ROCK

All Born Screaming
By St. Vincent

Annie Clark – better known as the shapeshifting triple-Grammy winning artrock experimentalist St. Vincent – finds herself stepping away from alter egos and getting personal as she digs deeper searching for her own sonic vocabulary on the self-produced seventh studio album, All Born Screaming.

Consistently defying expectations and never known to run the same play twice, St. Vincent’s vocals and guitar playing (she is regularly listed among the top guitarists of the 21st century by multiple publications) are at their most expressive and distorted best throughout on what’s her heaviest sounding record yet.

On opener Hell Is Near and follow up Reckless, both sound raw and essential with sections that smoothly show off ethereally sparse and then decadently lavish production.

Her vocals are bold, self-assured but with a restless urgency on the sleazy and groove-heavy Broken Man and Flea, that sound effectually weighty thanks to Dave Grohl pummelling the drums on both tracks.

It’s hard not to imagine Violent Times scoring the background of an upcoming Bond movie with its orchestral grandness. While the dazed apocalyptic ballad The Power’s Out (a personal favourite) sounds like a spiritual successor to Bowie’s stunningly incandescent Five Years.

ROCK

Can We Please Have Fun
By Kings Of Leon

Kings of Leon are back and most definitely having fun again! Its discernibly heard all over their ninth studio album fittingly titled Can We Please Have Fun. Hailing from Nashville, Tennessee, the Followill brothers (cousin Matt included) have been on the rock scene for over two decades. Helping breathe new life on their latest showing is pop-leaning producer Kid Harpoon, a frequent collaborator with Harry Styles, Florence & The Machine and others.

Wind chimes ring softly in the distance on opener Ballerina Radio; it’s accompanied with synths and a propulsive bassline laid down by nifty bassist Jared. This smoothly transitions into next track – Rainbow Ball, where frontman Caleb sounds his ‘honey over gravel’ best while singing “only good vibrations at the rainbow ball, sweet vibration!” on the chorus.

On the groovy bop Nowhere to Run the entire band sound great over a bouncy funk bassline. They then switch gears into their classic garage-rock finest for Mustang.

The mellow country-tinged Ease Me On oozes a tranquil and joyous feeling. While the outstanding closer Seen evokes feelings reminiscent to the end credits rolling post a really good movie.