Three strong records from experienced solo artists this week. 1990s veteran Beth Orton is back with an album of poised and textural folk. Alex G delivers another well-written, quirky pop/rock album, while Cass McCombs delivers an accomplished singer-songwriter record.
Beth Orton
Weather Alive
2022, 8.5/10 Beth Orton wasn’t an artist I was expecting to review on this site this year. She’s best known for her 1999 album Central Reservation. It won her a Brit Award and featured terrific songs like the jazz-tinged ‘Sweetest Decline’ and a requiem for her mother on ‘Pass in Time’, a duet with Terry Callier.
Dropped by her record label during the Covid-19 pandemic, Beth Orton wasn’t sure if she’d ever make another album. Her writing process was sparked by finding a battered piano for £300 at Camden market. She works with drummer Tom Skinner, a member of Sons of Kemet, who also played with Thom Yorke and Johnny Greenwood in Smile. She’d already started on Weather Alive when she was dropped, and she had to take a bank loan to finish the project.
Weather Alive is similar in tone to last year’s Weather Station album from Canada’s Tamara Lindeman. Both offer jazzy and introspective songs with textural arrangements that recall late-period Talk Talk or John Martyn. The standout track is ‘Friday Night’, where Orton reminisces of drinking sessions with a teenage friend. The melody of the opening line always reminds me of Springsteen’s ‘Incident on 57th Street’.
But I’ve been dreaming of Proust all in my bed And he speaks to me in my sleep
Spanish Johnny drove in from the underworld last night With bruised arms and broken rhythm
Beth Orton/Bruce Springsteen
Orton’s tuneful resignation is well-served on Weather Alive – it’s lovely to have her back.
Alex G
God Save the Animals
2022, 8.5/10 Philadelphia’s Alexander Giannascoli, known as Alex G, is a product of the Bandcamp self-promotion era. He’s self-released bedroom pop albums for a decade, building a profile. On God Save the Animals, he took advantage of the Covid-19 pandemic to work in an actual studio. His music sounds more polished than before, but it’s not fundamentally different. As before, Giannascoli writes likeable and robust tunes, then dresses them up with quirky vocal effects.
The jangle of ‘Runner’ recalls Soul Asylum’s ‘Runaway Train’, although it adds enough elements to stand on its own. The deep counterpoint vocals and Giannascoli’s scream at the end of the last chorus are great moments. ‘Miracles’ is gorgeous, Alex G delivering an intimate and confessional tune. The fiddle is lovely, and there are terrific lines like “You say one day that we should have a baby, well/Right now, baby, I’m struggling, we’ll see, yeah.”
As well as fully-fledged songs, Alex G also excels at semi-instrumentals. On tracks like ‘Headroom Piano’ and ‘S.D.O.S.’, the low, pitch-shifted vocals are just window-dressing. The main appeal are the instrumental parts. The simple lead guitar part that appears near the beginning of ‘Headroom Piano’ is memorable – it’s a great arrangement trick, as it’s withheld for the rest of the song, leaving the tantalising feeling that something’s missing.
God Save the Animals is a lovely record; Alex G’s quirks don’t disguise the fact that he’s a terrific songwriter.
Cass McCombs
Heartmind
2022, 8/10 California’s Cass McCombs has been making classy singer-songwriter records for years. His work is austere, and he’s easier to admire than adore. But in terms of songwriting depth, McCombs has the gravitas of giants like Dylan and Prine. Heartmind is his eleventh record, in a career stretching back to 2003’s A.
The most striking song on Heartmind is ‘Unproud Warrior’. McCombs writes about a young army veteran struggling to readjust to civilian life.
You were only seventeen when you enlisted, you remember SE Hinton wrote The Outsiders when she was just fifteen Mary Shelley wrote Frankenstein when she was nineteen At twenty-three, Stephen Crane published The Red Badge Of Courage Which is still known as one of the most realistic depictions of war Even though Crane was born after the Civil War ended Maybe sentiments of regret are not all that unrelatable You’ve always taken lengths to be aware of your own choice
McCombs is always subtle and understated, but Heartmind is diverse – the title track, with its haunting saxophone, recalls the adult-contemporary weirdness of 1980s Van Morrison records like Common One. The country-tinged ‘Karaoke’ has the terrific line:
You sang a melody, unchained But will your love godspeed to me? Are you going to stand by your man Or is it just karaoke?
Graham Fyfe is probably the only music blogger to appreciate Neil Diamond and Ariana Grande. Aphoristic Album Reviews features reviews and blog posts across a growing spectrum of popular music.
9 Comments
Nice picks, Graham. I previously featured a tune from Cass McCombs’ latest album. I also like your two other picks, with a slight preference for Alex G, based on my very first impression. “Runner” is a really good tune.
Thanks for listening. I think all three have a lot to offer fans of 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s music.
I like Alex G the best. Good ear for melody in Runner.
I checked out Headroom Piano…very interesting how he pieced it together…it’s like a puzzle he put together…very cool
Yeah, he’s got an interesting musical mind. It’s the second record in a row I’ve really liked from him.
I’m happy to see Beth Orton still going. I remember first hearing her on a CMJ mix CD way back in the 90s.
I played piano on a cover of her song ‘Pass in Time’ at a talent evening once.
Awesome! Man I miss playing piano. I sucked at it, but it was fun. And now it’s a skill I haven’t used so I’ve lost it, ya know?
I am certainly no virtuoso, although my 8-year-old and I were having fun playing a duet of The 1975’s ‘Oh Caroline’ last night.
Aphoristic Album Reviews is almost entirely written by one person.
Graham Fyfe is probably the only music blogger to appreciate both Neil Diamond and Ariana Grande. Based in Fleet Street (New Zealand), he's been writing this blog since around 2000. Aphoristic Album Reviews features reviews and blog posts across a growing spectrum of popular music.
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Nice picks, Graham. I previously featured a tune from Cass McCombs’ latest album. I also like your two other picks, with a slight preference for Alex G, based on my very first impression. “Runner” is a really good tune.
Thanks for listening. I think all three have a lot to offer fans of 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s music.
I like Alex G the best. Good ear for melody in Runner.
I checked out Headroom Piano…very interesting how he pieced it together…it’s like a puzzle he put together…very cool
Yeah, he’s got an interesting musical mind. It’s the second record in a row I’ve really liked from him.
I’m happy to see Beth Orton still going. I remember first hearing her on a CMJ mix CD way back in the 90s.
I played piano on a cover of her song ‘Pass in Time’ at a talent evening once.
Awesome! Man I miss playing piano. I sucked at it, but it was fun. And now it’s a skill I haven’t used so I’ve lost it, ya know?
I am certainly no virtuoso, although my 8-year-old and I were having fun playing a duet of The 1975’s ‘Oh Caroline’ last night.
That is so beautiful!