Ladyhawke combined with Pascal Gabriel to make Anxiety. Picture: File Source: Supplied
LATEST RELEASES: Kiwi Ladyhawke releases her second solid pop album, while The Bamboos administer an appropriate dose of blues on Medicine Man.
LADYHAWKE - ANXIETY (MODULAR/UNIVERSAL)
FOR her second album Pip Brown, aka Ladyhawke, ditches songwriters-for-hire to make her album purely with Pascal Gabriel (Dido, Kylie). So what it lacks in instantly ear-wrestling pop hooks (ala My Delirium) it makes up for in consistency. Yeah it's more guitar heavy than her '80s synth debut, but guitar heavy in the way Blondie were, not Pantera.
Black, White & Blue - with a chorus that doffs its cap to the Bee Gees' Tragedy, is top-shelf pop in a climate of bargain-basement pop. The new-wave buzz of Girl Like Me and the surf grunge of Vaccine will go down a treat live.
The title track is so damn catchy you almost miss Brown's brutally honest account of her battle with anxiety: "I take a pill to help me through the day, I stay inside until I feel OK."
Sounds like: high-IQ pop music
In a word: solid
Rating: 3.5/5
By Cameron Adams
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THE BAMBOOS - MEDICINE MAN (INERTIA)
THE Bamboos are mainly a funk band, right? Wrong. Fifth album Medicine Man wears its soul on its sleeve, cutting a lyrical through-line with themes of despair, isolation and anxiety. They've got the blues and they couldn't be happier. Bandleader Lance Ferguson's crafty song-crafting shows an innate ability to extract winsome vocal performances from all his guests. Album opener I Never featuring Daniel Merriweather picks up where Mark Ronson left off, Washington's star turns on Eliza and Wilhelm Scream (yes, that one!) sees the diminutive dame delightfully dreary, Bobby Flynn shows off his chops on Midnight and the whole band are in telepathic form throughout.
Sounds like: The blue(s) train, stopping all stations.
In a word: tight
Rating: 4/5
By Mikey Cahill
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JULIA STONE - BY THE HORNS (EMI)
THEY'RE a prolific lot, these Stones. With a new sibling singalong on hold, here comes another matching set of solo albums.
Unlike Julia's DIY effort last year (where you could hear the studio chairs creaking), By the Horns is a relatively polished effort.
It's difficult not to be charmed by the gentle force of Justine, the '70s-era Stevie Nicks mellow vibes of Break Apart or Stone losing herself in the spooky grandeur of Let's Forget All The Things That We Say and I Want to Live Here. The only thing she didn't write here is a bewitching remake of The National's Bloodbuzz Ohio that you never want to end.
Sounds like: a passive attack.
In a word: inviting
Rating: 3.5/5
By Cameron Adams
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SAM SPARRO - RETURN TO PARADISE (EMI)
THERE is a particular brand of funk locked in the very DNA of '70s disco and early '80s funk.
Here, Australia's Sam Sparro goes all CSI/Cold Case as he locates and recreates it on his second album. And it's mission accomplished.
Paradise People reheats vintage soul grooves. Let the Love In could be covered by anyone from Mary J. Blige to Chaka Khan. We Could Fly is Jamiroquai without the session muso stench.
It's not all old school. The Shallow End is disco a la LCD Soundsystem. Yellow Orange Rays is Prince meets Primal Scream. Hearts Like Us is deep house that's so much better than Guetta.
And hit-in-waiting I Wish I Never Met You is a classic pop breakup rant in the vein of Alanis or Adele. Except they never sang "You had me feeling like a crackhead, I squeeze you out just like a blackhead." Now that's ex-foliation.
Sounds like: Studio 54 circa 2012
In a word: real
Rating: 3.5/5
By Cameron Adams
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