Cat Stevens’ new record ‘The Laughing Apple’ is the album of the week

Reunited with producer Paul Samwell-Smith who produced his classic Tea For The Tillerman album, Stevens balances some complex songwriting (typified by the brilliant, Indianinspired arrangement of the title track) with the sort of twinkling, child-like wonder that infused classics like Morning Has Broken.

Grandsons, on which a dying man watches children play, is a poignant and vulnerable masterpiece; Olive Hill one of those simple, rhyming ballads touched by spirituality in which Stevens also specialises.

A sparkling celebration of his 50 years in music. 

Foo Fighters – Concrete And Gold (Columbia)

With Adele producer Greg Kurstin on board, and a declared intent to make “Motorhead’s version of Sgt Pepper’s”, Dave Grohl and Co’s ninth album introduces subtlety and some clever arrangements into the usual slick and powerful mix.

Sunday Rain (featuring Sir Paul McCartney) and Run are both terrific but the stand-out here is the stirring show-stopper, The Sky Is A Neighbourhood.

VERDICT 4/5

Ricky Ross – Short Stories Vol.1 (earMusic)

Ross’s rich and raspingly soulful voice endows Deacon Blue with a heartfelt passion that is not always the mark of 1980s pop bands.

On this collection of piano ballads he reworks some of the band’s finest material mostly to stunning effect.

I Was Right And You Were Wrong, on which Ross demonstrates a graceful falsetto, is superb; as is an intense, sinew-straining, version of Raintown.

Best of all, though, is his version of Carole King’s Going Back, arguably the best since Nils Lofgren wrapped his lungs around it.

VERDICT 4/5

Carole King Tapestry: Live In Hyde Park (Legacy)

Recorded last year at King’s first UK appearance since 1989, Live In Hyde Park captures the raw excitement of the evening even if the songwriter’s voice seems a little more shrill than in her Tapestry heyday.

All the hits are here, one in particular, So Far Away, so tenderly arranged and sung that there could not have been a dry eye in the park.

VERDICT 3/5

Ringo Starr – Give More Love (Universal)

Surrounded by superstar mates, and with a detached singing voice usually recorded as if through a loudhailer, Ringo’s albums rarely seem more than good-natured singalongs.

But his (gulp) 19th effort breaks the mould a little, thanks to Show Me The Way – a simple, joyful ballad addressed to his wife (one of two tracks featuring Sir Paul McCartney) – and a raw, riotous rockabilly version of Back Off Boogaloo rescued from a 1971 tape and recorded after a night out with Marc Bolan.

VERDICT 3/5