list.co.uk/music FOLK-ROCK COLLABORATIONS RM HUBBERT Telling the Trees (Chemikal Underground) ●●●●●
Records | MUSIC ROCK WHITE MILES The Duel (Long Branch Records) ●●●●●
Across several years of proi table l amenco and i nger-picking guitar excellence, RM ‘Hubby’ Hubbert has teamed up with several renowned acts from around these shores. Emma Pollock, Aidan Moffat, Hanna Tuulikki and Alex Kapranos are four artists who have all benei ted from the lush string- playing of the man who scooped the second Scottish Album of the Year award in 2013 with Thirteen Lost and Found. For this new project, he cranks up his collaborative ethos with a set of songs all emboldened by the presence of female accompaniment. And he’s assembled not just any old female accompaniment but the likes of Karine Polwart, Kathryn Joseph, Kathryn Williams and Anneliese Mackintosh. That list of names tells you that Telling the Trees is at its very roots a diverse, earthy and evocative collection. And it certainly starts with a jump as author Mackintosh delivers a stirring evolutionary monologue referencing everything from Alexander the Great to The Hunger Games in ‘The Dinosaur Where We Fell in Love’. Embossed by Hubbert’s soaring and layered playing, it’s a dynamic and thrilling opening but assumes a high bar that the rest of the album struggles to reach.
The partners Hubby has enlisted aren’t always vocalists, though, with pianist Rachel Grimes and viola player Aby Vulliamy both teaming up with atmospheric success. There’s also a pleasing sense of brooding menace
Well, this is quite the reviewer's dilemma: go easy on a band involved in one of the most notorious incidents in the history of live music, or expect something profound from artists caught up in a terrible event, and i nd yourself disappointed when they offer up an album that only dares to tread water? Austrian band White Miles were supporting Eagles of Death Metal at the
Bataclan on the night of the Paris terrorist attacks. They'll be joining them again on a mammoth 50-date tour of Europe in support of their second album and, apparently, audiences in France and the Netherlands as well as their home nation have been going wild for this particular grade of driven, dive-bar guitar rock. But here's the rub: not to knock our European cousins' taste in music, but they're not exactly breaking new ground.
Perhaps the partnership between Medina Rekic and Hansjörg Loferer works better on stage, but on The Duel, the pair sound as if they've been stretched too thin. Furthermore, aspects of the record's production (like the chorus of lead single ‘Crazy Horse’ being sung through a megaphone) and the decision to include box-ticking tracks like ‘Coke on a Jetplane’ and ‘Heid’, leave the impression that White Miles are trying a bit too hard to sound like a convincing rock band.
The Duel has been anchored in the shallows between Royal Blood and
in ‘I Can Hold You Back’ with Kathryn Williams, while Ladytron’s Marnie brings an ethereal charm to ‘Sweet Dreams’ and Karine Polwart bestows much lovelier modern associations upon the lamented ‘Yew Tree’. Telling the Trees is a bold
and fertile experiment which enhances RM Hubbert’s reputation as a singular musician whose creative generosity proves too tall an order for some of his contributors to match. (Brian Donaldson) Out on Fri 29 Apr.
Savages, but lacks both the hard-rock references of the radio- friendly former and the you've- just-spilled-my-pint glint in the eyes of the latter. Credit where it's due, though,
it takes guts to let your drummer record two consecutive monologues. You'd hope, given their time supporting them on tour, that a little of Eagles of Death Metal frontman Jesse Hughes' unpredictability would rub off on Rekic and Loferer. But this second LP i nds White Miles fresh out of ideas. (Sam Bradley) Out now.
ALT-SOUL SUSANNA Triangle (SusannaSonata) ●●●●● POP / ROCK TRAVIS Everything at Once (Red Telephone Box) ●●●●●
It’s always difi cult to critique the work of a consistently stellar musician without having very high expectations. It’s even harder to think about a new project in isolation when previous releases have been so widely lauded. Luckily, Norwegian artist Susanna lessens the blow by continually exceeding such expectations and mesmerising us with unique concepts and alluring musical visions. Described as ‘soul music for lost souls’, Susanna’s 11th studio album Triangle
is a 70-minute spiritual reverie with converging layers of emotional unrest and contemplation. There’s a profound sense of solitude that permeates throughout, perhaps arising as a result of the album being entirely self-produced. Of the production, Susanna notes: ‘a lot of people play on the album, but I have never worked so much alone before’. But this contributes to the whole l ow and story of Triangle: the idea of self-rel ection upon life, death, belief and superstition. Opening with ‘Holy / Sacred’, the album begins with the prophetic lyrics
‘nothing is holy, nothing is sacred’: a statement of intent, forecasting the themes that are probed later. Susanna’s vocals are dei ant but simultaneously gentle and soothing, often mimicking the type of melodies found in old Gregorian chants. This is also evident in ‘Before the Altar’, where the vocal line evokes the idea of religious or magical worship. At times, the album recalls elements of Björk, such as in the beautifully arranged
‘Hole’ with its shimmering electronic and synth backdrop. ‘In the Need of a Shepherd’ is a more traditionally upbeat pop track, signalling a climax before Triangle reaches a thematic reawakening in the form of ‘Born Again’. Eventually, the album winds down as it broaches darkness and existentialism in the otherworldly ‘The Fire’ and harmonically lush ‘Death Hanging’. Introspective and deeply expressive overall, Triangle continues a trend of immersive releases from an exceptionally talented artist. (Arusa Qureshi) Out on Fri 22 Apr.
Where does a band go once the fame, if not fortune, has subsided? Travis, the perennial nice guys of Scottish rock (and, it has to be said, there’s some competition for that accolade) embraced their time at the top around the turn of the millennium. But following drummer Neil Primrose’s near death experience in 2002 (he broke his neck diving onto a swimming pool and almost drowned), the momentum slowed and Travis now cater to the converted. While there are any number of what Alan McGee disparagingly described as
‘bedwetter’ bands i lling arenas these days, Travis aren’t going to get into a sordid urinating competition. According to frontman Fran Healy, the friendship dynamic between the four members is what drives the band, that and his newfound songwriting practice. Healy has been l irting with the old 9-to-5 (that’s 9pm to 5am), with the songs on Travis’ eighth album composed late at night in Berlin’s Hansa Studios and with classic pop economy.
Travis were never known for their self-indulgence, and most songs on Everything at Once clock in at around the three-minute mark with only closing number ‘Strangers on a Train’ stretching over four minutes. That track is practically prog rock compared to the absent-mindedly catchy likes of ‘Magnii cent Time’ with its chugging arrangement, bright keyboards, optimistic sentiments (‘I packed up my troubles in a different room’) and a tasteful terrace-style chorus for lads to dance badly to. The slightly off-kilter shufl e which opens the title track suggested possible new Travis territory when it debuted at the end of last year. But the song’s remainder is brawny pop / rock of the kind they habitually alternate with moodier pieces, characterised by gentle melancholy jangle and Healy’s hangdog vocal tone to create an ache you can almost take consolation in. (Fiona Shepherd) Out Fri 29 Apr.
7 Apr–2 Jun 2016 THE LIST 85