LORETTA LYNN – STILL WOMAN ENOUGH
FOR her 50th solo studio album, Loretta Lynn has recorded new versions of some of her best-known tracks, as well as her takes on American traditional music.
But she kicks off with the incredibly catchy title track, a new song featuring Reba McEntire and Carrie Underwood and co-written with her daughter, Patsy Lynn Russell.
Elsewhere, the joyous oldie Keep On The Sunny Side is as upbeat as the title suggests, rising star Margo Price joins Lynn for a run through her 1971 satirical hit One On The Way, and there's powerful versions of Hank Williams's I Saw The Light and the traditional I Don't Feel At Home Anymore.
There's also a new take on 1960's debut single I'm A Honky Tonk Girl, a duet with Tanya Tucker on 1966's You Ain't Woman Enough and she revists her signature tune on Coal Miner's Daughter Recitation.
"Still got what it takes," Lynn insists on the title track – it's impossible not to agree.
Rating: 4/5
Matthew George
BLACK HONEY – WRITTEN AND DIRECTED
LEAD singer Izzy B Phillips's dynamic vocals give Brighton quartet Black Honey's new release plenty of vigour and its tracks draw on a wide variety of influences.
The spirited album seems perfectly suited to live gigs and the indie group will surely be hoping to showcase their punchy new material in front of crowds this summer.
Fire, I Do It To Myself and I Like The Way You Die are particular highlights.
While the bulk of the album is made up of high tempo, lively tracks, Gabrielle and Back Of The Bar offer a welcome change of pace to the driving melodies that dominate most of its songs.
Written & Directed's title and album cover draw inspiration from the world of film.
Similarly, the compelling album's powerful and emotive sound gives it an almost cinematic quality that is sure to delight crowds once the band can get out and perform their new music in front of audiences.
Rating: 4/5
Tom Horton
THUNDER – ALL THE RIGHT NOISES
THERE is something endearing about a band who plough their own furrow without regard for what is "in". Thunder are one such band.
They formed in London on the cusp of the 90s with voluminous hair and riffs straight out of the Led Zeppelin playbook. Their appearance, their sound, frankly everything about them, was unsuited to the times, which would soon be dominated by grunge and Britpop. But Thunder's unbending commitment is exactly why they continue to record and release today.
All The Right Noises, their 13th album, is part grunge extravaganza, part riotous rock and roll nostalgia trick. Danny Bowes and his band may be fathers now, but there is some serious hip-swinging going on here – that is, before the subject turns to Trump and Brexit.
Listen and you might be surprised.
Rating: 4/5
Alex Green
DRAKE – SCARY HOURS 2
IN JANUARY, Certified Lover Boy, Drake's sixth album proper, was delayed until late 2021 just a few weeks before its expected release date.
To fill this Drake-shaped hole in your life, the Canadian rapper has released a three-song EP that sees him in polished autopilot mode. As an amuse-bouche to keep fans happy, Scary Hours 2 works.
Ostensibly a sequel to his 2018 EP of the same name (notable for featuring the Grammy-winning God's Plan), it feels like a purposely low stakes affair.
Drake recruits the ever-dependable Rick Ross for Lemon Pepper Freestyle, while What's Next sees him returning to familiar themes: his rise to international top boy, public interest in his colourful private life, and so on. Rising star Lil Baby's verse on Wants And Needs is a standout and a clear nod towards Drake's own moodier moments.
These songs offer a promising if insubstantial glimpse at what Certified Lover Boy could sound like.
Rating: 3/5
Alex Green
