3 minute read
THE ALBUMS OF 2021 (SO FAR
Promises
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Pharoah Sanders has had the most remarkable career. Having played with both John and Alice Coltrane, his solo work shifted effortlessly between genres – from experimental to modal jazz; R&B to ‘world fusion’ – ushering in new eras with his innovation. At 80, you’d forgive him for phoning it in a little – playing a few of his trademark overblown notes the saxophone. This, a collaborative album with British electronic musician Sam Shepherd – better known as Floating Points – and the London Symphony Orchestra, is nothing of the sort. He’s star of the show on an instant masterpiece on which he and Shepherd head out of their comfort zone.
SONS OF KEMET
Black to the Future
We’ve featured Shabaka Hutchings’ output before. The British saxophonist has, more than anyone else, put the London (and wider British) jazz scene on the map – becoming a godfather of the genre in the process. Sons of Kemet is perhaps where he creates his best work. Made up of two horns (Hutchings and Theon Cross) and two percussionists (Edward Wakili-Hick and Tom Skinner), the band create rhythmic, urgent jazz that pulsates to the best of the carnival but remains righteously angry and political. The band alone make a supremely enjoyable noise but, with guest spots from UK rapper Kojey Radical, singer Lianne La Havas and Chicago-based pianist Angel Bat Dawid, there’s even more to enjoy that before.
TYLER, THE CREATOR Call Me if you Get Lost
A some point along the way, Tyler Okonma – who emerged from the Odd Future collective that also counted Frank Ocean as a member – went from enfant terrible and shock-jock rapper to accomplished musician. Of course, the talent was obvious since Yonkers brought him fame, but few anticipated his career enduring or his music maturing the way it has. Shifting through genres including pop, soul, reggae and hip-hop and with references to French poet Charles Baudelaire, this is perhaps Okonma’s most accomplished album to date. Kaleidoscopic, irreverent, iconoclastic, but above all – as is always the case with Okonma – Call Me if you Get Lost is so much fun.
NICK CAVE & WARREN ELLIS
Carnage
Collaborators in Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds and Grinderman, Carnage is Warren Ellis and Nick Cave’s first full-length studio album as a duo. Recorded during lockdown, it was released to critical acclaim. Those familiar with Cave’s work will also be familar with his brooding sound and dark subject matter – isolation, grief and nostalgia. On the title track he sings: “I always seem to be saying goodbye / And rolling through the mountains like a train / My uncle’s at the chopping block / Turning chickens into fountains / ’Cause I’m a barefoot child watching in the rain / That stepped into this song / Taken a bow and stepped right out again”. It’s no surprise that this is being called Cave’s best album since Push the Sky Away, and it’s not a bad place to start on his imposing back catalogue.
OLIVIA RODRIGO
Sour
It would be remiss not to mention Sour , the debut studio album by American singer-songwriter and actress Olivia Rodrigo. The album had 385 million streams in its first week on global Spotify – the biggest opening week for an album by a female artist on the platform, beating Ariana Grande’s Thank U, Next. You will have heard one, if not all, of the trio of singles that preceded the album’s release: Drivers License, Deja Vu and Good 4 U all entered the top three of the US Billboard charts, making her not so much a pop sensation and more the subject of a cultural moment. As someone previously known as a star of the Disney+ show High School Musical: The Musical: The Series you may expect sugary pop and not much else. That’s not the case – with folk, grunge and soul influences all on display.
