Nancy Sinatra & Lee Hazlewood
Nancy & Lee
(Light In The Attic)
★★★★★

HAVING reached number one with their 1966 smash hit These Boots Are Made for Walkin’, in 1968 Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazlewood released their classic duets album, now rereleased by cratediggers Light In The Attic.

In some ways it feels like an unlikely partnership, Hazlewood’s gruff cowboy persona contrasting with the much younger Sinatra personifying the sexual liberation and nascent feminism of her generation. “We used to call it beauty and the beast! Voices with no blend,” she says in the inlay notes. But, boy, does it work.

You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’ sounds absolutely epic, as does Hazlewood originals such as Some Velvet Morning and Lady Bird — all enriched by Billy Strange’s lavish orchestral arrangements. There are ad-libbed jokes too, with Sinatra’s talk-singing on Elusive Dreams echoing country legends like Tammy Wynette.

A sumptuous ’60s pop feast

The Americans
Stand True
(Loose)
★★★

FOLLOWING a similar path to their promising 2017 debut, Stand True is another album of classic-sounding rock ‘n’ roll from the Los Angeles group, melding the widescreen heartland rock of Bob Seger with a younger, slightly grittier indie rock sensibility.

The epic Americana of the title track is a real highlight, shifting from a folksy start to shredding guitars, with frontman Patrick Ferris making a fierce stand for commitment (“Whatever it takes, and no matter the cost/I'll stand true by you”). Elsewhere, the acoustic guitar-based Guest Of Honour channels the ghost of Ryan Adams, while What I Would Do draws from the same well of soulful redemption used by bands like The Gaslight Anthem.

With a strong current of highly strung romantic emotion coursing through the whole record, it’s a stirring set, perfect for the open road.

CoN&KwAkE
Eyes In The Tower
(Native Rebel Recordings)
★★★★

THE debut album from London hip hop-jazz duo CoN&KwAkE is the second release on Shabaka Hutchings’s Native Rebel Recordings label, with the saxophone guru providing the initial sketches for the tracks.

Like Hutchings’s Sons Of Kemet, the music of Confucius MC and Kwake Bass (also the musical director for Kae Tempest) is often dense and percussive, with an enticing mix of drums, piano, double bass and saxophone, presumably played by Hutchings.

It’s socially conscious hip hop, thematically roving  across the paranoia of the younger generation, vampire movies and Jeremy Bentham’s Panopticon, with Confucius MC repeating the mantra “I’m the eyes in the tower/I can see you but you can’t see me” on the title track.

The laid-back, philosophical vibes of their debut single CNS (City Never Sleeps) is a real highlight, as is the mesmeric wordplay on Martin.