COUNTRY SOUL
Hiss Golden Messenger,Quietly Blowing It (Merge)★★★★
None of us got out of 2020 unscarred,and some of us haven’t been able to find a steady path even as things returned to some simulacrum of normal. After only a few tracks,maybe not even that long,you’ll figure that MC Taylor’s Hiss Golden Messenger has arrived as the audio equivalent of an arm thrown around your shoulder just when you needed it.
Bringing a blend of at-ease country,late-night soul and end-of-the-cabaret balladry,Quietly Blowing It goes semi-gently into the not-so-good night,whether via pedal steel and organ,or quietly spoken drums and Taylor’s deceptively conversational (but actually cultured) tenor. This isn’t just about comfort,however,it’s also about self-awareness and self-criticism. It’s about moving on,or at least preparing to.
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The languorous title track,which feels like an island resort band trying on Randy Newman,recognises mistakes made. The cheerily chooglingThe Great Mystifier points out that bending and not letting pride stand in the way can change so much. Even inPainting Houses,a torch song wrapped inside a Kris Kristofferson mourning-after track,hope is still a consideration. The album ends by asking us,“Do you want sanctuary?” And it’s not an idle question.Bernard Zuel
SINGER-SONGWRITER
John Grant,Boy From Michigan (Bella Union)★★★★
Like every album by the great John Grant,who counts among the most original pop artists of the last decade,his latest one is a work of compelling dualities.Boy from Michigan balances intense emotional angst with withering wit;anthemic and melodic indie-folk with abrasive synth-pop;and intimately personal narratives with caustic social comment. It also has a similar structure to his previous opus,Love is Magic,in that the first half is dominated by melody and accessibility (the gorgeousCounty Fair has one of the great John Grant choruses),before things get weirder and more experimental later on.
The warped electronica ofYour Portfolio andThe Only Baby,both Trump-baiting triumphs,are Grant at his acerbic best. As its title suggests,and as is usual with Grant,the album also mines his tumultuous past for poetic depth. For example the outstanding piano-led ballad,The Cruise Room,addresses his disorientation in early adulthood as he confronted his sexuality. In sound and subject matter,there is little to distinguishBoy from Michigan from his previous few albums,but that is fine:the songs are still delicious,and the satire is still ferocious.Barnaby Smith
JAZZ
John Scurry’s Reverse Swing,Early Risers (Lionsharecords)★★★½
Occasionally you visit someone’s place for the first time and feel instantly at home. Whether it’s the colours and shapes or the books and lights,you are at ease and pleased to be there. This music is like that.
It arrives with a geniality that makes you settle deeper in your chair and,sure enough,many of the 19 pieces penned by Melbourne guitarist John Scurry (across a double album) become old friends at first hearing. Partly this is because the music is rooted in the familiarity of pre-bebop jazz,but much more is in play than just a fine mist of nostalgia.
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The melodies can be hugely engaging,as can the arrangements (for an octet,including fizzing horn parts by Eugene Ball for his own trumpet,Brennan Hamilton-Smith’s clarinet,Stephen Grant’s alto and James Macaulay’s trombone),while the solos are apt and smile-inducing.
Scurry’s playing is masterfully understated,epitomised by his work behind the clarinet and trumpet on the evocativeEgyptian Violet. Often he is merely adding breadth (but no weight) to Howard Cairns’ bass,while drummer Danny Fischer frequently uses mallets to thicken a mood,and the band is completed by pianists Matt Boden or Sam Keevers.John Shand