets of Cardiff in their thousands beforehand.
The show itself featured a giant stage and LED screen, marching band, automated moon buggy and dancers. . . and the spectacle of a bootylicious Beyonce singing as she hovers above the crowd, mounted on a gravity-defying glass horse. It wasn’t sub par.
However, at the heart of a mesmerizing two and a half hour blockbuster performance was Queen Bey herself. On a night dominated by Renaissance tunes and 2011’s career-defining 4, the record that complemented her R&B heritage with broader soul styles and ’80s-influenced pop, she shone and reiterated her vocal range, versatility and charisma.
The evening was divided into a series of chapters. The first began with the singer making a diva-like entrance, rising from a hatch in a silver ballgown. The mellow pop-soul ballads that followed — Dangerously In Love, 1+1 — came with the scent of a Vegas residency. ‘How are you?’ she asked with a Texan twang.
From there, the show turned into the world’s largest nightclub. Moving between a sci-fi themed stage and a circular walkway, Beyonce delivered a series of high-wattage crescendos, each seemingly more powerful than the last.
It was as if she had recreated Studio 54. . . on the Starship Enterprise.
There were some traditional soul moments – a sultry cover of Maze’s 1981 hit Before I Let Go; a sing-along from Love On Top; an extended Crazy In Love with a jazz-funk coda.
Given the length of the set, momentum was occasionally lost in the video interludes during the star’s many costume changes. At least they gave the rest of us a breather. And the highlights will remain in the memory for a long time.
- The tour continues tomorrow at Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh (livenation.co.uk)