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Album reviews: Vampire Weekend, Editors, The Wildhearts, Johnny Lloyd

Vampire Weekend's new album is Father Of The Bride
Vampire Weekend's new album is Father Of The Bride Vampire Weekend's new album is Father Of The Bride

Vampire Weekend

Father Of The Bride

GIVEN what a seismic pop event each new Vampire Weekend record has been, it's hard to believe that Father Of The Bride is only their fourth. Ezra Koenig's New Yorkers are again painting with a varied palette, and as ever the song-craft rarely falters. Running at 18 tracks, most no longer than a few minutes, and bouncing frantically from genre to genre, Father Of The Bride is more than a little reminiscent of the White Album. Koenig and co now seem to be sitting more comfortably than ever within their own skin, though, they still feel at their best when being inventive, and to that end this LP really hits its stride around the midway mark. In perhaps the best run on the record, Sympathy, Sunflower and Flower Moon respectively glide through Ennio Morricone, '60s Psych and Afrobeat with a sleight of hand few others could match. While it perhaps lacks the instant classics of its predecessors, there's plenty in this record to capture the imagination.

8/10

Stephen Jones

Editors

The Blanck Mass Sessions

REPLACING guitars with synths, this eight-track offering is the alternative version of Editors' 2018 release Violence. The original was already hailed as a departure from the band's indie-rock style, with the group seemingly dipping their toes into the electronic scene. The Blanck Mass Sessions takes this further, releasing the result of producer Blanck Mass's deconstruction of their usual sound. Opening track Barricades is a new release, exploring their electronic side with punchy drum machines. Hallelujah (So Low) and Nothingness showcase frontman Tom Smith's strength of vocals, without being overwhelmed by the use of synths in both. Although this album takes Editors out of their comfort zone, at times it feels as if the vocals and the production aren't in perfect harmony. Fans hoping for something different can be encouraged: although the companion album doesn't quite reach the heights of the original, it is likely to go down well in venues and fields during the summer festival season.

7/10

Emma Bowden

The Wildhearts

Renaissance Men

TEN years away have not calmed The Wildhearts down and the Geordie four-piece come storming out of the gates on their return with the raucous Dislocated. The band's classic line-up – frontman Ginger, fellow guitarist CJ, bassist Danny McCormack and drummer Ritch Battersby – are reunited and it quickly shows as the sly wit of Let 'Em Go recalls their classic Greetings From S***sville – there may be nobody better with a well-deployed swear word, and certainly few other bands who could carry off Fine Art Of Deception's "Bull***t" backing chant. Only Little Flower and My Side Of The Bed truly stand out in the second half of a good-not-great album, but by this stage the band are playing with house money, and overall it is just great to have them back – the forthcoming tour should be a treat for fans old and new.

6/10

Tom White

Johnny Lloyd

Next Episode Starts In 15 Seconds

CAMDEN Town indie rocker Johnny Lloyd is the man who finally made Billie Piper happy. When he met the actress she was in the middle of her second divorce. Lloyd had also recently gone through a difficult break-up – with his vaunted indie band Tribes. Three years on, they appear to have found bliss, their daughter having beeb born in January. On Next Episode Starts In 15 Seconds, his voice is softer, tempered by the challenges of fatherhood and a newfound distance from the debauchery of Tribes. Lloyd's checklist of famous friends – Frank Turner, Hugo White of The Maccabees, and Adam Prendergast of Harry Styles's band – adds a dash of star power to proceedings. The album sounds like a series of diary entries. Recorded in two or three takes each, it feels like a series of snapshots from Lloyd's life. Fatherhood has prompted him to tear away the indie tropes. What's left is far more pleasing.

6/10

Alex Green