It’s a sound that cleverly belies their central theme: the hypnotising dangers of consumerism and the self-obsessed digital age.
The latter comes to the fore on the title track and the brilliant Creature Comfort – “God, make me famous/ If you can’t, just make it painless”.
The finest track, however, is the six minute-plus We Don’t Deserve Love, a moving, confessional piece played out over eerie electronics that recall Radiohead’s brilliant Kid A.
Lana Del Rey Lust For Life 4/5 (Polydor)
“You can still find me, if you ask nicely/ underneath the pines… Across the county line,” sings Lana Del Rey on 13 Beaches, so languid and elusive a singer and performer that fans at her one-off London gig last week must have blinked in disbelief that she was actually there.
Her superb fourth album picks up where the last three left off, Lana’s default musical style a slow and dreamy shimmer, her sweet/sour vision of California like David Lynch’s Mulholland Drive.
The opening Love is as straightforward as it gets – teen romance seen through a 32-year-old’s eyes before the 32-year-old moves through the same romantic ritual.
The title track builds from a Leader Of The Pack intro into a dreamy call and response, the singer dancing “on the ‘H’ of the Hollywood sign”
Alice Cooper Paranormal 3/5 (earMusic)
Beyond the squalling guitars and sneering vocals on the B-movie horror tracks, Cooper’s first album in six years is a more tantalising beast.
The urgent, bluesy Fallen In Love, witty Holy Water and quite brilliant Blue Oyster Cult-like The Sound Of A hint at a musical maturity that, ironically, the additional live CD, containing older classics such as Only Women Bleed, confirm he once had.
Bright Phoebus – Songs By Lal & Mike Waterson (Domino) 4/5
Although it featured a host of folk-rock superstars including Richard Thompson, Martin Carthy and Maddy Prior, it is the wild, raw tones of singer Lal Waterson (left) that make the newly reissued Bright Phoebus such a haunting masterpiece.
Recorded in 1972, this is English folk music as brutal, beautiful and magical as the countryside itself.
Daily Express :: Entertainment Feed
