Band Of Horses
Things Are Great
(BMG)
★★★

SINCE their 2006 debut record, including their signature, mammoth song The Funeral, US rock outfit Band Of Horses have achieved success playing their epic brand of Americana.

With singer-songwriter Ben Bridwell the constant core of the group, they are back with their sixth studio album. Keeping to their tried and tested sound, lead single Crutch is a classic Horses anthem — a fast-paced indie guitar workout full of poppy hooks.

As always, Bridwell’s high register vocals sounds like he is on the verge of tears, and is incredibly moving.

Elsewhere, Tragedy Of The Commons suggests Bridwell has been reading economics theory, and hints at the political and social ruptures in his country (“Jaded chatter of neofascists/The clatter of the ever warring classes”).

With Granddaddy’s Jason Lytle providing production assistance, Things Are Great is a solid return to form.

The Weather Station
How Is It That I Should Look At The Stars
(Fat Possum)
★★★★

IT TURNS out that when Canadian singer-songwriter Tamara Lindeman (The Weather Station) was writing her critically acclaimed 2021 album Ignorance, she also penned a batch of other tracks.

Recorded live over three days in Toronto in March 2020, How Is It That I Should Look At The Stars is intended as a companion piece to Ignorance. But while climate anxiety bubbles under both, her new album is much more internal and intimate.

Musically it is comprised of quiet, unhurried piano-based ballads, with subtle jazz-influenced backing from her band on saxophone, clarinet, flute, upright bass, Rhodes and Wurlitzer.

She cites Chet Baker Sings and Bob Dylan’s Shadows In The Night as key influences, though her songs most remind me of Mid Air, the sublime solo record from The Blue Nile’s Paul Buchanan.

Another bold move from the super talented Lindeman.

Ethan Iverson
Every Note Is True
(Blue Note)
★★★

ETHAN IVERSON’S debut on the legendary Blue Note jazz label, Every Note Is True is a great showcase for the music of the US pianist, composer and writer.

With celebrated drummer Jack DeJohnette and Larry Grenadier on bass providing expert assistance there is a pleasing freshness and accessibility to the instrumental set.

She Won’t Forget Me is a theme tune to an imagined TV rom-com, while The Eternal Verities was inspired by Iverson’s philosophising mother-in-law.

Iverson apparently has a passion for crime fiction, highlighted by a tribute to children’s mystery writer Ellen Raskin, and closer At The Bells And Motley, named after an Agatha Christie story.

He cites Money Jungle, the 1962 album made by Duke Ellington, Charles Mingus and Max Roach, as an influence though for me the album brings to mind the smooth jazz keyboardist Bob James.