Albums of the week: The Moon and Stars, French Duets, Chemtrails over the Country Club
New releases from Valerie June, Paul Lewis and Steven Osborne, and Lana Del Rey
1. The Moon and Stars
Valerie June
“Unfettered by loyalty to any one genre”, the American singer-songwriter Valerie June is “a musician’s dream” – and her third album is an “absolute stunner”, said Dan Cairns in The Sunday Times. Ranging across soul, jazz, folk and country, she sings with “unblinking self-awareness about longing, gratitude, obsession and rapture”. And her voice is extraordinary: sometimes “like a sigh, sometimes a sharp-edged keen”, and sometimes a “full-throated holler”. Yet it’s never the sound of a singer “showboating”; it’s one “digging deep for the hidden gold”. It’s a “sensational” album.
Subtitled Prescriptions For Dreamers, this wonderful collection will surely feature on album of the year lists, agreed Will Hodgkinson in The Times. The elements of rootsy folk in June’s music “touch on the transcending otherness” that Van Morrison evoked on Astral Weeks. But she also “goes somewhere else entirely: gospel spirituals, jazzy flute moments, hypnotic one-chord dirges, country touches and soul ballads” all contribute to an enthralling kind of “sonic fantasia”.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
2. French Duets
Paul Lewis and Steven Osborne
The cover of this superb new disc of French piano duets depicts Boaters Rowing on the Yerres by Caillebotte, said Fiona Maddocks in The Guardian. The painting, in which “two mighty rowers hold one oar each, pulling with equal weight”, reflects the way the pianists Paul Lewis and Steven Osborne collaborate on this “sunny, wistful” recital. The programme – including Fauré’s Dolly, Debussy’s Petite Suite, and Three Easy Pieces from Stravinsky’s Parisian period – might appear simple, but it requires “perfect equilibrium” between two soloists.
They have already produced one “exceptional disc” together, said Hugh Canning in The Sunday Times: Schubert’s music for four hands, including the Fantasie in F minor, one of the genre’s masterpieces. This collection, too, is “brilliantly played”. Poulenc’s Sonata for Piano Four Hands sounds strikingly avant garde. And on both the Fauré, and Ravel’s Ma mère l’Oye, the two pianists evince “an almost orchestral palette” of colours: “limpid, translucent textures, vital rhythmic address and shapely phrasing” of the melodies.
3. Chemtrails over the Country Club
Lana Del Rey
Ever since Lizzy Grant “artfully re-branded herself” as Lana Del Rey in 2011, she has maintained a quality of ineffable mystery, said Neil McCormick in The Daily Telegraph. Even now, on her thrilling seventh album, it is unclear if she is “satirising a contemporary fixation with style over substance, or merely indulging it”. But perhaps it doesn’t matter when the music is this great. Chemtrails is a “gorgeously enigmatic showpiece” dripping with “audacious songcraft” and shot through with a “simmering, sinister undercurrent”. It’s a “seductive” treat, on which Del Rey drifts ever further from the pop mainstream.
The singer has “toned down the lush orchestration” of Norman F***ing Rockwell and opted for more acoustic guitar-picking, said Helen Brown in The Independent – along with “scuffs of scuzzy electric guitar and trip-hoppy hotel lobby organ”. Strikingly, she closes with a loving, upbeat cover of Joni Mitchell’s For Free. “Mitchell also disappointed feminists by refusing to sign up to the cause. I bet Del Rey knows that. I bet she doesn’t care.”
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
The drive behind Germany's pro-Israel political consensus
Under the Radar Belief that Israel's security is a 'raison d'etre for the German republic' is under growing pressure
By The Week UK Published
-
'The House under GOP rule has become a hostile workplace'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Harold Maass, The Week US Published
-
The Shohei Ohtani gambling scandal is about more than bad bets
In The Spotlight The firestorm surrounding one of baseball's biggest stars threatens to upend a generational legacy and professional sports at large
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
The Westbury Hotel review: stunning suites in charming Dublin
The Week Recommends This hotel is the perfect spot to while away a weekend in Ireland's capital
By Kaye O'Doherty Published
-
Drama movies 2024: new films out this year
In Depth Latest reviews include The Boys in the Boat, One Life and Tchaikovsky's Wife
By The Week UK Last updated
-
Best new hotels and places to stay in 2024
The Week Recommends Featuring stylish island resorts, historical properties and wilderness retreats
By The Week UK Last updated
-
Albums of the year: best music of 2023
The Week Recommends A look back at the best pop, rap, jazz, dance, classical and rock releases
By The Week UK Published
-
Savoy Grill by Gordon Ramsay review: an institution reinvented
The Week Recommends Traditions are maintained and the tweaks are clever and modern
By Neil Davey Published
-
Tulum: a Mexican beach town of 'two halves'
The Week Recommends With the 'pueblo' and 'Zona Hotelera', Tulum is home to great hotels, restaurants and beach clubs
By William Leigh Published
-
La Zebra review: beach chic, perfect tacos and secret cenotes
The Week Recommends Enjoy a stylish stay in Mexico at this family-friendly beach hotel and restaurant
By William Leigh Published
-
Atlantis Paradise Island Bahamas review: a mythical beachside resort
The Week Recommends Combine the classically simple pleasures of sun, sea and sand with upmarket fun and food
By Adrienne Wyper Published