Stay ahead of the curve with our weekly guide to the latest trends, fashion, relationships and more

Stay ahead of the curve with our weekly guide to the latest trends, fashion, relationships and more

Punk singer Frank Turner returns with force on his 10th studio album, while a host of famous faces star on Australian singer-songwriter Sia’s new record.

– Frank Turner – Undefeated

Forever heartfelt, vital and crazily inconsistent, Turner veers as always from searing political commentary to derivative punk shoutalongs and from heartfelt ballads to saccharine sentimentality on this 10th studio album.

Entering his forties, the ageing process is a constant theme and Ceasefire opens with “Fifteen-year-old Francis, we need to have a word”. Somewhere Inbetween references the same age and forms part of a subdued, lovely closing trio with On My Way – echoing the wonderful Jet Lag from 2009’s Love, Ire and Song – and the closing title track, which takes cues from regular tour-mates Skinny Lister’s album-ending ballad Broken, Bruised And Battered from last year.

Set against the punky opening pair of Do One and the appropriately breakneck-speed Never Mind The Back Problems, the album could be seen to mirror Turner’s maturation – but with regular curveballs in his arsenal, in this case a fast-paced thrashy love song (I’m In Love With The Girl From The Record Shop), a poignant number sparked by Tube station barriers (East Finchley) and a ferocious snarl railing against punk-rock snobbery (No Thank You For The Music), a fairer view is to simply enjoy his journey all over the musical map.

He is never better here than on Pandemic PTSD, wryly observing the “social remove” from authority figures breaking their own lockdown rules while evocatively summing up the experience as being “punched in the d*** for two straight years”.

Score: 7/10

(Review by Tom White)

– Camera Obscura – Look To The East, Look To The West

Welcome back Glaswegian indie band Camera Obscura with their first album in 11 years.

They went on extended hiatus after the death of keyboardist Carey Lander in 2015, addressed here in the ballad Sugar Almond.

Recorded in the room where Queen wrote Bohemian Rhapsody, they dial down their tendency towards a reverb-drenched big sound.

String and brass arrangements are replaced by piano, synths, Hammond organ and understated drum machine.

Sugar Almond is just piano and Tracyanne Campbell’s fragile vocals – “I’ll match Bette Davis drink for drink” – before a barely audible “you sing to me, Carey”.

The break-up anthem Big Love has a country feel, with Tim Davidson’s pedal steel guitar to the fore, and Pop Goes Pop has 1960s influences.

Camera Obscura have sometimes been labelled “twee” by those not listening closely enough, but that’s never been true.

We’re Going To Make It In A Man’s World, written with new keyboardist Donna Maciocia, addresses the reality of being women in the music industry.

And Sleepwalking starts “they told you it was coke, it was ketamine”, before Campbell sings “don’t go to the party all night long, don’t wake up in someone else’s arms”.

Camera Obscura’s literate, sophisticated sound has been missed, and this sixth studio album will please old fans and should make many new ones.

Score: 8/10

(Review by Matthew George)

– Fat White Family – Forgiveness Is Yours

South London’s Fat White Family, a band once described by The Guardian as “more interested in notoriety” than music, have released their fourth album, Forgiveness Is Yours.

The psychedelic, post-punk rock album is a lot like Marmite. It’s experimental to the point of forgetting what actually sounds good. It wouldn’t be surprising if the band are praised by one person for being bold and innovative and then immediately criticised by the next for not reading the rule book before they set fire to it.

There are times when the experimentation pays off. A vinyl crackle plays over the introduction of the final track You Can’t Force It and, immediately, there are goosebumps. It perfectly suits the tone of the song, adding a layer of noise that raises the question of why the record player itself was never classed as a musical instrument.

But there are other times when all the added guff is just too much. In Today You Become Man, lead vocalist Lias Saoudi speaks quicker than anyone can understand, as very heavy and dissonant electronic music pounds in the background. It’s overwhelming, the musical equivalent to when the London Underground goes through a tunnel with the windows cracked.

Score: 6/10

(Review by Yasmin Vince)

– Sia – Reasonable Woman

Sia’s latest offering, Reasonable Woman, boasts collaborations with a plethora of talented musical artists.

These dual offerings, which include a disco song with pop icon Kylie Minogue, are perhaps some of the best singles on the album.

Incredible featuring British singer Labrinth is a textured track that allows the singer to explore use of voice without her signature heavy belting.

Instead choppy, overlapping voices sing “I am incredible” before the chorus bleeds into a mellow synth-heavy melody.

An album from Sia would be incomplete without her impressive vocals, however, and the LP is chock-a-block with songs where she riffs and belts.

Tracks such as I Forgive You showcase her powerful and emotive voice in a format that is more stripped-back – her vocals at the forefront and the piano merely an accompaniment.

This album also includes the singer’s collaboration with American reality star Paris Hilton who features on the song Fame Won’t Love You, a catchy pop tune that delves into the realities of celebrity.

The album darts back and forth in terms of themes and mood but it feels like a proper 21st century pop album.

Score: 7/10

(Review by Hannah Roberts )

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