Skip to main content

Album Reviews Sophisticated and emotive musical rumination

IAN SINCLAIR review the latest releases by Sarah Nixey, Jim Ghedi and Toby Hay, and Rosanne Cash

Sarah Nixey
Night Walks
(Black Lead Records)
★★★★

WITH her third solo album, Sarah Nixey makes a play to join artists such as The Blue Nile, Frank Ocean and Sinatra during his late-’50s “suicide songs” phase, who seem to exist solely during the nocturnal hours.

 

Apparently written during bouts of insomnia, the record “describes episodes that takes place over one night, spanning several decades,” (yes, I’m confused too).

 

Previously the singer with cult indie rock band Black Box Recorder, on Night Walks Nixey has created a fascinating, England-themed set, underpinned by some icy, late-night electronica.

 

Coming Up For Air deals with mental illness, The Zeppelin delves into the English wartime experience, while the title track’s whispered talk-singing is reminiscent of her previous band’s top-20 hit The Facts Of Life.

 

Sophisticated and sensual, this is adult pop to file next to Goldfrapp and Lana Del Ray.

 

Jim Ghedi and Toby Hay
The Hawksworth Grove Sessions
(Cambrian Records)
★★★★

RECORDED over two days in a house in Leeds, this record’s subtitle is Duets for six and twelve-string guitar.

 

And what an impressive album it is, with the duelling guitars of Toby Hay, from Rhayader in Powys, and Jim Ghedi, from Moss Valley in Derbyshire, creating an astonishingly rich soundscape of intricate folk-influenced instrumentals.

 

Inspired by the “sense of movement” that came from touring together in 2015, the song titles lean toward Scotland, from the startling opener The Earls of Errol to the shining, circular melodies of Goat Fell and closer Arran to Aboyne, a spacious and emotive musical rumination.

With tracks like Night, Moon, Dance hitting the pleasingly contradictory sweet spot of intensity and peacefulness that marked jazz guitarist Ralph Towner’s legendary mid-’70s work, The Hawksworth Grove Sessions deserves a much bigger audience than the two artists currently have.

Rosanne Cash
She Remembers Everything
(Blue Note Records)
★★★

 

US COUNTRY legend Rosanne Cash’s latest album comes four years after The River And The Thread, an award-winning career high.

 

“There is a woman’s real life, complex experiences and layered understanding in these songs,”Cash comments, suggesting #MeToo’s influence on evocative tracks like Undiscovered Country — “the undiscovered country between a woman and a man” — while other highlights are the propulsive rock of 8 Gods of Harlem, an empathetic story song about violence on US streets featuring Elvis Costello and a Johnny Cash-sounding Kris Kristofferson and closer The Parting Glass, an a capella folk song that sounds as old as the hills.

 

Produced by Tucker Martine (The Decemberists, Laura Veirs) and her husband John Leventhal, She Remembers Everything, Cash’s 14th studio record, contains some impressive songwriting and performances.

 

But it never quite conjures up the magic that made its predecessor so special.

OWNED BY OUR READERS

We're a reader-owned co-operative, which means you can become part of the paper too by buying shares in the People’s Press Printing Society.

 

 

Become a supporter

Fighting fund

You've Raised:£ 13,288
We need:£ 4,712
3 Days remaining
Donate today