Autumn is fast approaching and the big names are starting to unveil their new direction (or not as the case may be) and the odd taster of forthcoming albums. There's so much around at the moment, I've split the latest batch into two digestible lumps. Digestible is perhaps not the most apt term, but it'll do for now....
There's an unwritten rule that naming a song after a public holiday or celebration and then releasing it at the wrong time of the year, is a no-no. So 'Summer' songs shouldn't appear in December, so Valentine's Day (out now - 7.5/10) isn't going to impress six months after the event, even if it is David Bowie. That said, it's still one of the most inventive slices of pop this side of the equinox and sees our hero exercise his tonsils triumphantly over a mid-paced stomper bearing all your usual Bowie hallmarks that are in abundance on his recent album The Next Day - haven't you bought it yet?.
After recording Dear Science with his band, TV On The Radio's Dave Sitek then swapped mixing-desk positions and went on to produce the likes of Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Santigold, Beady Eye and Foals. He's probably done well out of it, so much so that he can vacate the producer's chair for other bands and return to his own. No longer on 4AD, TVOTR now release via Sitek's own Federal Prism, starting with this rather unadventurous indie-bouncer. Mercy (out now - 6/10) lacks the inventive edge heard on earlier work and ends up with TVOTR being just another half-decent American college-rock outfit.
I've waxed lyrical about Creatures Of Love before (OK, I know them - stand down) so lobbing single of the week at them is obviously going to happen right? Yeah, right! Sutra Sweat (Aug 19 - 8/10) is a relentless beast, a carnal dry-hump of electro-sex that first appeared in all its sweaty glory on the band's Boy Crimes EP, issued last year. They've done nothing to it except accompany it with a rather gut-churning video, then paired it up with a rather super b-side, The Balance of You, which ought to ensure their inclusion on every radio playlist in the country. It's about fucking time they were, to be frank. Love the sleeves, btw - reclaimed detritus from Oxfam, perhaps the alternative to chucking them in landfill?
All over the radio instead is Goldfrapp, whose previously mystical oeuvre has lost its veneer of late. Drew (Out now - 6/10) is an improvement on recent trifling output and sounds like a hark back to the dim, distant days of debut-album Felt Mountain. Sadly, after five listens, I still can't recall one single redeeming feature, other than it's 'very nice' and 'emotional'. Am I the only previous Goldfrapp aficionado craving something lustier or rampant like Train or downright moody like Hunt (from the otherwise mis-firing Head First)? I thought not.
While we're on the subject of dreary, the long-awaited new material from Mazzy Star sounds like, er, Mazzy Star unsurprisingly. The problem with California (out Aug 12 - 5/10) is that unlike previous wonderment from Sandoval and Roback, this drags and drags. And I so wanted to like this - there's just no substitute for Hope Sandoval cooing brazenly over a druggy slow-rock ballad and this isn't one of them. It's a campfire song for when you've forgotten the matches.
Not my usual bag but definitely wearing its MOR heart on its sleeve is the rather pretty Coco (7/10) by Charlie Straight, who recently performed at Brighton's Great Escape Festival. Less offensive than similar anthem-wielding acts of the now, Charlie only commit one cardinal sin and that's spouting my least favourite lyrical cliche, "I lay me down .... ", before switching styles halfway through the song from 10cc/Phoenix into Coldplay/Snow Patrol, without so much as a whiff of irony. I haven't liked much by them before, but this is a mainstream turn for the better.
All over the radio instead is Goldfrapp, whose previously mystical oeuvre has lost its veneer of late. Drew (Out now - 6/10) is an improvement on recent trifling output and sounds like a hark back to the dim, distant days of debut-album Felt Mountain. Sadly, after five listens, I still can't recall one single redeeming feature, other than it's 'very nice' and 'emotional'. Am I the only previous Goldfrapp aficionado craving something lustier or rampant like Train or downright moody like Hunt (from the otherwise mis-firing Head First)? I thought not.
While we're on the subject of dreary, the long-awaited new material from Mazzy Star sounds like, er, Mazzy Star unsurprisingly. The problem with California (out Aug 12 - 5/10) is that unlike previous wonderment from Sandoval and Roback, this drags and drags. And I so wanted to like this - there's just no substitute for Hope Sandoval cooing brazenly over a druggy slow-rock ballad and this isn't one of them. It's a campfire song for when you've forgotten the matches.
Not my usual bag but definitely wearing its MOR heart on its sleeve is the rather pretty Coco (7/10) by Charlie Straight, who recently performed at Brighton's Great Escape Festival. Less offensive than similar anthem-wielding acts of the now, Charlie only commit one cardinal sin and that's spouting my least favourite lyrical cliche, "I lay me down .... ", before switching styles halfway through the song from 10cc/Phoenix into Coldplay/Snow Patrol, without so much as a whiff of irony. I haven't liked much by them before, but this is a mainstream turn for the better.