Bloc Party's new experimental sounds, kiwi band The Puddle 's understated pop, classic soul covers by Seal, and a challenging instrumental album from Mogwai.
4 stars (out of 5)
East London indie rockers Bloc Party approach their third album with a sense of experimentation: where debut Silent Alarm was artfully twitchy, and follow-up A Weekend in the City a lyrically pretentious mess, on Intimacy the quartet adopts a more synthetic approach.
The percussive blast of opener Ares calls to mind peak-era Chemical Brothers - Mercury's frantic drum n' bass enhances this fearsome opening brace.
Yet after the initial bluster, normal service is resumed, with sharp bursts of angular guitar on Halo and the jittery Ion Square recapturing the tightly wound majesty of their debut.
Single Download: Halo
For those who like: bloc(k)-rockin' beats.
- John Hayden
4 stars (out of 5)
This fourth studio album from George D. Henderson's perpetually mutating band delivers a heartening return on a 25-year investment.
Rich in craftily constructed melodies and sounding crisper, cleaner and more lithe than many of the Puddle's previous efforts, it places Henderson squarely where he has long deserved to be: among the pantheon of Kiwi rock deities.
From crusty crooner to razor-sharp guitar gem to dreamy instrumental, it's impossible to deny the charm of these 17 tracks. Could it be that the best is yet to come from this master of understated pop?
Single download: So Good
For those who like: pop songs with as many challenges as hooks.
- Jeff Harford
3 stars (out of 5)
A great voice. Great songs.
Such a combination should mean a great album, but British singer Seal's renditions of soul classics such as Sam Cooke's A Change is Gonna Come, Ben E. King's Stand By Me and Al Green's Here I Am, though pitch-perfect, still beg the question: why? Given Seal's ability and the standing of the originals, it would have been more satisfying had he deconstructed the tracks and built them again in a manner less obvious; made them darker perhaps, or less adorned.
That said, his raspy tones and relaxed delivery lift the collection well above bargain-bin status.
Single download: It's A Man's Man's Man's World
For those who like: top-notch vocals.
- Shane Gilchrist
2 stars (out of 5)
Scottish noiseniks Mogwai return with their sixth long-player, The Hawk is Howling.
An all-instrumental affair, and with only two of the 10 tracks clocking in at under five minutes, the album sees angry guitars battle piano, strings, synths, and strident electronic beats for centre stage.
While the likes of The Sun Smells Too Loud is as trippy as its title suggests, and the ear-bleeding intensity of Batcat will satiate metalheads, the majority of the jams have a tendency to noodle into infinity, suggesting a lack of focus rather than a varied sonic palette.
Single Download: The Sun Smells Too Loud
For those who like: guitar-noise symphonies.
- John Hayden
