Rock/Pop Reviews

Latest CD releases reviewed

KATE WALSH

Light & Dark

Blue Pie

***

Having found fame as the only unsigned artist to top the UK's iTunes charts in 2007, Brighton-based singer-songwriter Kate Walsh is poised to break the mainstream market with her third album.

Having found fame as the only unsigned artist to top the UK's iTunes charts in 2007, Brighton-based singer-songwriter Kate Walsh is poised to break the mainstream market with her third album.

She may well do it, too; Light & Dark has the commercially viable bases of schmaltzy, string-aided ballads and alternative folk well-covered. At times, her tone is more like Lisa Hannigan than her heroes Joni Mitchell and Tori Amos - particularly on laid-back numbers Trying and Greatest Love, which see her joined by acoustic guitar virtuosos Turin Brakes. Accordingly, much of Light & Dark danders along without any huge surprises, apart from the stark, heartbreaking beauty of the title track, and the pagan solemnity of the excellent

I Cling on for Dear Life

. Intermittently brilliant, but mostly just fine. www.myspace.com/katewalsh LAUREN MURPHY

Download tracks:

I Cling on for Dear Life, Light & Dark

LAUREN MURPHY

LITTLE DRAGON

Machien Dreams

Peacefrog

***

On their debut album, Gothenburg’s Little Dragon showed themselves to be the masters of stately, studied pop. For their second run-out, occasional Koop accomplice Yakumi Nagano and her buddies abandon some of that restraint and head for the higher ground. Whereas the self-titled debut was all about building and finessing slow-motion atmospherics, Machine Dreams is a much wilder romp in that hinterland between pop’s new gold dreams and electronica’s more interesting whirrs and bleeps. Compared to other similar acts, Little Dragon come away with some strange and ear-catching textures and melodies. At times reminding you of the more experimental edges of Talk Talk or Japan, Machine Dreams is the sound of a band trying out new shoes for size. They may pinch a little right now, but you know they’ll have worn them in by album number three. www.myspace.com/yourlittledragon

Download tracks:

My Step, Fortune

JIM CARROLL

DAVID GERAGHTY

The Victory Dance

Decal Records

***

“Whoever said being in a band should be monogamous?” asks Dave Geraghty, who is officially in a relationship with Bell X1, but has no qualms about playing outside the band. During a break from touring the US with Bell X1, Geraghty skited off with a few friends to west Cork and put together the follow-up to his Choice Music Prize-nominated Kill Your Darlings. The songs on The Victory Dance evoke Badly Drawn Boy, Eric Clapton, Paul Simon, John Martyn and Jeff Buckley at various points, but there are surprises and treats aplenty. The single, Tuesday’s Feet, for instance, startles with its runaway chorus, while the regal march of The Emperor’s Hand-Me- Downs reveals a smart lyrical eye to match Geraghty’s musical ear. Far from feeling cheated, Bell X1 are probably pleased to have at least one maestro in their midst. www.davidgeraghty.com

Download Tracks:

Tuesday’s Feet, Instant Sunshine, The Emperor’s Hand-Me-Downs

KEVIN COURTNEY


DAVID GUETTA

One Love

EMI

***

Having dominated the French house scene for the past decade, superstar DJ David Guetta now turns his attention to chart glory, enlisting a variety of big names for his fourth album. Ex-Destiny’s Child singer Kelly Rowland features most prominently here, lending her nondescript soul croon to the all-conquering When Love Takes Over and several others. Estelle, will.i.am and Kid Cudi also submit acceptable performances, but it’s little-known singer Wynter Gordon who provides the album’s highlight on the disconcertingly minimalist Toyfriend. Dabblings in soul and hip-hop aside, Guetta cleverly keeps his enduring fanbase locked-in with the likes of pumping club numbers Choose and I Gotta Feeling. By the same token, however, much of One Love’s focus is on Guetta’s heavy-handed ability for a catchy tune, rather than the skill he’s obviously capable of as a DJ. www.davidguetta.com

Download tracks:

Toyfriend, On the Dancefloor

- L

AUREN MURPHY

MATTHEW SWEET AND SUSANNAH HOFFS

Under the Covers Vol 2

Shout! Factory

Both Sweet and Hoffs have spent many years working at the coalface of power pop – Sweet via his several albums of rock and pop, and Hoffs as a member of The Bangles; the pair worked together initially in two Austin Powers movies, but here – following on from 2006’s Vol 1 – they get it on with another choice selection of cover versions. There isn’t any reinvention of the wheel here, but between them Sweet and Hoffs know their way around a good tune. Songs covered include Fleetwood Mac’s Second Hand News, Mott the Hoople’s All the Young Dudes, Derek the Dominoes’ Bell Bottomed Blues and John Lennon’s Gimme Some Truth. The sole humdinger of a mistake is their inclusion of Yes’s I’ve Seen All Good People: Your Move/All Good People, which is not a concise, copper-fastened pop tune. Red card! www.matthewsweet.com

Download tracks: All the Young Dudes, Bell Bottomed Blues

TONY CLAYTON-LEA

NOAH AND THE WHALE

The First Days of Spring

Young and Lost Club

**

Following up their happy clappy debut with a downbeat break-up album could be a brave but foolhardy move for the Twickenham tree-huggers. In contrast to the toothache-inducing jollity of last year’s summer hit, Five Years’ Time, Charlie Fink and his not-so-merry men have come up with a concept album and accompanying film that charts the demise of a relationship, from despondency (I Have Nothing) to resignation (Slow Glass) to a let’s-still-be-friends detente (My Door Is Always Open), and punctuated by a twittering orchestral interlude (Love of An Orchestra). Sadly, the band’s folksy-fiddly sound and Fink’s chirpy West Country tones and lonesome-pine lyrics lack the necessary depth to fully convey the feeling of having your heart run through a combine-harvester, and this collection is crying out for a bit of wild woodland swing. noahandthewhale.com

Download tracks: The First Days of Spring, Blue Skies

KEVIN COURTNEY