Mavis Staples: We Get By review – fearsome, eclectic, and on fine form
She may be 80 in July, but Staples is more heartfelt and expressive than ever here, in new songs of struggle and unity
Adia Victoria: Silences review – compelling southern gothic blues
The story of a woman negotiating race, religion and powerlessness in America, Victoria’s fine second album suggests turmoil but never overdoes it
Van Morrison: The Prophet Speaks review – laid-back, old-school R&B
A strange cover featuring ventriloquist’s dummy Archie Andrews is no guide to the carefree covers and new songs on Morrison’s 40th studio album
Moonlight Benjamin: Siltane review – no-nonsense Haitian blues-rock
Brooding, bluesy gold from the France-based voodoo priestess and singer-songwriter
A Star Is Born soundtrack review – instant classics full of Gaga’s emotional might
Bradley Cooper shows he can sing as well as act and direct but it is Lady Gaga’s pop prowess that lifts each track, be it spectacular piano ballads or heart-rending duets
Cat Power: Wanderer review – the beautiful sound of the road to nowhere
Chan Marshall’s latest album adds Auto-Tune, Lana Del Rey and a Rihanna cover version to her folk, blues and American roots music. It’s the work of a woman going her own way
Lonnie Holley: MITH review – full of violence and beauty
A lifelong outsider artist, Alabama-born Lonnie Holley came to renown for his visual art, and in 2012 for his first foray into music. MITH is the self-taught piano man’s third outing, and although neophytes might struggle with Holley’s shruggy attitude … Continue reading
Gwenifer Raymond: You Never Were Much of a Dancer review – fingerpicking good
The Welsh musician serves up a stew of bluegrass, blues and haunted Americana
A Change Is Gonna Come: Music for Human Rights review – musical depths in cliche-free protest songs
This celebration of political anthems – performed by Carleen Anderson, Speech Debelle, Nikki Yeoh and Nubya Garcia – transformed them into compelling art
Imagining Ireland review – a glorious, cliche-free musical melting pot
This imaginative, enterprising attempt to recast ideas of Irishness included gospel and blues, hip-hop and poetry
Robert Finley: Goin’ Platinum review – top-notch Nashville soul
(Easy Eye/Nonesuch)
Robert Finley: Goin’ Platinum! review – swamp blues and lewd stompers
The Black Keys’ Dan Auerbach calls Robert Finley “the greatest living soul singer”. Thus, he has signed the 63-year-old to his label, produced him, written the songs (along with the likes of Nick Lowe and John Prine) and paired him … Continue reading
Jim Kweskin: Unjugged review – entertaining set from a masterful guitarist
In the 60s, Jim Kweskin and the Jug Band were American celebrities, pioneering a style mixing ragtime and blues that, for a while, made them headliners above the Doors or Janis Joplin. They split up before the decade was through, … Continue reading
Steely Dan review – smooth tunes with sharp little bones
Donald Fagen, now sole founding member after the death of Walter Becker, is the vocal grit in the oyster of Steely Dan’s sophisticated, frictionless grooves