Life

ALBUM REVIEWS

Ed Sheeran

X

PUT aside his celebrity connections and romantic attachments, and Ed Sheeran is just a lad who's had his heart broken - albeit a talented one, who can hold a tune and play the guitar. The Brit-winning singer, who counts Jamie Foxx, Courteney Cox and Taylor Swift among his friends, is back with X (pronounced 'Multiply'), the highly anticipated follow-up to his 2012 debut , and there is plenty here to sate fans' appetites. A mix of acoustic ballads and more lively tunes including No 1 single Sing, the album opens with the pensive One, before the mood goes upbeat with I'm A Mess, Don't and Sing. Those who like Sheeran's rapping can check out his rhyming skills on Sing and The Man, while personal highlights include the soulful Thinking Out Loud, Afire Love (about his grandfather's struggle with Alzheimer's disease) and Photograph, a ballad he co-wrote with Snow Patrol's Johnny McDaid. Worth the wait.

Various

Centenary: Words and Music of the Great War

THE first of these two discs features war poems by writers including WB Yeats and Wilfred Owen, read by Jim Carter (Downton Abbey's Carson) and his Harry Potter star wife Imelda Staunton with passion and emotion, backed by music such as jaunty harmonica, lonesome fiddle and occasional sound effects of crashing bombs.

The second disc of Shadow Of Hands' folk music, inspired by the war, makes for much easier listening. The rousing tracks summon the wartime spirit that united Britain, while moving ballads allow for reflection on the countless lives that were lost in the name of king and country.

This is not the sort of CD to pop on during a dinner party or in the car: it seems more suited to a school assembly or memorial service.

Mastodon

Once More 'Round The Sun

AS THE most acclaimed metal of this millennium, Mastodon face a mammoth task living up to their reputation for consistency in producing top quality albums, Jonah Hex soundtrack aside.

Fans can exhale in relief as Once More 'Round The Sun sees the band on top form and contains the recurring aspects they're known for: sludgy, pounding riffs, wondrously fiddly lead lines, proggy pretensions and Neurosis's Scott Kelly popping up on vocals.

What makes this band a continuing, ever-evolving force is their tendency to pack their songs so full of fanciful ideas that even the four-minute tracks feel like grandiose epics. If, for some bizarre reason, you've fallen out of love with metal, this will rekindle your flagging relationship.

Various

The Only Way is Marbs: Marbella Anthems

THIS album is for all those partygoers who plan to Shake That this summer. Mixed by The Only Way Is Essex star Lauren Pope, the album perhaps surprisingly has somewhat of a chilled-out feel running through it - suited to being played at a lower volume as well as out loud. There is also a 1980s vibe on some tracks, and you can imagine My Love blasting out around a pool party in the Spanish sunshine, while the remix of Kylie Minogue's Into The Blue brings a big blast of pop to the compilation, with a remixed twist, of course. Coldplay's A Sky Full Of Stars is a stand-out song, the album's top tune is Fatboy Slim's Eat Sleep Rave Repeat, and a nice inclusion is Everything But The Girl's Missing.

The Orwells

Disgraceland

BOLSHY Chicago five-piece The Orwells release their second album Disgraceland, fresh from hitting out at UK rock 'n' roll royalty in the form of Arctic Monkeys. Guitarist Matt O'Keefe compared Sheffield's finest to the Backstreet Boys due to their "synchronised" performances during a recent support slot around the States.

But having been labelled one of the best live bands around by the music press, The Orwells are unlikely to fear a backlash.

On tracks such as Southern Comfort, Who Needs You and North Ave, the band highlights a more mature sound to their 2012 debut Remember When, yet it's an equally riotous affair, with comparisons drawn to their heroes Black Lips, while there are also hints of The White Stripes.

The Antlers

Familiars

AFTER 2009's Hospice, a heart-wrenching concept album divulging a cancer sufferer's relationship with her hospital worker, Brooklyn three-piece The Antlers found themselves near the head of the critically-acclaimed indie table.

If follow-up Burst Apart explored more nuanced concepts and a sound leaning towards stadium rock balladry, then their fifth album Familiars finds the band in a more controlled state.

Layers of electronic reverb have been stripped back in favour of bluesy guitars and twinkling pianos, creating a feeling of contentment which permeates the whole album. Although this mellower aesthetic negates the sort of visceral emotional punch ubiquitous on Hospice, album opener Palace proves that lead singer Peter Silberman's melancholic falsetto still holds the capacity to stand hairs on end.