JAN/FEB/MAR 2025 ROUND-UP Pt1 - Anna B.Savage, the Names, C Duncan, Bob Mould, bdrmm, Bob James and Dave Koz
Welcome to the first batch of reviews of 2025 (and indeed the first for a few years). Rather than just feature one album per post, I'm going to round up a few LPs (and the occasional single) and take it from there. If it's harsh critical nitty-gritty you're after, then stroll (scroll?) on - this is all about what's drawn me in since January this year, so it might not be the latest news or the most up-to-date releases, who cares? It's not a race. - it's about the positives (for the most part, if I'm disappointed then I'll try and be fair and kinder than I might have been a few years ago).
Alphabetically speaking (according to how I file my music online, rather than how I file my records), here we go...
Anna B.Savage - You and I Are Earth - City Slang - ★★★★★★★
Album number 3 for the Dublin-based singer and performer, YAIAE bears all the hallmarks of her previous work with some added nods to traditional folk and psychedelia circa the '70s, mixed with a potent blend of hushed whispers and string work. Her soulful operatic and baritonal vocals envelope some downright pretty melodies with an element of the organic and wholesome about the whole set peeping through the hippy haze. There's quality and an intimacy on the folksy I Reach For You In My Sleep, recalling anything as good as Judee Sill, Janis Ian or Carole King. Things even perk up on the double-bass infused hop and skip of Agnes which additionally reminds me of Joni Mitchell. Essentially though, You and I Are Earth is what its very title suggests it could be - delicate, earthy, analogue, real and occasionally wonderful.
bdrmm - Microtonic - Rock Action - ★★★★★★★★½
Something tells me that 2025 could be the year of the bdrmm. On the strength of this consistently fine album, that's not a wild statement - Microtonic refreshes the parts other bands haven't quite reached. There's melancholia, a touch of psychedelia, upbeat anthems and a few playful (and slightly less successful) experiments that make this collection something of a welcoming hotchpotch of ideas. Opener Goit is arguably a rather ramshackle start to proceedings and sounds like all of bdrmm's hallmarks rolled into one 3-minute shuffle. But then the band lend their fearful techno chops to one of those aforementioned anthems, John On The Ceiling, and the album starts to spark into life. And from then on, it's a relentless journey from stoner-pop through to more electro-rock and then on to swooning melodies such as Sat in the Heat and a bit of plaintive moodiness on closer The Noose. The pervading hint of post-clubbing comedown persists throughout Microtonic, making this something of a possible crossover LP minus the previous rougher edges.
Bob James and Dave Koz - Just Us - Just Koz - ★★★★★★½
Two contemporary modern jazz musicians teaming up to create an unaccompanied duets album suit you OK? If it does, you'll pretty much know what to expect from Just Us. You won't find this smooth easy-going LP on the ECM label - this is strictly chilled dot com with just the piano and sax for company. Not just any old piano or sax of course - Bob James is jazz keyboard royalty and is most familiar for his oft-sampled funky-lite grooves such as Take Me to the Mardi Gras, Nautilus, Westchester Lady and the wonderful theme to dark-comedy series Taxi, while Dave Koz has laid down his emotional saxophone for the likes of Rod Stewart, Julio Iglesias and James' own Jazz Hands set in 2023. Just Us isn't ground-breaking, it's just a pleasing drift through some crooner standards and a few originals that will no doubt soundtrack a few evenings in with a meal for two and a bottle of wine. The interplay between the two cannot be denied.
Bob Mould - Here We Go Crazy - Granary/BMG - ★★★★★★★★★
Incredibly, this is the former Sugar and Husker Du frontman's 14th solo album and it still feels like he's just getting started. A dozen songs, none of which are filler (much like his previous records) and it makes you wonder if he'll ever make an average album. This is actually his first in five years and once again, ageless Bob Mould cranks up the riffs to 11 and keeps everything tight and mostly under three minutes. The album's longest track Fur Mink Augurs bears all the trademarks and could be from any one of his previous albums (and that's a good thing), but features a bit of a drummer's wig-out that serves to inspire some ticket purchasing to witness. Full throttle is applied to the likes of Neanderthal, Hard to Get and Need To Shine, all three examples of exemplary power-pop without compromising on the usual chord changes, while the less ballistic Your Side (a nod to his recent marriage to husband Don) and Lost and Stolen calm whatever tensions may be harboured in the mind of a man whose blasted out a lot of emotional carnage for four decades. Here We Go Crazy is a little less angry than 2020's Blue Hearts but no less compelling.
C Duncan - It's Only a Love Song - Bella Union - ★★★★★★★★★
Let's cut to the chase - Boy, can Chris Duncan knock out a tune. The Glaswegian songwriter has his own magical theatrical style and if I may be allowed to offer up some artistic comparisons, I'll go with Richard Hawley, Divine Comedy, John Grant and Iron and Wine. The whole album is rather like wandering through a secret garden filled to the rafters with pungent flowers and herbs, a deep intake of neroli, petunia and rosemary - I'd like to see those hapless unimaginative cooks on Great British Menu cook for this one. There's the sprightly title-track and the blissed-out Lucky Today to get things started - two weepy ballads after a fashion - followed by some serious lachrymosity in the form of Triste Clair De Lune, a song waiting for a Hollywood musical to happen. The whole set is very swoonsome, atmospheric and woozy - Bella Union seems to be the perfect foil for Duncan's delicate creativity. Special mention for the album's stunning counterpoints - Worry and The Space Between Us. In a parallel world of hits, these two might be Top 10 breakers. A proper contender for album of the year.
The Names - Encore! - Spleen Plus - ★★★★★★★★
One of many acts that ploughed a somewhat unforgiving new-wave furrow on Factory Records in the early years of the ill-fated Manchester label (The Wake, Stockholm Monsters and Section 25 belong to this club), Belgium's The Names stand out a little more for being one of two early European signings (the other being Minnypops from neighbouring Netherlands) - this was quite a thing in the early '80s. Nowadays, key founders Michel Sordinia (vocals) and Marc Deprez (guitar) are closing in on retirement yet still borrowing admirable inspiration from their youth, proclaiming The Names as a rock and roll band. Having witnessed several live shows by the Brussels outfit (in Brussels, naturally), I concur. But there's still a link to the dark-wave scene on Encore, especially on the terrific opener Last Train From Nowhere which has an element of Arista-period Simple Minds about it. Then there's the retro feel of Far From The Factories, full of industrial Manchester references (and Palatine Road) and the album's powerful anthemic focal point Watching For the New World. It's the band's first new studio album since 2015's explorative Stranger Than You (issued on Factory Benelux) and, to these ears, sounds like the kind of opus demanding repeat visits.