Album reviews: Father John Misty, Imelda May, Mike & The Mechanics and more

ALBUM OF THE WEEK

FATHER JOHN MISTY Pure Comedy (Bella Union)

Enigmatic, elegiac and peppered with Biblical imagery, the former Fleet Foxes drummer’s follow-up to the more optimistic I Love You Honeybear album, tackles the biggest themes of all: life, death, political and cultural shallowness and, on the brilliant

Things It Would Have Been Helpful To Know…, the human despoilation of the Earth, a “godless rock that refuses to die”. But it does so with humour, real insight and some of the loveliest tunes you’ll hear – the latter surfacing, as if by magic, out of song structures that twist and turn through passages of strings, mariachi trumpets and snatches of dialogue.

Imelda May Life. Love. Flesh. Blood Decca)

A change of direction for the sleekly restyled Imelda, who has largely abandoned the rocking sound of her earlier work for slinky, countrystyled blues.

The musical palette is deep and dark, with lots of twanging, reverb guitar and plodding bass, almost as if Imelda has been reborn as a male Chris Isaak.

Among the stand-out tracks Should’ve Been You, with its flavour of 1960s coffee bars, is great but the retro tone becomes a little wearying over a whole album.

Verdict: 3/5

Mike + The Mechanics Let Me Fly (BMG)

Mike Rutherford’s “side project” from Genesis has been together, with various personnel on board, since 1985. Now fronted by singers Andrew Roachford (of 1989 mini-hit Cuddly Toy fame) and Tim Howar, they aim here for a Toto-style blend of smooth transatlantic rock and soul.

But the lyrics are terrible, the ideas wafer-thin and the tunes, written by the likes of Johnny Hates Jazz’s Clark Datchler, instantly forgettable. Living Years? This is surely the end of a long decline…

Verdict: 3/5

REISSUE OF THE WEEK Teena Marie Ooo La La: The Epic Anthology SoulMusic Records, two CDs)

Before Madonna there was Teena Marie, whose heavily Latin-flavoured funk and pop must surely have provided some sort of template for the Material Girl. Teena’s finest records were for Motown, particularly the irresistible Portuguese Love, but these tracks for Epic are fresh and vital, and give more than a flavour of her unique talent.

A picture frame falling off a hotel room wall on to her head was partly the cause of her early death in 2010. An ignoble end to a wonderful talent.