Sunday 29 October 2017

Jessie Ware - Glasshouse

Jessie Ware - Glasshouse


With each album, Jessie Ware has matured and grown in confidence. Where 'Devotion' was mostly characterised by the skittering production of Dave Okumu and Julio Bashmore, on 'Tough Love' her own voice became louder: both metaphorically and literally.

'Glasshouse', Ware's third album, continues this trend. It feels like, more than ever, we're hearing directly from the singer herself, and not through the filter of trendy producers. That's surprising considering the number of collaborators here: from producers like Cashmere Cat and Benny Blanco to songwriters like Ed Sheeran, Julia Michaels and Ryan Tedder.

As the saying goes, you can only write about what you know. And here Ware offers a glimpse into her family life, her relationship with her husband, a broken past with her father, a bright future with her newborn child. It's most potent in closer Sam, a simple acoustic song that's rich in storytelling. "I hope I'm as brave as my mother," she sings in the chorus, "I hope she knows that I found a man far from my father / Sam, my baby, and me". It's a beautiful end to the album that mirrors Ware herself, somewhat shying away from the glamorous limelight and revelling in a simpler life.

At the other end is opener Midnight, heady with intoxicating romance as she asks her lover to "meet me in the midnight". Yet between these two songs, family life isn't always so easy. Thinking About You reflects Ware's guilt of leaving her baby to focus on music ("don't you know I'm dying just to spend a little more time with you"). Selfish Love is a sultry dangerous affair crackling over a bossa nova beat. And with Hearts her carefully crafted family unit comes crashing down.

The yearning melodies of First Time mark a central highpoint. Where so many pop songs focus on the rush of new love, here she depicts the difficulties of keeping that fire burning over time and distance. "Don't hold me like you already know me," she cries in the chorus, a lyric so simple yet loaded with longing.

If lyrically 'Glasshouse' sees Ware bravely opening up, musically it's far from daring.  She combines soulful romance, Latin beats, gospel harmonies and gentle balladry, but it's all so safe and polished that it undermines the rawness of the lyrics. Only Your Domino really pushes out of the comfort zone, with its urgent giddy synths and crystalline production. The spiky edge of her earlier work is sorely missing here, Ware too easily slipping into Sade-esque easy listening. This glasshouse is pleasingly transparent but all too square.

3/5

Gizzle's Choice:
* Your Domino
* First Time
* Sam

Listen: 'Glasshouse' is out now.





Saturday 28 October 2017

Jinkx Sings Everything @ The Leicester Square Theatre

Jinkx Sings Everything @ The Leicester Square Theatre

Season 5 of RuPaul's Drag Race was perhaps its strongest, the cast including fan favourites with big personalities like Alaska, Detox, Alyssa Edwards and more. Yet it was Jinkx Monsoon who came out on top: the shy and endearingly awkward queen with a taste for Broadway and old fashioned comedy.

That perhaps explains why she's arguably less visible than other alumni from the show. You won't see her performing polished lip-syncs on YouTube, or offering glamorous looks on Instagram. This ol' fashioned gal doesn't need technology: just give her a stage, a mic and a pianist.

She's in her element in Jinkx Sings Everything, her touring improv show. The set-up relies on her wit and talent, but also her encyclopaedic knowledge of musical theatre: it's up to the audience to shout out song suggestions and Jinkx duly performs. Between she offers amusing anecdotes, throws shade at other Drag Race contestants, and pokes fun at the audience. It's simple yet brave and always hilarious.

Vocally, Jinkx favours power above all. She's certainly got pipes, which comes in handy when you're belting show tunes, but she's sometimes a little over eager, the voice straining on those top notes. Then again, this is an audience inclusive show that celebrates musical theatre rather than offering Broadway standard singing - each song, no matter how dramatic, feels wonderfully frivolous and tongue-in-cheek. And she can still surprise, be it with her classical voice singing "Greenfinch and Linnet Bird' from Sweeney Todd, an overtly dramatic rendition of "Rose's Turn" from Gypsy, or an outstanding Judy Garland impression. As a character, Jinkx is a walking homage to Broadway divas.

It's her intelligence as an entertainer that's most impressive though. The way she can read a room to gauge her jokes that are always smart, sometimes political, and don't rely on the silly catchphrases or bawdy grotesque humour of her fellow queens. I may be biased being English, but her grounding in British humour is particularly welcome.

Jinkx Sings Everything is a show that relies, above all, on her personality. Jinkx is an utterly charming queen with an absolutely filthy laugh, a born entertainer. She may balk at being asked to sing "Defying Gravity", but it's a song that's well suited to her: to all her detractors, in this show she's every bit a winner.

4/5

Watch: Jinkx Sings Everything runs until Saturday 28th October at the Leicester Square Theatre

Jinkx Monsoon

Friday 27 October 2017

New Music Friday 27/10

It's Halloween weekend, but sadly NMF isn't bringing us a spooky banger. But then nothing can compare to Shakira's She Wolf anyway.


Clean Bandit - I Miss You

Clean Bandit - I Miss You

Clean Bandit have had a remarkable run of hit singles over the past year. I Miss You will likely continue that trend, though it's more of a slow-burning banger. That's all for the best in my eyes - Julia Michaels bring some genuine emotion, supported by warm vocal harmonies and mournful cello melodies. Yes the band can release some pretty silly pop songs (I'm looking at you Rockabye), but I Miss You proves they've got some depth too.



Selena Gomez X Marshmello - Wolves

Selena Gomez X Marshmello - Wolves

Ok I can see why this was released just before Halloween. But Selena is so much better than this generic dance rubbish. And what kind of name is "Marshmello" for an EDM producer anyway?



Paloma Faith - Guilty

 Paloma Faith - Guilty

No one can do overblown soul ballads like Paloma Faith, who screeches her way through this above stomping beats and orchestration. Amy Winehouse must be rolling in her grave.



Sam Smith - Burning

Sam Smith - Burning

Sam Smith isn't particularly popular within the gay community. And I feel that's because he's forever playing the victim - as true in his music as in his personal life. "I've been burning...such a burden, this flame on my chest," he sings on the opening to this latest track taken from his forthcoming album, before admitting he's been smoking more than twenty cigarettes a day as if it's a crime. Is he only capable of positivity if he collaborates with Disclosure?



Plan B - Heartbeat

 Plan B - Heartbeat

After coming back with the political In The Name Of Man earlier in the year, with Heartbeat Plan B is giving up on that and focusing on himself. "I don't worry about what people saying," he sings here. Production-wise, though, this is straight out of 'The Defamation of Strickland Banks' and sounds as old-fashioned as an Emeli Sandé single.



MØ - When I Was Young

MØ - When I Was Young

The problem with MØ is that she's just too inconsistent. Her debut album was full of haunting Scandi-pop and since then she's released brilliant tracks like Final Song, Kamikaze and of course Lean On with Major Lazer. And then she releases something like this with a generic verse and a really annoying whiny chorus hook. Thankfully there are better tracks on the rest of the 'When I Was Young' EP - listen to Turn My Heart To Stone instead.



Alan Walker, Noah Cyrus, Digital Farm Animals - All Falls Down

 Alan Walker, Noah Cyrus, Digital Farm Animals - All Falls Down

With EDM producer Alan Walker helming this track, with support from British DJ and songwriter Digital Farm Animals and some vocals from Miley's younger sister, you know this is going to be a highly unoriginal but strangely enjoyable dance-pop banger. It's not hard to see this infectious track riding high in the charts.



Áine Cahill - Blood Diamonds

 Áine Cahill - Blood Diamonds

This menacing pop track from Ireland's Áine Cahill is amazing largely for its lyric: "I'm the biggest bitch in the world and I wear blood diamonds...don't care where they come from 'cause they're pretty on my neck." It's pretty reckless behaviour but it sounds fierce.



The Sound Of Arrows - Wicked Ways

The Sound Of Arrows - Wicked Ways

If you're in the market for some Swedish dream-pop this week, then The Sound Of Arrows have you covered with this collaboration with Annie that sounds like it's ripped straight from the 90s.



Rhye - Taste

 Rhye - Taste

This is just beautifully produced and effortlessly cool.




Tuesday 24 October 2017

Saint George And The Dragon @ The National Theatre

Saint George And The Dragon @ The National Theatre


We all enjoy a good story. Theatregoers especially: theatre is, at its core, storytelling. And few stories have been retold as many times as Saint George and the Dragon. For us Brits, it’s a story of national pride.

But for his new play Saint George And The Dragon, playwright Rory Mullarkey equally takes inspiration from Russia. The Dragon was written in 1943 by Russian playwright Evgeny Schwartz, in which a knight battles a dragon to free his people only for that dragon to be replaced by a tyrannical and oppressive dictator a year later. It’s a clear parallel to Stalin and here Mullarkey follows a similar formula to comment on both British history and its present.

We begin with a medieval tale of the titular George (a jolly John Heffernan) who defeats a dragon who is evil personified (Julian Bleach, in deliciously snake-like form) to save his hometown and win the affections of the maid Elsa (Amaka Okafor). The script initially begins in rhyme and it’s all presented on a set designed by Rae Smith like a miniature diorama, with country cottages overshadowed by brooding clouds on a landscape that stretches upwards in faux-perspective. It lends the drama a light-hearted, leg-slapping feel that replicates a fairytale – albeit one with a serious moral about community and politics. There are brilliant touches from director Lyndsey Turner too: the way the battle with the dragon occurs in the far distance over our heads before huge dragon heads come tumbling down to the stage; the way blood spills on George’s shirt in a cross shape that becomes the flag. It’s whimsical and fun.

The dragon defeated, we move forward in time, the diorama morphing into a Victorian-esque industrial cityscape with steam erupting from miniature factories and a clock tower that looks suspiciously like Big Ben. George returns to his homeland after all this time, only to find the dragon has returned – here as a greedy and corrupt industrial leader. The drama cleverly mimics the first act, culminating in a different sort of dragon battle in which George rips up a map of the area to metaphorically return the land to its people. It’s a smart twist on the origin story with a heady, darker atmosphere.

All that, though, is just a preamble to the main event in the play’s final act now updated to – when else? – present day. The set morphs once more, this time to a neon lit metropolis, Grant Olding’s music also updating from brass and fiddles to synths and guitars. And yes, the story repeats all over again: this time the dragon has evolved further. He’s present in us all, in the paranoia and anxiety and fear that’s sweeping the nation. When George returns, he’s less a hero and more a symbol of a simpler past now faded from memory. He’s over-privileged and arrogant. He’s out of touch with his people. He can no longer help them – the people must rise up and help themselves.

The parallels to current politics are far from subtle, though in this final act the play does capture the state of our nation, enraptured in political turmoil, downbeat and miserable. And along with its themes of heroism, storytelling and the cyclical nature of politics and its long history of tyrannical dragons, the play ultimately has a positive message that looks to a brighter future. It’s just this epic is so long-winded! Even during the first act, it’s painfully obvious the direction the story is heading and fatigue has set in long before the finale. When we reach the end, the play’s call to arms has been somewhat laboured.

Even if its climax isn’t all that satisfying though, Saint George And The Dragon remains an engaging piece of storytelling thanks to its stellar cast and set design. The journey is an enjoyable one, even as it takes us down a dark and pessimistic road.

3/5

Watch: Saint George And The Dragon runs at the National Theatre until 2nd December.

Saint George And The Dragon @ The National Theatre

Saint George And The Dragon @ The National Theatre
Photos: Johan Persson

Friday 20 October 2017

New Music Friday 20/10

Finally, a NMF with plenty worth talking about...


Rita Ora - Anywhere

Rita Ora - Anywhere

This is one of those songs with a sing-songy nursery rhyme melody, only exacerbated by that terrible "over the hills and far away..." line. It undermines any sense of cool the generic tropical dance-pop production is attempting, so the whole song just comes off as lame. She looks good in the Sex and the City inspired video though.



Taylor Swift - Gorgeous

 Taylor Swift - Gorgeous

Gorgeous seems to be aimed at the guy with the "indie record that's much cooler than mine". It sees Taylor in typically dorky mode, dumbstruck at how good looking some older guy is: a guy who drinks whiskey on ice, who makes her "sink and drown and die", who makes her furious because she can't have him. Along with the fizzing girlish production and "guess I'll just stumble back home to my cats" line, it's a song designed to make Swift seem like everybody else in quirky, comedy fashion. Except she's not - she's a popstar. Gorgeous just ends up coming off as forced, like the other songs in the 'Reputation' era. The album is going to be a terrible letdown isn't it?



Jessie Ware - Sam

Jessie Ware - Sam

Ware releases her third album 'Glasshouse' today, from which Sam is taken. A simple acoustic song co-written with Ed Sheeran that's an ode to her husband, it's intensely personal with brutally candid lyrics ("I've found a man far from my father"). Ware has developed into not only a mature songwriter, but a beautiful storyteller.



Fever Ray - To the Moon and Back

Fever Ray - To the Moon and Back

You know when you're just casually listening through NMF and you suddenly hear the lyrics "I want to run my fingers up your pussy"? It certainly makes you stop and listen. Then you realise this is the first release since 2009 from The Knife's Karin Dreijer under that alias, it's opening lyric "Hey, remember me?" not devoid of irony. As you might expect it's all playful, urgent synths beneath that unmistakable vocal - the sci-fi video is also all sorts of weird and amazing.



Liam Payne - Bedroom Floor

Liam Payne - Bedroom Floor

Call me insane, but I actually really like this. It's a muted take on dance-pop with a great lyrical hook, a decent falsetto vocal, and polished yet restrained production. Probably the best 1D alumni single since Pillowtalk.



Kelly Clarkson - Meaning of Life

 Kelly Clarkson - Meaning of Life

What is the meaning of life? It's love, according to Kelly Clarkson. This sort of modern doo-wop song is the title track from her forthcoming album - an album that will likely be full of old fashioned pop songs that nonetheless show off her impressive vocals, but probably won't capture a younger audience.



Kygo feat. The Night Game - Kids In Love

Kygo feat. The Night Game - Kids In Love

I realise it's intensely unfashionable to like Kygo, but at least featuring US pop band The Night Game has forced the producer to change up his sound. It's still a dance track revolving around 'the drop', but The Night Game bring a sense of grandiose euphoria and some great vocals. There's not a tropical beat in earshot.



MGMT - Little Dark Age

 MGMT - Little Dark Age

MGMT's Electric Feel and Kids remain incredible songs that probably sum up the university years for people of a certain generation. The band are back with Little Dark Age after a number of identity changes in the last 10 years. As the name suggests, this takes the band to more of a goth-pop sound with brooding, pulsing synths. It's not particularly inventive though, lacking the vibrance and hooks of their earlier material.



Handsome - Late Night Ball Game

 Handsome - Late Night Ball Game

This is a stunner from Sydney-based Handsome. It's the story of someone coming out ("holding my breath at what you might say"): brooding, mysterious, dramatic and loaded with anxiety.





Thursday 19 October 2017

Demi Lovato - Tell Me You Love Me

Demi Lovato - Tell Me You Love Me

Demi Lovato knows how to deliver a brilliant pop song, but she's never been one for subtlety - be it the explosive Heart Attack, the saccharine Skyscraper, or the flirtatious Cool For The Summer.

'Tell Me You Love Me' is no different. Lovato has a cracking set of pipes, but they're nearly always set to full volume. At times she really astounds - that piercing high note in lead single Sorry Not Sorry in particular - but for the most part, you wish she'd dial it down a touch.

It's most apparent on the ballads. She's noted that this is her most raw and soulful album to date, but tracks like You Don't Do It For Me Anymore and Cry Baby come off as overblown as she blasts out those lyrics. These are clearly personal tracks and she's living her pain, but sometimes a more hushed tone can convey so much more. Yet by contrast the album tails off with the mellow Concentrate and Hitchhiker that fail to grab our attention as the volume drops.

That's why it's the upbeat tracks that are more successful here. And where previous Lovato albums have hinged on a handful of singles, 'Tell Me You Love Me' has more consistent quality even with its range of styles. Sorry Not Sorry is pure 2017 pop; Sexy Dirty Love is all stomping disco funk; and Games is a squelching ode to 90s R&B. Daddy Issues is a major pop highlight, pairing its dark lyrics with vibrant, neon-lit synths and pulsing rhythms.

Then there are the tracks that sit in the middle. The coy, sensual Ruin The Friendship is Lovato at her best, offering muted vocals over slinky beats and that flirtatious giggle in the middle. Only Forever and Lonely see Lovato chasing a darker R&B vibe (with DJ Mustard producing the latter), but both feel like Ariana Grande knock-offs.

And that's the issue with Lovato: she's never been the most original popstar. That voice has got her this far (when she controls it) but the songs often let her down. Here she's finally hit a consistent streak, even if the album is lacking a true standout single.

3/5

Gizzle's Choice:
* Sorry Not Sorry
* Daddy Issues
* Ruin The Friendship

Listen: 'Tell Me You Love Me' is out now.




Tuesday 17 October 2017

Graeme Of Thrones @ Charing Cross Theatre

Graeme Of Thrones @ Charing Cross Theatre

You know when people spoil plot points of massive TV shows on social media and ruin it for fans yet to watch? Yeah, don't do that.

Inexcusably, Graeme Of Thrones does just that. I mean, I think it does. I'm yet to see season 7 of Game of Thrones, but even if the spoilers offered in this theatre production are just jokes, they're not funny.

You could argue that it's all part of this disastrous show - a play-within-a-play that sees three actors putting on their own low budget homage to George RR Martin's great work to an audience of potential investors (us). Except, in The Play That Goes Wrong fashion, the play goes wrong. Horribly.

Of course, it's all a very low budget spoof with bawdy, immature, grotesque humour. Yet the play-within-a-play structure is no excuse for bad comedy.

Graeme Of Thrones simply isn't that funny, beyond the odd chuckle. John-Luke Roberts leads the cast as Graeme, a geeky fanboy turned theatre writer and director who becomes quite the control freak as he produces his own show. He's joined by Ross Spaine as his gormless mate and Nicola Lamont as the feisty, sexual love interest who spouts pretentious theatrical nonsense. So far so trite.

It's Lamont who takes over the production, acting out scenes in eccentric fashion. She covers herself in ham in an interpretive dance about a wild boar. As a naked Melisandre in a body suit she gives birth to a demon in a gimp mask. She conducts a battle with an unwitting audience member, using burgers and ketchup as eyes. And she performs an expressive piece about Sansa's first period, shooting red confetti from a cannon placed between her legs - presumably a nod to the series' infamous red wedding.

And that's about the level of humour of this production that saw multiple audience members leave. There's nothing clever here, no smart twist on the source material beyond pure irreverence and "how far can we push the audience". And through addressing the show's frequent use of nudity, the male characters here are unwilling to act out a gay scene which is more than a little homophobic.

Be like Cersei with a goblet of wine placed firmly in your hand and pretend you're at the Edinburgh Fringe - you'll probably be laughing along heartily enough, even if just at the sheer absurdity of it all. But in the words of Tyrion Lannister: "It's not easy being drunk all the time. Everyone would do it if it were easy".

1/5

Watch: Graeme Of Thrones runs at the Charing Cross Theatre until November 11th.

Graeme Of Thrones @ Charing Cross Theatre

Saturday 14 October 2017

Blade Runner 2049 - Denis Villeneuve

Blade Runner 2049 - Denis Villeneuve

Ridley Scott's Blade Runner is a neo-noir science-fiction masterpiece. It's a film that has inspired countless since. And it's a film that really didn't need a sequel.

And yet! Somehow, against the odds, Denis Villeneuve has directed a magnificent follow-up that feels, if not wholly necessary, both authentic and respectful to the original. He takes everything that made Scott's film so special and builds upon them - expansively.

Firstly, there's the visuals. The original's rain-soaked, neon-lit dystopia is now groan-inducingly overused. Yet here it seems fresh all over again. Roger Deakins (cinematographer for Villeneueve's Sicario and Sam Mendes' Skyfall amongst others) has crafted a stunning chiaroscuro: the deep blacks of stormy nights juxtaposed with vivid neon and bright apocalyptic orange. It's a much lighter film than its predecessor - the light of day seems almost eye-opening and miraculous in this context - allowing for more variety in its visuals, while maintaining the trademark pristine noir interiors. This isn't just a fictional metropolis, it's a visual representation of the downfall of America. Every single frame is a piece of art.

And then there's the narrative. 2049 repeats many characters, themes and tropes from the original. There's the almost silent protagonist, a detective questioning his own humanity (Ryan Gosling, in typically stoic form). There's the female A.I. coping with her existence. There's detective work through technology, megalomaniac corporations, comparative use of symbolism, and Harrison Ford. Though familiar, they're all subtly updated to fit this new take on a recognisable world, with the film's first half almost replicating the original in microcosm. In its second, all is cleverly flipped on its head.

As the film slowly and meticulously unravels, the narrative forms a rich texture. There may visually be more light, but this remains a dark dystopian future built upon exploitation: child labour, corporate greed, prostitution. Racism is also addressed more explicitly here - replicants are, after all, slaves used by humans - yet sexual intimacy is handled with care for a genuinely touching scene, unlike the misogynistic mess of the original.

This tapestry combines to form the film's central theme: what it means to be human. Love. Intimacy. Procreation. Family. Memory. Death. If all these things can be artificially replicated, then what even is humanity? It's a theme that's overdone in science fiction, but here it's wonderfully anthologized and drenched in thought-provoking ambiguity.

Like the original, 2049 is a slow-burning film of creeping anxiety. But with its expansiveness, it does lose some of the brooding intimacy and tightly-woven elegance of Scott's film. The main disappointment though is Jared Leto's Wallace, an underdeveloped villain spouting pop theology. And although the soundtrack, from Hans Zimmer and Benjamin Wallfisch, is beautiful with its great yawning bass and unresolving synth lines, Vangelis' original score is sorely missed.

Comparisons to Blade Runner are inevitable, but 2049 is an outstanding piece of cinema in its own right. It repackages the original, along with its imitators, to form a new standard. It is, simply, the ultimate science-fiction film and between this and Arrival, Villeneuve is the new master of the genre.

5/5

Watch: Blade Runner 2049 is out now.


Friday 13 October 2017

New Music Friday 13/10

I've had a couple weeks off for holiday in Italy, but after too much of all the good stuff from this week's Bake Off episode, I'm back with a handful of tracks worth checking out from today's new releases...


Dagny - Love You Like That

Dagny - Love You Like That

Love You Like That follows Wearing Nothing as another amazing pop song from Norway's Dagny. The slow-burning verse soon bursts into an urgent chorus, the insistent single note melody like true emotions blurting out all at once, while synths fizz and burst. It's an easy track to love.



P!nk, Eminem - Revenge

P!nk, Eminem - Revenge

After the excellent What About Us, with its subtle political leanings, P!nk's follow-up single is a pretty silly affair with Eminem. "Like Leo in the Revenant, Abel in that Bible bit, revenge is sweet isn't it?" it begins over bubbling, funky production, before launching into a feisty yet tongue-in-cheek tirade. "You're a whore, you're a whore, this is war," retorts Eminem in his verse. Maybe he should stick to criticising Trump.



Louis Tomlinson - Just Like You

Louis Tomlinson - Just Like You

Arguably 1D's least musically talented alumni, Just Like You is a smooth track from Tomlinson that's enjoyable despite its unoriginality. With simple lyrics over R&B-tinged production and a dance structure it's just like plenty of other songs, but at least he's not striving for eye-rolling credibility.



Jonas Blue feat. Moelogo - We Could Go Back

Jonas Blue feat. Moelogo - We Could Go Back

After that terrible Tracy Chapman abomination I'm not sure if Jonas Blue deserves our time and attention. Yet there's something alluring about this track - it's guitars soaked in reverb, its lyrics drenched in nostalgia. It might be by-the-numbers dance-pop, but it's got some heart.



Cheat Codes feat. Fetty Wap & CVBZ - Feels Great

Cheat Codes feat. Fetty Wap & CVBZ - Feels Great

As with Jonas Blue, this is a dance-pop track trading in nostalgia. "Do you remember how it feels to be young?" goes the chorus, after the brilliant "Credit cards and my student loan - that's so millennial". All this over pulsing synths and wistful arpeggios - it's a great follow-up to the Demi Lovato featuring No Promises.



Mabel - Begging


This is taken from the singer's debut full-length releases, the mixtape 'Ivy To Roses'. She too is looking to the past, reminiscing on the start of a relationship and lamenting its inevitable decline - "you're not even trying, baby, when we touch it's not the same, so why you tryna make me stay?". This is the pop hit we've been craving from Mabel - give that mixtape a whirl.



Haim - That Don't Impress Me Much

Haim - That Don't Impress Me Much

Haim cover the Shania Twain classic. What's not to love?