Bruce Springsteen released a curveball in 1982: a bleak, bare-bones record made up of acoustic home demos. Initially, Nebraska was met with confusion, but it would later be celebrated for its nuanced portraits of lives going wrong. Until recently, the existence of full-band studio versions of the Nebraska songs was myth. Scrapped in favour of Springsteen’s original demos, these recordings now make up the heart of this extraordinary vault release timed to coincide with the arrival in cinemas of Deliver Me from Nowhere, the Nebraska-era Springsteen biopic. It’s a fascinating alternative reality in which the intimacy of the known Nebraska becomes poignantly fleshed out by the E Street Band. This counter-factual object comes together with a remastered version of the original album, live takes of the songs and several alternative versions of other tracks demoed during that era, plus four previously unheard tunes. Of the latter, the acoustic On the Prowl sounds like Jerry Lee Lewis played by Suicide. Of the former, a roustabout, bar-band take on what would become Born in the USA is absolutely riveting.
Bruce Springsteen. Nebraska ’82: Expanded Edition
— Kitty Empire
For her third album, LA-based singer, rapper and violinist Brittney Parks inhabits the role of Gadget Girl, a future-facing musician who embraces technology to enhance her sound. But as well as looking forward, Parks takes a deep dive into her family history: she is inspired by the club sounds of her parents’ home cities of Detroit and Chicago, and enlists her twin sister, her cousins and assorted friends to help. In the process, she has created her most ambitious record to date, the constantly startling production (by Parks and Ben Dickey) brimming with ideas and taking EDM to bold new places. Her lyrics are not quite as arresting, but they’re still frequently thought-provoking: the flirtatious My Type drips with sexual ambiguity; there’s tongue-in-cheek lewdness on Ms Pac Man ("Put it in my mouth / Then my bank account"); A Computer Love addresses the pressures women face when it comes to marriage. Ultimately, though, The BPM is an album to be felt as much as listened to: a maximalist tour de force.
Sudan Archives.
The BPM.
— Phil Mongredien
The Observer
