Best album of October 2021

SINCE BUSTING OUT of Melbourne’s indie scene onto the international stage, Barnett has boldly reimagined the over-worked tropes of traditional alt-rock for the 21st century through a gay feminist prism to become Australia’s hottest export since a cold tin of Foster’s. Delivering her smart, sardonic lyrics full of post-millennial anxiety in deliciously deadpan style, her 2015 full-length debut Sometimes I Sit And Think, And Sometimes I Just Sit earned her a Grammy nomination as best new artist. The follow-up 2018’s Tell Me How You Really Feel was every bit as impressive, full of highly personal songs etched with universal observations for the social media age.

But by the time she had spent two years promoting that record around the world, she was close to burn-out. Then came lockdown – which paradoxically turned out to be a blessing in disguise. Barnett flew home to Melbourne and, living alone for the first time in her life, had an opportunity to reflect and, as our grandmothers would have put it, to: “count her blessings”. As a renewed sense of positivity emerged out of her discombobulation, it was reflected in the songs that make up Things Take Time, Take Time. One song is even titled Write A List Of Things To Look Forward To – a clumsy mouthful of a title perhaps, but a great lesson in life for us all.
Recorded in late 2020/early 2021, Barnett and producer Stella Mozgawa play all the instruments, adding wurlitzers and drum machines to the acoustic and electric guitars. The result is a sound that is less muscular than before, but it suits the mood of the songs which are warmer and imbued with a heartfelt emotional honesty, as Barnett seems to find a new strength in admitting her vulnerability. “I’m not afraid of heights, maybe I’m just scared of falling,” she sings on Here’s The Thing. It would be an exaggeration to call this a new start album. But it is the sound of an artist relaxing into acceptance of her place in the world and sounding as though she’s enjoying herself.

Before You Gotta Go and If I Don’t Hear From You Tonight are rarities in Barnett’s oeuvre as straightforward love songs and at times her lyricism is almost Dylanesque. On the opener Rae Street she hints at the world-weariness that prefaced the album as she sings: “There’s one thing I know, the sun will rise today and tomorrow, We got a long, long way to go”. Yet elsewhere themes of renewal and the human need to connect dominate on tracks such as Take It Day By Day and Turning Green.
As the world gets back to a semblance of normality, 2021 has turned out to be a cracking year for great albums – and Barnett has gone and made one of the finest of them all.

FOURTEEN YEARS AGO Plant released perhaps the most rewarding album of his post-Zep career with Raising Sand, a felicitous set of covers in collaboration with Alison Krauss, which won six Grammys. The long-awaited follow-up is a more than worthy sequel. Laidback and relaxed, deep cuts by American acts such as Calexico, Merle Haggard, the mysterious Geeshie Wiley, Lucinda Williams and Allen Toussaint are given atmospheric arrangements that range across blues, country, R&B, rockabilly and swamp pop, while songs by folk legends Bert Jansch and Anne Briggs are also repurposed as rootsy excursions into classic Americana. Zep fans may be disappointed by the low-key style of Plant’s vocals for the famous leonine roar has been checked at the studio door, but this is a record about the glories of harmony and the juxtaposition of Krauss’ pure, crystalline voice with Plant’s earthier tones is exquisite.
The eagerly-awaited follow-up to Raising Sand is a more than worthy sequel

WITH INFLUENCES GIVEN as Marvin Gaye and Gil Scott-Heron, the scene is set for some gritty social commentary. This never really takes hold (the scolding Not In My Name being the exception), but that’s fine as the raw, stripped-down soul is more than enough fun. Go On hooks immediately with its Sly and the Family Stone vocal call and response and its tight groove. Other influences abound; Night Crawl has a strong paternity case against The Specials Ghost Town while Keep On Pushing casts a perfect Curtis Mayfield-shaped shadow. Every track on this album works beautifully in its own way and each deserves its place on the team. 

THE MUSIC OF Ronald Binge (1910 – 1979) captures the spirit of post-war Britain in a rather idealised form – halcyon days suggesting bright sunny weather, carefree times and a quiet relaxed confidence that everything’s just right with the world. The disc includes Sailing By – the music that famously ends BBC Radio 4 each night. The Slovak RSO plays well, but doesn’t always capture that feeling of relaxed happy innocence that good contemporary performances by British orchestras tend to exude. Even so, the disc gives much pleasure, and the music itself is deliciously warm and inviting. A good clear recording! JH

SERIOUS LOVERS OF Johann Sebastian Bach’s six sonatas for violin and harpsichord are strongly encouraged to hear this interesting arrangement for violoncello piccolo. The change of solo instrument creates a darker richer tonal palette, and the use of a harpsichord/organ and cello/viola da gamba ensures that Bach’s dense contrapuntal three-part writing is (for once) heard with the utmost clarity. You’ll hear lots of inner detail and subtle harmonic shifts that are normally obscured. The recording sounds beautifully rich and sonorous, with impressive instrumental separation and excellent presence. JH

THAO NGUYEN AND her merry band of alt-rockers return for an updated version of 2020’s Temple. The band’s sixth studio album featured groovy disco-rock and in Phenom and Lion On The Hunt off-kilter and funky numbers that encapsulate the band’s way with surprising chord changes and almost spoken-word raps. Meanwhile, the stripped-down I’ve Got Something proves they can really supply emotion. This updated release features five extra versions of album tracks that are strings-only. And yes, they’re all stunning in their richness and beauty. Worth an update. PH

MY INITIAL REACTION upon hearing this recording is: it’s fast; waaay too fast. Dausgaard takes 56 minutes 35 seconds over the work, similar to Karl Bohm’s classic 1971 version on Decca. However, Dausgaard plays Bruckner’s full-fat 1873 original, while Bohm does the truncated/cut 1889 revision. Georg Tintner (Naxos) plays the 1873 score and takes 77 minutes 34 seconds over it! However, once you get used to the fast speeds, Dausgaard’s version has a direct engaging edginess that is both exciting and impressive. The BIS recording sounds clean, detailed and spacious, with excellent clarity and some powerful dynamics. JH

OVER THE SPACE of 30 years and nine albums, Nightmare On Wax’s George Evelyn has effortlessly drifted between genres to formulate his own unique sound that rather neatly slots in somewhere between the cracks of electronica, hip-hop, R&B, jazz, funk and dub. More of a collaborative effort than past excursions (featuring Greentea Peng, Haile Supreme, Sabrina Mahfouz and Shabaka Hutchings on sax among others), this is a glorious mix of blissed-out soul (Breathe In and Wonder), haunting movie soundtrack (3D Warrior) and breezy summertime vibes (Wikid Satellites and Imagineering). Stunning. JDW

THE LATEST IN the Spaceman Reissue Program sees the fourth, arguably overlooked, Spiritualized album stepping out from the shadow of its predecessor. With its choirs, orchestras and hundreds of session musicians, its sound is huge but never overblown. Boxes are ticked for key psych and garage Spiritualized ingredients, but Do It All Over Again and The Straight And The Narrow draw from the well of Brian Wilson and Phil Spector, and Won’t Get To Heaven (The State I’m In) is almost a gospel-prog hybrid. Widescreen, big band closer Lord Can You Hear Me leaves no heart unbroken. Take a deep headphone dive. SB

THESE SOLO PIANO works are subtle intimate pieces. On An Overgrown Path is a musical diary chronicling the despair and sadness the composer felt on the death of his beloved daughter Olga in 1903, aged 20. Every note is deeply personal and etched with meaning. Olena Kushpler plays with great sensitivity and understanding, allowing Janáček’s musical narrative to unfold in a manner that is both coherent and moving. The recording places the piano at a nice middle distance in a rich, warm acoustic. The sound is clear, but not too close, and you can hear subtle shifts of tone, colour and dynamics that are almost speech like. JH

WHAT DO YOU get if you stick Hawaiian ukulele player Jake Shimabukuro in the same room as Willie and Lukas Nelson, Kenny Loggins, Jon Anderson and Ziggy Marley? Answer: An album of intrigue packed with high-calibre choices. It starts with the Moody Blues’ Go Now placed in the reliable hands of Michael McDonald. Unexpectedly a delicate, heartstring plucking beauty floats out of the speakers. Bette Midler’s second run at The Rose is a triumph, as is fellow islander Jack Johnson and his duet with Paula Fuga on the Stevie Wonder stunner A Place In The Sun. Relive the summer with this unique set of collaborations. PSH

FOR HIS SIXTH album Hopkins goes full beatless, something that makes sense for a musician who has worked with Brian Eno before, and the tracks here reference some of Eno’s more famous work but imbued with Hopkins’ layering techniques. It’s just gorgeous, spangled dynamic electronica – some, like Tayos Caves, Ecuador i, use found sounds to really recreate a womb-like envelopment, while others gently drift and build in seamless ebbs and flows. Yes, it’s all very ambient, but it will send you on a delightful, bejewelled aural journey. PH

ESTONIAN COMPOSER ARVO Part’s Passio was composed in 1982. First in a line of large-scale religious works, it’s scored for soprano, alto, tenor and bass soloists, with a choir accompanied by violin, oboe, cello, bassoon and organ. At once modern and archaic, the work is contemplative; deeply spiritual and pure rather than dramatic. Like many of Part’s works, it has a hypnotic soul-cleansing quality that relaxes and sooths. This new performance is excellent and the BIS DSD recording sounds detailed, sonorous and atmospheric, with some nice deep bass. JH

FANS OF TORD Gustavsen’s paired-back Nordic jazz will find a lot to like in this latest release from Marcin Wasilewski’s Polish trio. The pianist has been working with Slawomir Kurkiewicz on double bass and Michal Miskiewicz on drums for over 25 years and this familiarity shows in the way that they make adventurous yet fluent music. With tunes from Bach and Carla Bley alongside Riders On The Storm, En Attendant’s inky black backgrounds allow the band’s restrained intensity to stand crisp and clear. This Trio bring a variety and depth to their work that eludes many in this broad field. JK

RECORDED BETWEEN 2013 and 2020, Andrew Litton’s excellent Prokofiev series for BIS is now released as a boxed set. The performances are spirited, sensitive and full of interesting detail. Even the noisy 2nd Symphony comes off well. Litton does the revised 4th Symphony, but not the original score. The enigmatic 7th Symphony is played with great understanding of its tragic fractured sub-text and Litton gives us the finale twice; with the original quiet ending, plus the louder more upbeat one that Soviet officialdom required back in those days. The BIS SACD recordings sound superbly rich, detailed and pungent, with crisp dynamics and some powerful bass drum thwacks – always an important consideration with this composer! Both sonically and musically, this is probably the best set of Prokofiev symphonies currently available. JH

CALIFORNIA’S FUNKING FINEST offer up the kind of earthy soul that sounds like it was recorded on an eight-track tape (it was) in James Brown’s potting shed (it wasn’t). Colour Blind has the ghost of JB looming large with its snarly horn section and funky snare riff. Hungry For Your Love sounds like something Gil Scot Heron might have issued with its slinky organ versus guitar exchanges. There’s funk, soul and psychedelic elements spilling out all over the album, with just enough shift in tone and tempo to keep it from forming into one big gooey lump of indistinguishable grooviness. PSH

AFTER YEARS OF neglect, the music of Mieczyslav Weinberg is finally being played and recorded. His four Chamber Symphonies are fascinating and worth getting to know. They’re deeply serious and (at times) darkly fatalistic pieces, but not excessively knotty or difficult. The 4th is especially impressive. The playing on this new set is good – atmospheric and sonorous – though Gidon Kremer on ECM offers greater rhythmic-bite and forward momentum. The Naxos recording is detailed and clear with good dynamic range and smooth natural balances. JH

CREATED DURING LOCKDOWN, Albarn’s second ‘true’ solo album features an extraordinary panorama of songs about fragility and loss, hope and rebirth. The experimental soundscapes of the title track and Esja have something of the glacial majesty of Sigur Rós about them. Elsewhere riotous dissonance (Combustion) mingles with intimate, bittersweet melodies (Royal Morning Blue and Daft Wader) while as a vocalist Albarn’s voice seems to become a more hauntingly expressive instrument with every release. NW

THE MAIN PIECE here is JS Bach’s Art Of Fugue, but there are also works by Bach’s sons, including a mesmerising account of JC Bach’s 5th sonata Op 17. Trifonov’s subtle imaginative playing makes it sound like a ‘lost’ sonata by Mozart. The WF Bach and CPE Bach pieces are impressively played and Brahms’ arrangement of Bach’s mighty Chaconne (for the left hand no less) makes a powerful impression. Alas, the Art Of Fugue is split between discs – why? DG’s piano sound is bright, crisply focussed, luminous and very clear, though some breathing noises can be heard. JH

MY MORNING JACKET are back with their ninth studio album and, as you would expect, it’s an epic, eclectic ride that consolidates their place as one of the more interesting mainstream bands out there. The ambition and dexterity on show here is impressive. Love Love Love is a chugging, groovy rock behemoth, In Color is a gentle lament, while The Devil’s In The Details is a nine-minute, gentle psychedelic odyssey that even welcomes in a bit of jazz to the party. It’s an impressive affair – layered vocal effects, blues-rock riffs, rousing choruses and introspection… you name it, it’s all here. PH