Album Reviews

Vaughan Williams – Fantasy; Mathias – Piano Concertos 1 & 2 (Somm SOMMCD 246) Vaughan Williams hid away some works from his early years, and only now is the Fantasy for piano and orchestra receiving its premiere recording. It is a score of dramatic content and ample virtuosity to keep the soloist happy. A valuable discovery, and just as impressive are two remarkably assured, vivacious and listener-friendly concertos from the young William Mathias. The disc has the superb pianist, Mark Bebbington, relishing every note, and the Ulster Orchestra, with George Vass directing, is in very fine form. DD
By The Newsroom
Published 30th Sep 2011, 11:23 BST

You Me At Six – Sinners Never Sleep

The third album from the Surrey rockers isn’t short on variety. Anthemic slices of pop – as heard in the singles Loverboy, Jaws On The Floor and This Is The First Thing – mix with heavier tunes, Bite My Tongue and Time Is Money, which features Parkway Drive’s Winston McCall. Both Crash and Little Bit Of Truth show the band know how to handle a ballad, with passion but without the cliches that often ruin them. Special mentions too for a couple of infectious tracks, Reckless and The Dilemma. A highly enjoyable listen. SL

Erasure – Tomorrow’s World

Erasure have been one of the biggest synthpop acts since the mid 1980s. Their first studio album in four years, Tomorrow’s World, shows that Vince Clarke and Andy Bell haven’t lost their knack for writing simple yet catchy-as-hell pop anthems. The up-tempo album feels like classic Erasure given a fresh and contemporary twist with dance act Frankmusik on production duties. When I Start To (Break It All Down) and I Lose Myself have choruses that will lodge themselves into your mind and although this collection runs just over 31 minutes, it is cohesive and full of pop concentrate. SL

Paul McCartney – Ocean’s Kingdom: £13.99

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Commissioned by the New York City Ballet, Ocean’s Kingdom is undoubtedly the most high-profile thing to happen in the ballet world this year. It is, of course, a work by Paul McCartney and being a former Beatle, generally attracts a lot of attention with whatever he does. But is Ocean’s Kingdom any good? To say Sir Macca has a way with a melody is to rather understate things, and much of Ocean’s Kingdom, particularly the second movement, is very pretty sounding, if a little naive. It’s an impressive start. AW

Lady Antebellum – Own The Night: £12.99

Country stars Dave Haywood, Charles Kelley and Hillary Scott have come a long way since their debut in 2007, notching up several shelves’ worth of awards. Following their surprising victory over Eminem and Rihanna at this year’s Grammy Awards, this is their third album, Own The Night. We Owned The Night, the infectious Friday Night and the epic Somewhere Love Remains are country-pop tunes which make you want to dance, while Heart Of The World and Dancin’ Away With My Heart are gentle ballads commanding your attention. SL

Julian Lennon – Everything Changes: £11.99

Well, who would have thought it? Having enjoyed moderate chart success back in the early 1980s, the eldest son of Beatle John is back with a new album, which is actually pretty good. Lennon Jr will always play second fiddle musically to his famous father and, to a lesser extent, his younger half-brother and fellow musician Sean. But with tracks as good as the exquisite Hold On and equally impressive Disconnected, this belated comeback is by no means misguided. It is a quiet triumph. AW

Andy Welch and Shereen Low (pop/rock) and David Denton (classical/opera)

Related topics:Paul McCartney