BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN – LETTER TO YOU
SINCE releasing his autobiography in 2016, Bruce Springsteen has been on a creative hot streak to rival any period in his 40-plus years at the top. Until now he had been holding back two pocket aces, career-long companions the E Street Band and his trademark brand of impassioned rock'n'roll.
Letter To You welcomed both back in emphatic fashion, with the Boss' old compadres back on deck to deliver a series of stadium-sized performances captured live in the studio in just five days.
Ghosts turns Springsteen's lyrical nostalgia into a white-hot riot, while Rainmaker taps into the political and anthemic stylings of his post 9/11 classic The Rising. Most surprising, and most rewarding, are three "lost" epics from his early 70s playbook, dusted off, polished up and finally rescued from the bootleg pile.
The best of them, the poetic If I Was The Priest, might have been the song that made him a star had he set it free first time around.
Rating: 10/10
Rory Dollard
RUN THE JEWELS – RTJ4
"F*** it, why wait?" was their memorable announcement as Run The Jewels brought forward the release of their fourth album following George Floyd's death.
Killer Mike and El-P mix bad language and cartoon violence with necessary political commentary across RTJ4's spectacular 11 tracks. Opener Yankee And The Brave (ep.4) finds Mike with "one round left, 100 cops outside" while Walking In The Snow draws on the last words of both Floyd and another black victim of police brutality, Eric Garner – "You so numb you watch the cops choke out a man like me/Until my voice goes from a shriek to whisper 'I can't breathe'".
Ju$t pairs odd-couple guest stars Zack de la Rocha and Pharrell Williams, while Pulling The Pin, built around a haunting chorus from gospel icon Mavis Staples as part of an even more unlikely feature duo with Queens Of The Stone Age mainman Josh Homme, hits home as hard as any.
Rating: 9/10
Tom White
LAURA MARLING – SONG FOR OUR DAUGHTER
THREE years after the Grammy Award-nominated Semper Femina, the cream of British folk returned with another album – and, for those not versed in Laura Marling's work, this new record is as good a place to start as any.
From the feet-stomping rhythm of Strange Girl to the thoughtful reflection of Fortune and the album's title track, considered and bright acoustic guitar accompanied by stirring drums and rich strings respectively, this is another perfect example of why Marling is so highly regarded.
More pensive than upbeat, the album is a lyrical masterpiece which rewards the attentive listener in new ways each time you play it.
In an announcement on her website, she explained that the album was being released early amid the coronavirus crisis: "An album, stripped of everything that modernity and ownership does to it, is essentially a piece of me, and I'd like for you to have it."
I recommend you take up her offer.
Rating: 10/10
Edward Dracott
THE KILLERS – IMPLODING THE MIRAGE
ALMOST 20 years since their formation in Las Vegas, the rock superstars returned in 2020 for an uplifting sixth studio outing. It was a long time coming, with the album's initial release on May 29 pushed back by the pandemic.
For fans, the wait may have been anxious given this was The Killers' first collection without lead guitarist Dave Keuning, who took a break in 2017. They needn't be concerned though, from the synthesiser to the distinguished Brandon Flowers vocals, this was still unmistakably The Killers.
Your dose of rousing rock is still here, accompanied by a pleasingly retro feel. From the opener, My Own Soul's Warning, to the album's title track, there is a sense of moving forward at pace, which for 2020 was surely the perfect direction.
Rating: 9/10
Edward Dracott
