White On

Jack White In Eyewear

Jack White has emerged in 2012 as the natural heir to the mantle of Bob Dylan - that is, as the most-American, most-enigmatic, most-talented, most-sexy, and most-witty songwriter-singer of a generation.  Others, we were told, were that good, such as Bon Iver, Sufjan Stevens, and Bright Eyes.  Yet now, it is clear, with Blunderbuss and the universal critical acclaim it is achieving, and the five-star shows of the last few days in Paris and London - White is in a class of his own.  Rather, he is very much the Dylan/Cobain of the period 1999-2012 and onwards.  If one considers what White has already achieved, with The White Stripes, and in side project bands like The Raconteurs, and The Dead Weather, and as a producer, even as a Bond Theme performer - and now with his debut album - is nothing short of remarkable.  White's classics include 'Fell In Love With A Girl', 'Hotel Yorba', 'We're Going To Be Friends', 'Seven Nation Army' and 'Ball & Biscuit' - there are several more.  He has always combined genuine passion, love of traditional methods, and a post-modernity of wit that is reminiscent of Beck - once, surely, a candidate for most brilliant songwriter of his time.  Still, none has De Stijl like White - who I saw a few nights ago, as he was at the same small hotel as I was.  He is a striking rock star, no doubt.  And he is the best we have at the moment.

Best Album Of 2012 So Far? Crybaby.

Much has been said of Crybaby, and all of it is generally obvious, as will be my brief remarks here, no doubt.  The band, comprised of one bearded, bespectacled, balding Bristol-based singer-songwriter, is not seemingly a very promising proposition - the world hardly needs any more hairy singers.  What makes this eponymous album so brilliant, even wonderful (and endlessly rewarding on replay) is how it manages to convey several vital strands of music history to the present, despite and because of its evident elements of pastiche and homage.

Crybaby is an album of 10 slow, and mid-tempo songs - torch-songs, mostly, crooned with precisely the same passionate intensity, glottal warble, and leapfrog inflection as Morrissey - indeed, this is a missing Smiths album, if The Smiths had used more piano, organ and reverb.  Crybaby is as flamboyant and heroic as Gene Pitney, as Orbison - it swoons with heartache, wearing sorrow like its panache.  The lyrics move the songs beyond 50s/80s genuflections, since they are all so perfectly and cleverly crafted that they appear, fully-formed, as new standards.  Imagine ten songs as good and uplifting and melancholy as 'Every Day Is Like Sunday'.  A major musical moment.  I feel a certain kind of English indie pop song has just got its mojo back.

Nietzsche Stronger Than Ever?

There are three songs in the March 4 2012 BBC Top 40, I have heard today, that each contain direct reference to the most famous German philosophical maxim of all: 'Whatever does not kill makes me stronger', which as Hitchens has argued, is a load of crock.  Maybe, but it has certainly entered popular culture with a vengeance (one recalls it was promimently in A Fish Called Wanda).  But what are the odds of Kelly Clarkson's 'Stronger', Ed Sheeran's 'Drunk', and No. 2 new arrival, 'Rockstar' by Dappy each taking such grim cheer from this old saw?  Nietzsche must be rolling in his grave.  Or perhaps not.  For the second most famous German sentence is 'God is dead'.  And the same man wrote that.  Surely, FN is the Shakespeare of Germany, not Goethe.  His influence is vast and expanding, in direct exponential relationship to the shrinking of the enchanted, God-filled world.

For, in the absence of direct religious consolation available in song (many pop songs are about heaven, or angels, for instance, but usually as tropes that refer to their loved ones or love), what is more comforting than a nihilistic slogan that essentially justifies any level of self-harm or harmless mooning for pretty boys and girls - in short, a rule that means precisely nothing, but offers plenty.  Alain de Botton's attempt to construct a religion without God for atheists flounders here.  For we see that secular wisdom is immediately susceptible to corruption and idiotic cheapening, because it is not grounded on a belief in some sort of supernal higher power that (for all its many problems, such as potential absence or worse) at least presumably underwrites dogma.  But FN was a man, and a madman at that, so now, any popstar can borrow his words and spend them frivolously.  Imagine The Sermon On The Mount set to a pop song.

Would it become so stale, or would its words echo with constant challenge, promise and value? For, the problem, at core, with FN's famous sentence is that is is verifiably false, as Hitchens argues so well.  We are strong only until weak, and then strength is a miracle whose time has come and gone.  The enduring power of the Christian story, however, is that weakness and suffering are what is to expected, and thus embraced.  This stoic position - that pain will come, so deal with it - is far more potent than FN admitted.

Spring Is Here: 12 Best Songs of 2012 So Far

March 1st, and music marches on.  It's been a major year for great pop songs.  Here are the 12 that have most delighted and instructed Eyewear:


1. 'National Anthem' - Lana Del Rey (remember her?) mixes hip-hop and David Lynch in this weird homage to the New Pop tunes of the early 80s that also manages to be a superb satire of capitalist America.  When she sings "give me a standing o-vay-shee-un" it is funny and sexy at once.

2. 'We Take Care Of Our Own' - Bruce Springsteen is back and sounds exactly as he always does.  Connecting to the blue collar indignation that makes his best songs moving and relevant, this is an ironically-observed state of the union that is also almost as catchy as 'Born In The USA'.

3. 'Young Man In America' - Anais Mitchell is one of the greatest folk singer-songwriters, and this haunting, moving song tells the story of a ravenous young man on the make in a desperate landscape, at once  The Great Depression and the depressing contemporary scene, of Santorum and Occupy Wall Street.

4. 'Darkness' - Leonard Cohen is back, and jazz-darker than ever, his High Bleakness reaching invisible new heights of the sublime in this funny, tuneful tip of the fedora to the encroaching oblivion. "I thought the past would last me/ but the darkness got there too" - terrible and wonderful.

5. 'Show Me Everything' - The Tindersticks are the natural heirs of Cohen, and make a comeback with this Doors-meets-Trip Hop tune, haunting, melancholy and sensuous. "We touch through glass, feel nothing".

6. 'Screws Get Loose' - Those Darlins have taken the new normal, girl-group New Wave mannerisms that so many bands are now accessing, and have made a truly fun, brilliant song with its sexy double-entendres.

7. 'Default' - Django Django have created a song as weird and exciting as any by Devo or Blancmange, and made it their jangly, herky-jerky own - by far the most original pop song of the new decade so far.

8. 'Somebody That I Used To Know' - Gotye is the other Internet sensation of the year, along with Lana - a heretefore obscure Belgian in Australia channelling his inner Men Without Hats to create tunes that capture the radio friendly 80s, with a sliver of Men At Work in their heart.  Best xylophone work in ages.

9. 'I Fink U Freeky' - Die Antwoord aren't the only incredibly weird, off-puttingly ugly underclass South African techno-rap group, but they are the best.  Okay, they are the only one.  No one else, ever, has managed to sound this sexy and threatening, in a genuinely subversive and menacing way.  Intriguingly, the gender tropes get subverted here - usually a young woman's praise of a love object is not this chilling.

10. 'Son Of A Bitch' - Highasakite are Norwegian, and this upbeat, soaring Jefferson Airplane-influenced pop song has very dark lyrics that cut across its upbeat nature, such as "hold my hair while I vomit"; it is very very hard to shake, and I love it.

11. 'Black It Out' - The Van Doos (great name) have crafted a classic power pop tune that is, well, classic.  It gets everything right, and is just purely satisfying within its own intentions.  If they can keep this up they'll be great.

12. 'Lafaye' - School of Seven Bells have created a classic New Wave gem, contemporary but also haunting in a Siouxsie & The Banshees meets Cocteau Twins way.  Propelled by synths and a great beat, its chimes and gongs give it a sublime goth-anthem texture.

Davy Jones Has Died

Sad news for a leap year.  February 29 2012 sees the announcement of the death of Davy Jones.  The Monkees started in 1966, the same year I was born, and though dubbed The Prefab Four, had a pop genius second to none (well, okay, second to The Beatles). A few of their classics, like 'I'm A Believer', 'Last Train To Clarkesville', 'I'm Not Your Stepping Stone' and the wonderful, zany theme song, are among the Sixties best hits.  Oddly, he has died at the age of 66.

Eyewear's Top 14 Songs For Valentine's Day

she is in love

As poets and lovers know, music and and love go together like a tenor and vehicle.  Here are Eyewear's top 14 love songs, or songs about 'love', in no order - and, I should add, some classic break-up songs like 'Wicked Game' or 'Love Will Tear Us Apart' are not included, though they too are about love's wounding force - however, in the spirit of the occasion, I am erring on the side of romance and eros.

1. Bob Dylan - 'Lay, Lady, Lay' - the most improbably delightful Dylan song, for me, this rich cowpoke tune is also seriously sexy.

2. Ella Fitzgerald - 'My Funny Valentine' - well, this is the classic, really, the heart of the matter, and pure wit at that.

3. Bob Marley & The Wailers - 'Could You Be Loved' - the answer is, with this going on, yes.

4. Madonna - 'Dress You Up' - one of the great cross-dressing songs, and exuberantly wackily boy-crazy pop.

5. Simple Minds - 'Don't You (Forget About Me)' - memorable 80s nostalgia trip and indie pop love gem.

6. Bow Wow Wow - 'Aphrodisiac' - this lusty song is nearly insane, and suits the madness of love potions.

7. Depeche Mode - 'I Feel You' - the most stridently romantic of all DM's tunes, and one closest to being a rocker, with sleazy synth thrust they have.

8. Mazzy Star - 'Fade Into You' - possibly the greatest unrequited love song - certainly the best dream pop version.

9. The Romantics - 'One In A Million' - the power pop classic.  Its joyous simplicity never stales.

10. Rihanna, Jay-Z - 'Umbrella' - such a moving, sweet song, with an image as old as Herman's Hermits, and timeless.

11. Massive Attack - 'Girl I Love You' - a throbbing, sinister and deeply powerful expression of passion.

12. Minnie Driver - 'Everything I've Got In My Pocket' - this attempt to cheer up an apparently depressed friend or lover is very moving.

13. The Kinks - 'All Day and All Of The Night' - more primal, more pure, than The Beatles, this is the greatest Sixties expression of utter desire.  "I believe you and me last forever" - what is more poetic than that?

14. Whitney Houston - 'I Will Always Love You' - is there a more beautifully sung pop song?  A more poignant one on this date in time?

Honourable Mentions: 'A Girl Like You', The Smithereens; 'Heart Shaped Box', Nirvana; 'Today', Smashing Pumpkins, and 'There She Goes' by the La's.

The Death of Whitney Houston

This is very sad news, and shocking news at that.  Whitney Houston was the Michael Jackson of soul and R and B female singers - that is, one of the world's greatest entertainers - a superstar.  Houston was not to all tastes - her soaring ballads are mawkish at times - but her talents were strikingly superb.  She was an actress, a model, a singer, a performer - in sum, a truly rare combination of beauty and artistry.

Many singers will attest to her being a major influence, and that her vocal skills were second to none.  One of the top-selling recording artists of all time, and the most awarded female singer in history, she easily takes her place in the pantheon.  Her death in a hotel bath reminds us, too, of another drug-doomed genius, Jim Morrison of the The Doors.  Houston was so clean cut and ubiquitous in the 80s and early 90s that her downfall was upsetting and discomfiting.  It was always hoped she would pull out of her death-descent.

This seemed possible, for, unlike Winehouse - a far less important musical figure in comparison - Houston did not seem totally self-destructive; she had friends such as Oprah, and a world of goodwill.  It may be her death was an accident, brought about by an inadvertent overdose.  The African-American Marilyn Monroe, in terms of cultural impact, this great beauty with the huge voice left the world stage too soon.  She needed better bodyguards, perhaps.

Madonna 1982-2012: 30 Years of Pop Genius

Great American Icon Posing

Madonna is one of the great cultural icons of the post-war era, easily as significant as Marilyn Monroe, Grace Kelly, Brando, or Brad Pitt.  Indeed, given the fact that her first single debuted in 1982, thirty years ago this October, and that her new single is out now (ironically self-referencing), and that she is poised to play the Superbowl, it is time to marvel anew.  I can think of few major recording artists of similar career span, other than Frank Sinatra and Bob Dylan (Leonard Cohen, of course).  Springsteen? Elvis, The Beatles - those other touchstones, lasted less long, as did Michael Jackson.  Prince, also a genius, is sporadic, hit-and-miss.  No other singer-songwriter of the 80s remains as relevant - indeed, Lady Gaga, and Lana Del Rey, to name two, make so sense without the context of Madonna.  Typing out on Spotify her best songs, I came up with 50, before stopping - it seemed silly.

All Madonna albums are a little weak, but winnowed out, each yields at least a clutch of classics.  The world of pop music is unthinkable without 'Express Yourself', 'Vogue', 'Like A Virgin', 'Like A Prayer', 'Holiday', or my favourite, 'Dress You Up', which first put me in touch with my inner girl, in a Larkin-lesbian fashion.  Madonna has had some bad marriages and relationships, more silly phases than Yeats, and can't seem to really star in a good film (few other top notch performers have bombed so often onscreen); one thinks of Henry James failing at theatre as an equivalent of an American in London with genius singularly incapable of transferring their gifts from their chosen genre to another they desired to excel in.  However, as she ages, she renews the idea of female beauty and drive and chutzpah, and increasingly threatens to out-Dietrich Dietrich.

There won't ever be another Madonna.  She is still with us, and, if the fates smile, there is no doubt she will be singing fun, zeitgeist songs in 2022, perhaps even 2032.  I have loved her from afar since I was 16, when she first appeared on my horizon, and have wanted her to be my big sister since then.  I went to see her in Montreal with my mother for the True Blue tour in the mid-80s at the height of her first wave.  I hope to meet her one day and write a song with her.  In the meantime, I will simply have to strike a pose on my own.

Born To Die

Miss Del Rey Exercising

Lana Del Rey, now a meme of sorts, is this year's Lady Gaga - a heretofore unknown young woman rising from obscurity to instant world fame, thanks to Turner Prize-style art hijinks, and Madonnaesque reinvention; we are living in an era when Walter Pater and Walter Mitty have married and given birth to girls with the nous of Orson Welles and Oscar Wilde yoked together with virulence - call them Odette Weldes.

What is amazing is how the media gets so excited about a transformation whose blueprint is now at least 120 years old; after all, we now know how to burn with a gemlike flame; and all about personae and making strange.  Anyway, here comes Lana.  Her name refers to an O'Hara poem in my mind as well as a star.  She was born in New York State, so she is a New York School character, in a sense, though she prefers to position herself somewhere between High School Confidential and Blue Velvet.  Much has been made of the Lynchian in her work, but by that we really mean the rotten fruit core of 50s iconography - Dean, Monroe - which is more ubiquitous than Lynch.

In fact, the performer Del Rey most closely resembles, in terms of songcraft, uncanny vocal shifts, doomy-dreamy storytelling of rebels and youths in peril, fraught performance, and queer undertones, is 60s star Gene Pitney, who I love.  Pitney could inhabit a Bacharach tune, a film theme, or a teen torch song, with equal aplomb.

He was the Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, but also the guy 24 Hours From Tulsa.  Pitney, a prettier Orbison, has always been kitsch, but is to my mind the greatest pop performer in the American canon for his uncanny impersonations and ability to rev from passion to pathos in seconds, skittering across a range of characters from western toughs to vulnerable lovelorn college kids.  Listening to the best of Pitney, one is also struck by the lush orchestration, and the sheer skill with which each song-as-mood-microcosm is made.  So too, listening to the nifty instamatic masterwork that is Born To Die, what is undeniable is how oneiric the work is, in the best sense.  Few pop artists can do this.  Pitney did it.  Del Rey does it too.  Is the "ey" at the end of her nom de plume a sly homage to Gene?  A bit of splicing?

Architecture and Morality

Patrick Chapman, Irish poet, has brought this to my attention: a very good online discussion and interview surrounding the 30th anniversary of one of the greatest of the 80s albums - synth-pop/avant-garde hybrid, Architecture & Morality, by OMD.  OMD have fascinated me since, well, at least 1980 or so, when I was 14.  I'd never heard music like this - it had the pop nous of The Beatles, but was cerebral, solemn, eerie, and profoundly serious, as well as being emotive.  Perhaps my PhD research into British poetic styles of the 1940s started here - for OMD certainly manage to fuse melodrama and the rational, in a romantic-classical mix that would have pleased a young Nicholas Moore.  The album's opening track, 'The New Stone Age' remains one of my all-time favourite songs - Misha Glouberman first played it for me in Westmount on a snowy Sunday morning, after waking up in his home after a party.  It felt like a revelation.  "Oh my God, what have I done this time?" strikes me as one of the finest lines in all pop music - haunting, faintly comical, but also potentially theological in its implications.  Meanwhile, 'Sealand', the song about the industrial plant near Liverpool, is so estranging, and ominous, it must count as one of the oddest fourth-track songs ever.  Not to mention the two Joan of Arc songs.  For those too young (or old) to have heard this on its release thirty years ago, do check it out now.

The Top 11 Songs of 2011

Eyewear thought that 2011 was an extraordinary year for music, though many anticipated bands and artists underperformed, with lacklustre releases, not least Coldplay, who have become pathetically upbeat in a bland way that seems utterly out of sync with the times.  This was very much the year of brilliant women, as well as folk/Americana.  Here is the playlist of 2011 - 45 minutes of excellence.

Nick Lowe - 'Sensitive Man' - Lowe's return was most welcome, and this jaunty, old-fashioned tune had the lovely surprise of "I'm no dinky-doo".

Nathaniel Rateliff - 'You Should've Seen The Other Guy' - in a year of (yes) sensitive, reflective Americana, Rateliff's broken-yet-defiant persona in this song seemed to capture the sad-sackery of our serial-recession era with dry humour and poignancy.

John Maus - 'Keep Pushing On' - 2011 saw many bands explore techno, synths, and 80s stylings, but no one else came up with a more hauntingly original, and inspiring, take on this, than Maus.

Katy B - 'Katy On A Mission' - here was the dancefloor anthem for an underground London - smart, sexy, and utterly undeniable.

PJ Harvey - 'The Words That Maketh Murder' - Harvey was the artist of the year (if not decade), and her album of an England and its wars was the masterwork those who love her had hoped for.

Gillian Welch - 'Tennessee' - "... and heaven when I die" - rarely has a song moved so much with its melodic stoicism.  A latecomer to this list, but now one of my favourite songs of all time.

Pajama Club - 'Can't Put It Down Until It Ends' - probably the most cleverly edited and complex pure pop song since 'Good Vibrations', this husband-and-wife team from down under recall the glory days of Split Enz.

Wilco - 'I Might' - speaking of The Beach Boys, here we have an adrenaline-rush of American-style rock that's light and dark at once.

Lady Gaga - 'Born This Way' - already a somewhat annoying fixture as Icon Numero Uno, this was her monster hit, a gay-disco pastiche of Madonna, that still managed to smack of unique talent.

Lana Del Rey - 'Video Games' - the dirge-like, Lynchian viral sensation of the last few months, no song of the year was as sexy, ominous, and retro-sad.  It was like Mad Men set to music, injected by a blonde hophead.

Florence + The Machine - 'What The Water Gave Me' - the most stirring, uplifting and flamboyant song of 2011, recalling the great days of Siouxsie and the Banshees, and yes, Kate Bush.  This was the big 80s back, an age unafraid of emotionality.

Andrea True Has Died

Sad news.  One of the great disco singers, Andrea True, has died.  Her key song, 'More More More (How Do You Like It?)' aroused great interest in my high school self and epitomises an era as well as any other song.

1991: The Best Year For Music Ever?

As the anniversaries of 20-year-old albums continue to roll in, it dawns on me: was there ever a better year for popular/indie music?  Consider that 1991 saw the release of Nevermind, Achtung Baby, Blood Sugar Sex Magik, Loveless, Blue Lines, Ten, Out Of Time, Trompe Le Monde, Girlfried, Gish, and, incredibly, Metallica's Black Album.  Clearly, U2, Nirvana, RHCP, Pearl Jam, Matthew Sweet, and perhaps REM, were never better, and My Bloody Valentine, Pixies, Smashing Pumpkins, Metallica  and Massive Attack achieved career highs that year, too.

Lana Del Rey

The most haunting and cinematic song of the autumn is 'Video Games' by Lana Del Rey pictured (an alias).  Del Rey, whose name, like Marilyn Manson's, is a California portmanteau, comes from Lana Turner and the car (or pulp publisher).  He music (at the moment, we have two songs only, a double A side, with a debut album out in early 2012) is saturated with the sort of over-ripe LA Confidential-era mood, of twisted Hollywood B-actresses in motels, slumming angels, sun-baked streets, and dipsos and nymphos sporting in shades under palms; the presiding spirit is Mulholland Drive; Del Ray's woozy, yearning voice, and the funereal pace of the song, reimagine Badalementi's Twin Peaks score, via Sunset Boulevard.  Her other song, 'Blue Jeans', channels 'Wicked Game', and offers us glimpses of bruised love, James Dean, and a favourite sweater.  This is decadent dream-pop, a la Mazzy Star.  If she can keep the mystique going, and present another 8 or 9 songs of this quality and moodiness, this could be a star-making turn; and if her demos and live vids on the net suggest, she may just.  Then again, many young singers have mined this dark glamourous moment, stuck between James M. Cain and Fatty Arbuckle in a musical version of Kenneth Anger's Babylon.  I find it irresistible, personally - nothing is sadder or more important, in an ephemeral and tarnished way, than fading starlets, dead-drunk actors, and half-burn screenplays, somewhere in a bungalow up in those hills, circa 1958.  Everyone wants heaven, no one wants dead.  Most of us settle for Bates Motel celluloid dreams slipping into the muck.

Ingratitude For You

Last night Sir Paul, the most famous popular musician in the world alongside Bob Dylan (arguably) was married in London to an American heiress, and celebrated at his home in St John's Wood, with Mark Ronson DJing.  Rather incredibly, when the party (which featured among others Twiggy) ran on past 1 am, neighbours called the noise inspectors, who came and (one presumes politely) asked one of The Fab Four to turn it down.  Given that he is a Beatle, and gave the world such joy for decades with his music, it seems utterly petty to complain.  The last song was 'Hey Jude', and the music stopped at 2 am.  So much for Swinging London.

Music For Christmas?

Hard to imagine in London's blazing Indian Summer, but the record-releasing end of year season is soon upon us.  Albums come out 24-7 these days (I am over-Spotified with checking out all the new stuff), but there are some unusually thrilling appearances on the horizon: 50 Words of Snow by Kate Bush (any new work of hers is a major event); Florence + The Machine's second, Ceremonials (she is shaping up to be a major figure, a new Bush); a third woman of musical gifts, Canadian Feist, has her second work out this month.  And of course albums from Coldplay, Radiohead, and Peter Gabriel are also intriguing options.  The Noel Gallagher project has started well, with a fun single, so that's to look for, too.  And, left-fieldish, a new Thomas Dolby double-album in late October.  Meanwhile, some of the best recent albums are Pajama Club, Wilco's The Whole Love, St. Vincent's Strange Mercy, and Again Into Eyes by S.C.U.M. not to mention the new Kasabian.  2011 is shaping up to be a very good year for music.  Should I add there's a new Pixie Lott coming too?  Meanwhile, we have to wait until 2012 for the 13th U2 - hopefully it will flip its web-shooters and swing city-blocks away from that maladroit musical.

I.M. R.E.M.

So, they've split.  The greatest American Indie band of the 1980s (other than Pixies and The Replacements), and arguably one of the major bands of all time, practically the inventors of College Radio, R.E.M. started lean, incredibly poetic and enigmatic, invigoratingly political and sexy, and sometime in the mid-90s became increasingly bloated, over-familiar and ultimately staid, every one of their originally-brilliant stylistic moves now tics; they began to pastiche themselves.

The best way to think of them is in the late 80s.  Stipe's yearning, haunted lyrics made him arguably the most intriguing young American poet of the time, committed, post-modern, and witty; somehow, coming from The South, they channelled a sense of Whitman, and Poe.  People loved them, fell in love listening to them.

I think of masterpieces like 'Swan Swan H', 'Fall On Me', 'The One I Love', 'Half A World Away' and 'Orange Crush', let alone their more popular songs, like 'Losing My Religion', 'What's The Frequency Kenneth?', 'Man On The Moon' and 'Everybody Hurts'.  I made a list of their best songs this morning at Spotify, and had around 50.  Try doing that for almost any other band, ever, including The Beatles, The Doors, The Smiths, or U2.  The truth is, R.E.M. were at a genius-level of creativity between 1983's Murmur and 1994's Monster.

Then came the slow, definite decline, painful for all fans to listen to, but always fraught with hope of some sort of resurgence.  It never came, and their break-up, though sad, is also welcome.  It allows us to now go back and appreciate what was achieved, in a new light.  Thank you.

Mercury Players

The Mercury Prize, 19 years old, has had a mixed past.  It's chosen duds, and brilliant albums.  What it has done is select the 12 "best" albums of popular music each year, made in Ireland or Britain, from an eclectic genre-list, of avant-jazz to hip hop to nu-folk, and all stops in between.  Famously, PJ Harvey, who won again last night, making her the Don Paterson of the music world, first won exactly a decade ago, on September 11th.  That time, the album was Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea, her finest work, until Let England Shake appeared earlier this year.  It is, as I have written earlier at Eyewear, an album for the ages, one crafted with the sort of literary intelligence we normally associate with poets.  Speaking of Englishness in the context of war and empire, it could not have come at a more apt moment, and to win on the eve of the first decade of 9/11 is an unusually satisfying cultural moment of deserved recognition.  Harvey, who spoke live on TV last night to accept her award, appears to be very intelligent, lucid, dedicated - a genuine artist.  She made me proud for the British music scene, often portrayed as loutish, drug-addled, and vain.  We need more Harveys.  It only remains to be said that Katy B would have also made a great choice, but her album, brilliant as it is, lacked the cohesive moral and aesthetic vision of the winner.

JCS On The New Will Young Album

Will Young Echoes review

Written by James Christopher Sheppard

The original Pop Idol returns, Will Young releases his fifth studio album, Echoes, at the end of August. Young hasn’t made big waves since his second album Friday’s Child when it reached five times platinum status and provided him with the massive single ‘Leave Right Now’ and ‘Your Game’. However, all of his album releases have gone Top Ten in the UK and been certified platinum. The openly gay popstar clearly has a devoted and loyal fan base, but can Echoes propel him back to the success of his early days? The entire album is produced by electronic and synthpop producer Richard X, so the collection should be more attention-grabbing than Young’s last rather unmemorable effort, Let It Go.

‘Jealousy’

First single, ‘Jealousy’, has already created some excitement amongst the Young fan-base, perhaps due to the upbeat feel of the song. It’s a simple, breezy, emotional tinged synth pop with an 80s feel. The song does have a certain charm, but is unlikely to have the masses yearning to hear it over and over again.

5/10

‘Come On’

The tempo and mood is accelerated on ‘Game On’, combining the synth sound with an almost Florence and the Machine ‘Rabbit Heart (Raise it Up)’ drum beat with an element of ‘Maps’ by the Yeah Yeah Yeah’s. While the song certainly shares some similarities with the aforementioned songs, ‘Game On’ feels modern, radio friendly and certainly more addictive than ‘Jealousy’.

8/10

‘Runaway’

Sister track to ‘Jealousy’, ‘Runaway’ is breezy with mellow 80s synths circulating around Young sticking to his higher register. This is pretty catchy, with a hypnotic melody.

6/10

‘Lie Next to Me’

It’s ballad time and ‘Lie Next to Me’ will make Will Young fans happy enough. It’s quite dream-like, with Young relying on his voice to carry the song. The production is almost like a boy band Christmas single from the late 90s or early 00s. The emotion comes across in Young’s vocal, but the lyrics are almost too simple to really evoke an emotional reaction. Some people will absolutely love it, some may not. I’m somewhere in the middle.

5/10

‘Safe From Harm’

Almost Scissor Sister sounding, ‘Safe From Harm’ has a slightly darker element to it than the first four tracks. The synths are complimented by a simple piano played melody and Young uses his voice more variably, which is a breath of fresh air at this point.

7/10

‘Good Things’

Will seems to have jumped eras and gone from the 80s into the mid 90s. ‘Good Things’ sounds inspired by George Michael’s classic hit ‘Fastlove’, which knowing his audience is possibly a stroke of genius. A pretty decent example of adult pop, I can already imagine my Mum listening to this on repeat.

8/10

‘Happy Now’

The first song to not rely on synth-pop is ‘Happy Now’. Usually I listen to a song while I write about it… I have to say I listened to the whole of this track and had only written one sentence. What can I say about ‘Happy Now’? It’s a pretty slow to mid-tempo song about Will singing about being happy now. The instrumentation is quite refreshing at this point and Will sounds more comfortable here than on some other points on the album, but it is a little dull.

4/10

‘Hearts on Fire’

Another tempo change, ‘Hearts on Fire’ is an understated dance number that I can imagine being played in Soho’s coolest bars. The melody is darker than most of the album and the whole song has a certain dangerous and intriguing sexuality about it.

8/10

‘Personal Thunder’

Another dark, brooding number, ‘Personal Thunder’ cements Young’s position as the current answer to being what George Michael was during his Older period. The emotion behind ‘Thunder’ is enchanting.

8/10

‘Losing Myself’

This is possibly the most 80s sounding track on the album to this point. It could almost be a hit factory produced mid-tempo ballad. It’s not bad.

6/10

‘Silent Valentine’

Featuring the most unique and original production on the collection, ‘Silent Valentine’ is transformed from just another synth-heavy electronic slow number, to a gradual captivating track that is one of the most memorable featured here.

8/10

‘I Just Want a Lover’

Appealing to a more mature ear, and perhaps a crowd at a swanky cocktail bar rather than your local Oceana club, ‘I Just Want a Lover’ picks up where ‘Good Things’ left off. ‘I just want a lover, nothing that is complicated. I don’t have to know you, we don’t have to talk about it’ Young sings as the song closes. Could this be Will’s sexiest moment yet?

8/10

‘Outsider’

The haunting nature of ‘Outsider’ mimics that of Adele’s ‘Hometown Glory’. It’s a brilliant way to round off the album, which at times is a little lacking in emotion. ‘Outsider’ is soft and hears Young as his most vulnerable here.

8/10

 The prospect of sitting down and listening to Echoes from start to finish was not something I looked forward to doing. Until I saw that Richard X had been involved, I expected to hear something dreary and dull, but then I pressed play. While it may not be to everyone’s taste, Echoes will certainly charm those that already like Will Young and will definitely appeal to the adult-pop fans that loved George Michael during Older, as well as Darren Hayes solo efforts. Echoes is not the most original album, but it is well crafted and coherent. Whether Echoes will impact to wider audiences and be massive, is something else entirely, but it’s pretty good.

Overall score: 7/10

JCS is Eyewear's music critic and divides his time between London and Hull.  He is currently working on a novel.

JCS Reviews Charlie Simpson

Charlie Simpson’s Young Pilgrim

Reviewed by James Christopher Sheppard

Charlie Simpson is a name many will know. Some from his days as a third of teen bopping band Busted and some will know him as front man of alternative rock band Fightstar. Either way, Simpson has been known since 2002 and has been a part of five studio albums. At the age of 26, Charlie is releasing his first full-length solo release and it sounds pretty distanced from anything the singer/songwriter has been involved in before.

‘Down Down Down’

First single from the album is a good indication of what is to come. The song is entirely acoustic driven, with thick as treacle vocals, laden with emotional depth. The folk-rock ballad is stacked with multi-layered harmonies and builds to a gentle climax.

10/10

‘Parachutes’

‘Parachutes’, also the second single, picks up the pace and builds on what ‘Down, Down’ has already established. This is possibly the most radio-friendly and mature that Simpson has ever sounded. Brilliant.

10/10

‘All at Once’

‘All at Once’ at first entices with it’s toe tapping beats, but the sound soon turns to a sorrow filled as the song of heartbreak progresses. Simpson’s vocals sound confident and crystal clear, with the song completely utilising his unique tones. 9/10

‘Thorns’

Gentle, with a subtlety that draws you right in to the melodic dreamy higher tones of vocal harmony going on in the background, ‘Thorns’ is a careful ballad. The softer verses against the more exuberant choruses work wonders here. 9/10

‘Cemetery’

The fifth track shifts the memento into a new direction. ‘Cemetery’ is a combination of pop-rock-folk, which makes for a charming reminiscent song and one of absolute authenticity. Simpson’s voice is pushed to the limit, experimenting with his higher range and occasionally showing moments of strain, which surprisingly, adds to the song.

9/10

‘Hold On’

The most mellow moment of the album so far, ‘Hold On’, is lead by multiple layers of Simpson’s harmonies against a backdrop of strings, arranged by the renowned string arranger, Audrey Riley. A well crafted smooth ballad.

9/10

‘I Need a Friend Tonight’

The second string lead track, with assistance from Riley, is simple and melodic. ‘Friend’ is mid-tempo, soft and changes the mood of the album somewhat, as Simpson and the song both remain quite delicate and fragile. It’s hard to decipher whether ‘Friend’ is Simpson claiming he has found or is looking for religion, or if he is claiming he is lost and still can’t find his way home. I’ll let you decide, but it’s a pleasant song all the same.

7/10

‘Suburbs’

The tempo picks up a little with ‘Suburbs’, but the song in all it’s simplicity does little to further what is already great about Young Pilgrim. ‘I need you now, I need you now’ Simpson repeats. It’s possibly the least remarkable song on the album, but it still is not bad.

6/10

‘Sundown’

The temp change was only temporary as we are back down to the balladry of ‘Hold On’. ‘My heart is yearning for you dear’- this strikingly scarce track is one of the most powerful on Young Pilgrim in terms of pure passion.

9/10

‘Farmer & His Gun’

The most folk-tinged moment on the album is ‘Farmer & His Gun’, the mid-tempo country-fied song also featured on the EP When We Were Lions. ‘Gun’ comes complete with harmonica melodies and everything, but does sound like it belongs on a different collection.

7/10

‘If I Lose It’

The melancholic ‘If I Lose It’ has a passion driving it similar to that displayed on ‘Sundown’, but the instrumentation is far fuller and production builds into an epic ballad. This could easily be used as a movie theme, with despair searing through Simpson’s vocals. This song has real potential commercially.

10/10

‘Riverbanks’

The final track is an absolute triumph- a soaring piano filled, string and guitar lead epic rock ballad that builds to the most satisfying climax on Young Pilgrim. I use the term rock ballad, and some of you may think ‘Uh-Oh, cheese’, but this is no ‘I Don’t Want a Miss a Thing’, this is authenticity in itself, with emotion practically dripping from it. ‘Something beautiful is happening’ Simpson claims, and he’s right, before the track finishes with a minute-long cinematic instrumental goose-bump inducing end.

10/10

Young Pilgrim has its flaws. The first six tracks are absolutely brilliant, so it’s a little disappointing when there’s a couple of moments in the latter half that let it down a little. Saying that, ‘If I Lose It’ and ‘Riverbanks’ are two of the most outstanding new songs I have heard this year. Despite the couple of songs that could have been left off this album, Young Pilgrim is brimming with passion and actually could be the best thing Charlie Simpson has ever put his name to. Fans of Busted are irrelevant really aren’t they? But fans of Fightstar are likely to enjoy Simpson’s solo effort, despite the change in direction, while fans of Jason Nozuka, the latest Incubus album, If Not Now, When?  and lovers of brilliant acoustic and passionate music should definitely check this album out. There could be a lot more to Charlie Simpson yet.

Young Pilgrim is available in the UK now through PIAS and receives an overall rating of 8.5/10

James Christopher Sheppard recently graduated from the acclaimed Creative Writing degree course at Kingston University and is Eyewear’s music critic, as well as a freelance writer and published poet. For more information, his website, Intellectual Intercourse, can be found at Jameschristophersheppard.wordpress.com