The latest two releases from the
album, Carry On and Can’t Dance
give you an overview of what to
expect. That soulful voice, that
range, the soaring strings,
the….well, you get the picture.
She has a discernible style, and it’s
ageless - like all true style. She’s the
Chanel suit of music, the Little
Black Dress of soul.
Seven is full of soul and R&B, the
stuff that Lisa is known for, the stuff
she does best.
Lisa has done what she always does,
mixed it right: the right amount of
upbeat versus slow down, the right
amount of big band versus pared
back.
This album is a rare thing - each
track feels truly handcrafted, each
word carefully chosen and each
note pitch perfect, all with no filler,
no fluff.
Lisa is back and we’re all the richer
for it. ∎
INTO THE BLUE Kylie Minogue
Move over Beyoncé, the queen of
pop is back to snatch your crown!
It’s a Sunday afternoon, I’m in my
lazy day outfit, with a cuppa tea to
hand and quite literally out the blue
comes Into The Blue by Miss
Minogue.
After a year of releasing some non-single noncomeback “experimental” tracks (I quite
enjoyed Skirt) she is back proper, and back she
is!
On the dance floor is where she belongs and that
is what we get. It’s like All The Lovers in that it
feels quite epic and you can imagine this is going
to be amazing when she ends her next tour with it,
but its also more lively, a bit more sparkly a bit
more dance floor.
It feels good, it feels right and it makes 3.45
minutes seem like quite a good time. It’s a solid
comeback single but it also feels a bit too safe to
make too much of an impact in the singles chart. ∎
BEST OF 2004 - 2014 Hard-Fi Upon putting Hard-Fi’s
greatest hits disc into my CD player I was immediately
reminded of why I am such a fan of the band. As one of
the great underdogs of the music industry
in modern times, I have frequently willed
them on to succeed. Sadly the commercial
success of their early days has not been
sustained, but that hasn’t stopped the
band releasing some great music.
THEGAYUK FEB/MARCH
SEVEN Lisa Stansfield And about bloody time
too! Finally, after 10 long years, she's back - but
by god, it was worth the wait. Seven, Lisa’s
seventh album, gives us 10 tracks
that make you cry, make you dance
and make you glad you have ears!
2014
SOUND REVIEW
Although seeing Hard-Fi’s first album
“Stars of CCTV” as their first collection of
greatest hits, I welcomed the forthcoming
release of the official best of album. It
begins at the start of Hard-Fi’s career with
the first few songs being the releases from
“Stars of CCTV”. With songs that people
can relate to, such as Cash Machine and
Living for the Weekend, Hard-Fi seemed
to come along at just the right time.
From there the songs move on to HardFi’s second album “Once Upon a Time in
the West”. Another strong album that
reached number one in the charts,
spawning hits including Suburban
Knights and Can’t Get Along.
Hard-Fi’s third album “Killer Sounds” is
actually full of just that, despite not being
as commercially successful as previous
efforts. Although the singles were not as
big as past chart entries, they were critical
hits. Good for Nothing, Fire in the House
and Bring It On are all worthy of their
position on the album and demonstrate
the band.
The album ends with new song Move
Over, which is a promising taste of things
to come as the band work on their fourth
album.
Hard-Fi are masters of social realism in
their lyrics and this collection of hits is a
reminder that the band provide a great
soundtrack to the streets of urban Britain.
It’s music for working class people that
has clearly resonated over the years. Hard-Fi may be the
underdogs of the music scene, but their songs are better
than many other indie-pop bands and this is a five star
collection worthy of investing in. ∎
ELEVATE Erin Bennett Openly lesbian singer Erin is just
about to release her debut single Elevate, an angst
anthemic folky rock number, influenced by industry
heavyweights such as KD Lang, KT Tunstall and dare I
say a little bit of Suzanne Vega. Awesome harmonies and
a very catchy chorus. Definitely one to keep an eye on. Be
sure to read her interview in DIVA.∎
facebook.com/erinbennettmusic
Contributors: Daniel Browne | Chris Jones | George McPhail
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