Rock

Here Jane Weaver has teamed up with guitarist and producer John Parish, best known for his work with PJ Harvey, and together they have created a luminous soundworld of fat, funky synth lines, fluid drumming and chiming guitar chords, and with some smooth fuzztone lead lines. It’s full of colour and textures (but more spacious than 2021’s Flock), which her voice glides through with occasional subtle effects, like the echo that catches the edge of her phrasing on ‘The Axis’. ‘Motif’ is an exquisite acoustic number that nods back to her folky roots, and the spartan organ and drum machine of ‘Family Of The Sun’ sounds akin to early Stereolab, with Weaver’s existential musings on love and mortality adding to its poignancy. MB
Sound Quality: 90%

Liam Gallagher John Squire
Liam Gallagher John Squire
Warners 5054197893995; LP: 5054197893940

‘The tunes are mega and we sound mega’ is former Oasis singer Liam Gallagher’s assessment of this new collaboration. And the enduring demand for one of the major voices of ’90s Britpop and the former guitarist of ‘Madchester’ band Stone Roses is huge – their spring tour sold out in 30 secs. Recent single ‘Just Another Rainbow’ is typical of their sound: big swaggering rock, although less foursquare than Oasis. Squire, whose reputation rests on music recorded prior to 2000, sounds fired up to be in the spotlight again, playing vivid, imaginative lead guitar. ‘I’m A Wheel’ is loping blues-rock, but it’s mostly exactly what one would imagine from these two. MB
Sound Quality: 85%

Rural Tapes
Contact
Smuggler Music SMUG096 (LP: clear or black vinyl)

Rural Tapes is the aptly named vehicle of Norwegian multi-instrumentalist Arne Kjelsrud Mathisen, who collects old analogue technology, including cassette and tape recorders, and with the help of some guest musicians integrates them into an oddly timeless hybrid of styles and sonics. The guitar-led instrumental ‘Run Rapid’ feels like a snappy film theme, but ‘Patchwork’ is a mantric groove of drums, synths and keyboards, with a collage of found tapes flickering in the background. ‘Waves’ is strange and poignant: keyboard themes frame a series of taped messages, voices from the past once sent to friends and relatives with the latest news. MB
Sound Quality: 85%

Caleb Landry Jones
Hey Gary, Hey Dawn
Sacred Bones SBR340CD; LP: SBR340LP-C3

‘Hey Dawn’ opens with big guitars and vocals oddly reminiscent of Kurt Cobain, but although Caleb Landry Jones is better known as an award-winning actor, his music is far more than a hobby side-project between film roles. Things soon start to get very strange. Tellingly, he loves The Beatles’ White Album and crams a myriad styles into ‘Your Favorite Song’ as it gearshifts, stops, starts, then hurtles off in a different direction, with cartoonish vocals and strings and brass that start off deftly arranged and end in a dissonant pile-up. There are more orthodox songs, but one never knows what will happen next. It’s very individual and very challenging. MB
Sound Quality: 80%