MARY CONWAY revels in a powerful reminder that human lives are not defined by physical perfection
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Album round-up
Ian Sinclair reviews the latest from Dear Reader, Townes Van Zandt and Ralph Towner
PAUL DONOVAN recommends the fine performances in this account of the pre-war meeting between the US president and the British king
TECLYN AROD relishes an intimate celebration of jazz improvisation that mixes local and national musicians
The missing sister, the vengeful WAG, cruise ship claustrophobia, and reanimated Avengers
Three great releases of lost concerts by Duke Ellington Orchestra, John Taylor & Stan Sulzman, and Joe Henderson
To rescue Kahlo from the clutches of the corporate art market, we need to acknowledge the overt and covert political dimensions of the work, demands GAVIN O’TOOLE
Dear Reader Day Fever (City Slang)
RECORDED in San Francisco, this is the fifth album by Dear Reader — South African singer-songwriter Cherilyn MacNeil — following her politically infused 2013 record Rivonia. Like her previous work, it’s an impressive mix of orchestral indie music, all dubbed to tape by analog enthusiast John Vanderslice.
Joanna Newsom is a key influence, especially on MacNeil’s fairy-tale vocals on tracks like So Petty So Pathetic. The grandiose ambition and attitude of critics favourite Sufjan Stevens also seems an important touchstone.
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New releases from Kneecap, Sam Blasucci, and Juni Habel
New releases by Porridge Radio, The Cribs, and Bjorn Meyer
STEVE JOHNSON salutes the mellifluous tones and clear-minded political message of a uniquely relevant Birmingham-born singer-songwriter
WILL STONE applauds a comprehensive survey of love in its many moods and musical forms