Entertainment

Album reviews: Sigrid, Dido, The Japanese House, Fat Cops and Ryuichi Sakamoto

Sigrid's debut album is Sucker Punch
Sigrid's debut album is Sucker Punch Sigrid's debut album is Sucker Punch

Sigrid

Sucker punch

NORWAY'S Sigrid won the BBC Music Sound of 2018 and established herself with debut single Don't Kill My Vibe in 2017, so this album has been highly anticipated by those who love pop with attitude and intelligence. Four singles are already familiar to us including the top 10 hit Strangers, opening track Sucker Punch and current single Don't Feel Like Crying. There are plenty more pop bangers to grow to love here, Basic and the string-laden Sight Of You being highlights. The bouncy Business Dinners is Sigrid revealing the frustrations of a young woman dealing with music industry bigwigs. Her lyrics show defiance and toughness but there is vulnerability and sensitivity too. Slower tracks In Vain and Dynamite showcase the power of Sigrid's voice, sounding raw on the former and Adele-esque on the latter. It's been quite a wait for this debut but, for this no-frills, relatable pop star, it has been worth it.

8/10

Lisa Allen

Dido

Still On My Mind

SOMETIMES it feels like every album Dido releases is marketed as a "comeback". It's the curse of an artist who takes her time. This time the London singer, whose voice soundtracked a decade, returns after five years with her most unashamedly dance-influenced album. Still On My Mind sees Dido, now out of the chaotic first years of motherhood, revisiting the sounds that defined her. Across 12 tracks she dips into her forgotten past as a singer in the electronica band Faithless (founded by her brother). But don't try to get up and bop to these songs. They're as cool, almost glacial, as her earlier work. They drift by in a haze of choral voices, evocative synths and humming bass. Hurricanes, which opens, is a whispered, intense glimpse into domesticity that wouldn't seem out of place on Life For Rent. This LP is an enjoyable potpourri of sounds, tied together by Dido's unparalleled voice and her forensic eye for the turmoil of modern relationships.

6/10

Alex Green

The Japanese House

Good At Falling

THIS debut album from The Japanese House, or Amber Bain to her mum, has been a long time coming. Good At Falling comes off the back of four EPs by the 23-year-old Londoner, all full of complex, multi-layered harmonies, floating keyboards, intricate guitar lines and skittering drums that breathed fresh life into the UK's indie scene. These elements have been crucial to her rise since 2015's Pools to Bathe In, four years spent largely under the wing of Brit award-winning label mates The 1975, who took her on tour and helped produce her music. And this influence has undoubtedly given her a bigger, bolder synth-pop sound that will appeal to a bigger, broader audience: at times bombastic and others dreamy or heartfelt. But it has also made The Japanese House almost indistinguishable from her mentors. Amber Bain deserves every success coming her way but, for now, the question will linger: What could have been if she'd done it alone?

7/10

Alastair Reid

Fat Cops

Fat Cops

THIS new band hits the shelves with its eponymous first album. Formed by the bass player after being bequeathed a bass guitar by his late aunt, it includes among others, Al Murray, aka 'The Pub Landlord' on drums and Robert Hodgens, ex-The Bluebells, on guitar. There's no one defining theme or style to the 10 tracks on show. If anything, Lou Reed would seem to be a reference point for songs like Drink All The Drink and Good Looking. Then again, Hands Up! Get Down! is a catchy, baggy groover that would probably make a successful single. Things drag somewhat on the downbeat Fat City and it finishes with the heavily fuzzed, semi-psychedelic Voodoo Nightstick with its impenetrable lyrics. It's definitely a mixed bag and, to its credit, is different enough to stand out from the crowd. Will it sell though? The jury's out on that one.

7/10

Steve Grantham

Ryuichi Sakamoto

BTTB (20th Anniversary Edition)

RYUICHI Sakamoto is known for wearing all manner of hats. To some he is the composer of the Bafta-winning score to Merry Christmas, Mr Lawrence – the 1980s war drama in which he starred alongside David Bowie. To others, he's one third of influential synth-pop group Yellow Magic Orchestra (YMO). And for modern audiences, he may well only be known for his superb 2016 ambient record Async. BTTB stands, if you wondered, for Back To The Basics, and the veteran Japanese artist's rare and now re-released 14th record is true to its name... mostly. In many parts, BTTB is a display of Sakamoto's impressionistic piano prowess. Among the highlights are the beautiful, balletic Energy Flow, the first instrumental track ever to make it to number one in Japan, and the virtuoso performance of Tong Poo, originally a YMO disco stomper completely unrecognisable from the piano adaptation. Nonetheless, the experimentation hasn't gone missing by any means – take the three-and-a-half minute drum piece Sonata or the droning jaw harp of Do Bacteria Sleep? for evidence of that. Twenty years from the album's original release, BTTB sounds as beguiling as ever. Sakamoto has made a career of leading listeners down paths they're not expecting and, back to the basics or otherwise, that's no different here.

7/10

Steve Jones