US rockers Kings Of Leon have cooked up a storm on their latest ninth studio album, while Dua Lipa proves she is still the ultimate pop princess with her latest offering.
Kings of Leon – Can We Please Have Fun
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The ninth instalment of Kings of Leon’s discography has a vintage twist, leaning back into original sounds fans fell in love with in the early 2000s.
The album is experimental enough to create something different and fresh, without straying far from what the band do best.
At the hands of a new producer, Kid Harpoon, the band appear to have a revival ahead of them, with radio-ready singles Mustang and Nothing To Do, which you’ll want to shout along to in the car with the windows down.
The songs flow, taking the listener on an adventure through stellar vocals, drums that don’t quit and distorted guitar riffs in the form of an impressive 12-track mix.
However, this means some songs blend into the other, with long instrumental stretches – but overall, this album reflects a change back to the old that is long-awaited from fans.
It isn’t perfect, but it’s the start of a switch toward the distinct, unique sounds of indie-alternative-country-rock; a strange, but somehow brilliant mix, which fans know and love as Kings of Leon.
Score: 7/10
(Review by Carla Feric)
The Lovely Eggs – Eggsistentialism
Lancaster duo The Lovely Eggs showcase their trademark mix of punk, garage rock and melodic psychedelia on this standout album.
Fiercely independent, working strictly on their own terms, husband and wife team Holly Ross and David Blackwell have released six previous albums and numerous singles since 2007.
Eggsistentialism starts with a brief intro before they explode into action with the punky, angry, Death Grip Kids.
Other tracks like seven minute single Nothing/Ever are keyboard-led, and boast lush melodies, with Echo You sounding like classic 1980s synth pop.
The album was co-produced with Dave Fridmann, founding Mercury Rev member who has worked with The Flaming Lips among many others, and alternates insistent tunes with some sweary thrashes.
Standouts include psychedelic single Memory Man and the mellow My Mood Wave, while Things reveals their experimental side, all spoken lyrics and driving synths.
On downbeat final track I Am Gaia Ross sings “when you tell the crowd you’re broken, and they clap for more” as she details the daily grind of keeping a band going when you run your own show.
The Lovely Eggs are known as one as one of the most exciting live bands around, and when their British tour starts later in May, they’ll be promoting their most expansive and rewarding album yet.
Score: 8/10
(Review by Matthew George)
Gabrielle – A Place In Your Heart
The new album from Out of Reach singer Gabrielle, while a varied offering full of soulful tracks, unfortunately narrowly falls short of the magic of her 90’s classics.
While the single Sorry highlights the singer’s unique vocal stylings, accompanied by slow reflective piano, it’s distinctly unoriginal. A middling pop ballad at best, it resembles many of the other slower songs on the album.
Won’t Be There, however, is punchy and memorable. In it, Gabrielle sings of promises broken by a troublesome lover who she’s finally decided to leave. It’s poignant and emotional – an empowering hit that should’ve been the album’s single. Good Enough is also a peppy track with a funky pop beat running throughout that will leave listeners tapping their toes and looking forward to the summer on the horizon.
Thirty-one years after the release of her debut single Dreams that shot her to stardom, the Hackney-born singer still has star power. The album’s titular track A Place In Your Heart is deserving of its title and reaffirms Gabrielle’s place as a princess of pop music. There are plenty of good songs in the mix of her latest album, it’s just a shame that the choice of single, Sorry, doesn’t showcase the singer at her best.
Score: 7/10
(Review by Lotte Brundle)
Dua Lipa- Radical Optimism
Four years after groundbreaking previous release Future Nostalgia and following on from last year’s success with Dance The Night from the Barbie soundtrack, pop superstar Dua Lipa is here with her long-awaited third studio album.
The titular term is referenced in the album’s artwork as it depicts Lipa in the ocean with a shark. Departing the electro pop sound of the predecessor, Radical Optimism incorporates dance and disco, as well as elements of psychedelia, thanks to co-production from Kevin Parker (Tame Impala).
Parker’s influence is heard on lead single Houdini whereas follow-up single Training Season produces flashbacks to her sensational performance at the 2024 Brit Awards.
These Walls features an eerie sound, French Exit ironically sounds like Spanish music matched with an irregular drum beat, Falling Forever showcases Lipa’s prolonged and strained vocal abilities, Anything For Love strips the instrumentation back to piano to highlight Lipa’s talent and Maria is one of the catchiest tracks, matching acoustic guitar with epic feelgood flute sounds, before drum-centred Happy For You closes the album.
Lipa has it all. The image. The moves. The personality. The voice. Dua Lipa is an artist of a generation.
Score: 10/10
(Review by Mason Oldridge)
