By: Ben Chalk
Reviews of albums by Laura Marling, Mary J. Blige and White Stripes
Laura Marling - I Speak Because I Can
If you'll forgive the analogy, Laura Marling is the Wayne Rooney of nu-folk. Hailed as a prodigious talent at the tender age of just 17, she's not only coped with but thrived on the pressure such expectation entails.
Still only 20, I Speak Because I Can represents a huge leap forward from the promise of her debut.
Where her previous work veered occasionally towards the callow, this album is astonishingly rich, varied and mature. Lyrics like "Why fear death / Be scared of living / Hearts are small / And ever thinning" are positively world-weary, in fact.
Much of this, you sense, is due to her real-life role as muse of the musical scene from which she emerged. A former lover of Noah And The Whale singer/guitarist Charlie Fink (not to mention fully-fledged band member herself), she now steps out with Mumford & Sons front-man Marcus Mumford. If you're still in the mood for superfluous analogies, you could further describe Marling as the Justine Frischmann of contemporary folk.
Except of course she's not really folk. Not really. While the lilting vocal style, olde-worlde lyrics and acoustic instrumentation point firmly in that direction, there is more going on here. Kings Of Leon producer Ethan Johns coaxes out rhythms and textures which comfortably transcend the genre. On this album Marling is folk in the way Led Zeppelin were in their quieter moments - that is to say a hybrid of Celtic and American influences - and all the better for it.
If Alas I Cannot Swim deserved a Mercury nomination in 2008, the altogether more assured (right down to the title) I Speak Because I Can should be a favourite to win it this year. Most excitingly of all, you sense the best is yet to come from Laura Marling. 5/5
Mary J. Blige - Stronger With Each Tear
Although the last decade has produced a number of female soul/R&B singers with vocal chops to rival their illustrious predecessors (Alicia Keys, Beyoncé and Christina Aguilera to name but three), the dominant production style has been to process and Auto-Tune the life out of them.
Mary J. Blige, the godmother of the current generation, has so far resisted the trend but succumbs on this, her ninth album, with mixed results.
The lyrical themes are Blige's trademark pain and redemption but the sound is largely that of the beats and bleeps electropop du jour. With collaborators like Rodney Jerkins, will.i.am and Ne-Yo on board, much of Stronger With Each Tear sounds eminently modern but Blige's voice is a thing of timeless power and beauty. To hear it digitised on The One, for example, is like eating fillet steak covered in ketchup.
Bizarrely enough, the European edition of this album is bookended by Led Zeppelin covers, namely Whole Lotta Love and Stairway To Heaven. While they will no doubt have rock purists spitting blood, they are actually two of the better songs here.
The best track by a country mile, however, is the Raphael Saadiq-produced Color, taken from the Precious soundtrack. Mercifully free of the technological embellishments a singer of Blige's talent simply doesn't need, its heart-rending lyric and stark arrangement are the perfect setting for what remains arguably the best soul voice in the business. If only the whole album could have been like this. 3/5
White Stripes - Under Great White Northern Lights
This accompanying CD to the tour documentary of the same name is a real treat for fans. Perhaps more than any other contemporary rock/indie band, the White Stripes have always been about the stage rather than the studio, so it's perhaps odd that this is their first live album.
Jack White's dogmatic insistence on using no more than three instruments (which includes his voice), his avoidance of all but the most basic of effects, and the apparent simplicity of his songs' arrangements ensure a visceral listening experience. Being a contrary sort, White's production actually makes these live versions sound less distorted and frenetic than their studio counterparts.
This is by no means a bad thing though as new light is thrown on tracks like Black Math and Little Ghost. Fell In Love With A Girl is a particular revelation in this respect, slowed down almost to the point of being a ballad.
By the time the signature riff of Seven Nation Army kicks in, you know you've been on a journey with one of contemporary music's finest talents. Let's just hope it's not an epitaph for the White Stripes. 4/5