Music Reissues Weekly: Patty Waters - You Loved Me

PATTY WATERS - YOU LOVED ME The jazz auteur’s astonishing, originally shelved 1970 album

First-ever vinyl outing for the jazz auteur’s astonishing, originally shelved 1970 album

“Touched by Rodin in a Paris Museum” is a 14-minute consideration of exactly what its title says: the impact of encountering Auguste Rodin’s work in person. The composition features piano only. There are nods to Debussy and Ravel. The playing is measured and minimal yet still full-bodied. At odd points, there are seconds of complete silence.

Album: Harry Styles - Harry's House

★★★ HARRY STYLES - HARRY'S HOUSE Mellow-funkin' and often likeable third album from the One Direction star

Mellow-funkin' and often likeable third album from the One Direction star

Harry Styles’ previous two albums sounded like someone rifling pleasantly through the history of pop and rock, but always genially and politely. More entertaining than his scalpels-ready critics wished when One Direction paused in 2016, those albums still didn’t fully hold together as bodies of work. Harry’s House does. It’s also more middle-of-the-road, albeit in a self-aware and musically sussed way.

MØ, Heaven, London review - snappy, sexy and energised

★★★★ MØ, HEAVEN The Danish pop star plays a tight set to a devoted partisan crowd

Danish pop star plays a tight set to a devoted partisan crowd

“I live to survive another heartache/I live to survive another mistake,” roars a sold-out Heaven. It’s a new song but everyone seems to know it. It’s not MØ’s most famous song but is the bluntest monster banger of the night, crunching four-to-the-floor club-pop that brooks no argument. It’s the last of the set (prior to an encore) and MØ is now a perspiring ball of energy.

Tallies, Old Blue Last review - Canadian quintet rejuvenates indie prototypes

★★★★ TALLIES, OLD BLUE LAST Canadian quintet rejuvenates indie prototypes

Toronto outfit transcends its influences

Toronto’s Tallies have acknowledged their fondness for Aztec Camera, The Smiths and The Sundays. Add Cocteau Twins into the building blocks, too. Encountering a band so strongly immersed in the back catalogues of familiar names can obscure what’s really notable about them. Do they transcend their influences?

Album: Lykke Li - EYEYE

Lykke Li's shortest album is her most expansive yet

Swedish singer Lykke Li has called her new album Eyeye “her most intimate work to date”. In regard to Lykke Li’s music, this feels almost impossible at this point. Her music has time and time again explored the depths of heartbreak. Is it possible to write a song more intimate than “Love Me Like I’m Not Made of Stone”?

Charli XCX, O2 Academy, Glasgow review - sweat-drenched pop amid feverish atmosphere

★★★★ CHARLI XCX, O2 ACADEMY, GLASGOW Sweat-drenched pop amid feverish atmosphere

The singer's commanding presence overcame a slick production

“This town makes me sweat”, declared Charlotte Aitchison at one point in this set, as she took a brief breather between songs. The 29-year-old should have tried being in the audience, for this was a sweat-drenched evening right from the opening seconds, with a wildly devoted crowd which congregated into a heaving mass rapidly and consistently.

Aitchison might have too many quirks to ascend beyond a venue like the O2 Academy, but something about both her personality and performance suggested she is better suited to such a setting anyway.

Album: Everything Everything - Raw Data Feel

★★★★★ EVERYTHING EVERYTHING - RAW DATA FEEL Manchester indie art-rockers experiment successfully with musical AI

Manchester indie art-rockers experiment successfully with musical AI

Since their 2010 debut, Man Alive, Everything Everything have dissected the various structures of human relationships, from socio-political to interpersonal, but all in their own experimental art-rock sound.

The Great Escape 2022, Brighton review - sunshine, queues, and thrilling new bands

★★★★ THE GREAT ESCAPE, BRIGHTON Sunshine, queues, and thrilling new bands

theartsdesk's intrepid duo spend a day trawling the multi-venue seaside festival for musical kicks

My friend George claims to have nightmares about The Great Escape. In them he’s standing in an endless queue, never reaching the front, never entering the venue, and never seeing the band he wants to see. That was his experience the only time he attended, and he consequently reckons The Great Escape is rubbish.

“I’ve been going for years and that’s never happened to me,” I said to him.

“Yeah, well, you’re press, aren’t you,” he responded, with only a smidgeon of bitterness.

“I s’pose so,” I replied, with only a smidgeon of smugness.

Album: Mavis Staples and Levon Helm - Carry Me Home

★★★ MAVIS STAPLES, LEVON HELM - CARRY ME HOME Good enough gospel, a little too bland

Good enough gospel but a little too bland

There is so much gospel out there that it’s not easy to stand out above the crowd. Mavis Staples, with a distinctive voice that has delivered a gritty contralto for many decades, never stops. This new release, a set of songs that were recorded in 2011, is a collaboration with the Band’s late drummer Levon Helm, a sure-fire fan of African-American church music.