THE MESSAGE - ANDREA BEGLEY
Andrea Begley's debut showcases to perfection the soft, sweet easy-listening sound that saw her take The Voice crown in 2013. The partially-sighted singer, from Pomeroy, Co Tyrone, came to attention on the BBC talent show. Aside from the originally penned title track, the album is a selection of covers of popular songs complementing the 27-year-old's style, while sounding fresh, and in some cases, even better than the original. It's impossible not to sit up to numbers such as The Lumineers's Ho Hey, Bruce Springsteen's Dancing In The Dark and Jake Bugg's Lightning Bolt, while Sarah Brightman's Angel is pure aural beauty. Her version of A-Ha's Take On Me is another highlight, while Once's theme tune Falling Slowly sounds like it was written for her. An album of covers might disappoint in some quarters, but The Message is, nonetheless, a gorgeous debut.
Rating: 8/10
PEARL JAM - LIGHTNING BOLT
As one of the last guys standing from the Seattle sound movement of the 1990s, and a self-described "dad band", there's always incredible weight on every new Pearl Jam release. On the whole, their tenth album just seems a bit too safe as the band, led by Eddie Vedder, continue to embrace their age and maturity which sees the stadium-filling anthems (the single Sirens) and folky numbers of the modern era being at their most dominant, with Vedder's uke even making an appearance on Sleeping By Myself. Although it's a good album, Lightning Bolt lacks the level of jolting excitement its title suggests, and while the dense, bass-led Infallible is easily one of the best things Pearl Jam have produced, overall they could do with adding a bit more oomph next time.
Rating: 7/10