The Dreaming Spires
Normal Town
(Clubhouse Records)
⭑⭑⭑⭑☆

THE third record from The Dreaming Spires is a tribute to their hometown of Didcot – named after a 2017 study that labelled it the “most normal town in England”.

As someone completely new to the Oxfordshire band, the set of melodic indie rock is a revelation. To my ears lead singer Robin Bennett’s vocals on the title track echo those of Wayne Coyne from The Flaming Lips, while Normalisation brings to mind the sweet-sounding harmonies of The Pernice Brothers. As you might expect from the album title, the lyrics zero in on everyday memories, from the high street to the underpass, through Saturday night, and onto thoughts of leaving and returning. And this being Didcot, the demolition of cooling towers.

Riddled with a particular type of English melancholia, a lot of people are going to feel seen by Normal Town.

Bruce Springsteen
Nebraska ’82: Expanded Edition
(Columbia)
⭑⭑⭑⭑⭑

RELEASED to coincide with the new movie Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere, Nebraska ’82: Expanded Edition is a treasure trove for fans of New Jersey’s favourite son.

As the legend goes, coming off a hugely successful tour of The River album with the E-Street Band, in late 1981 Springsteen recorded a series of demos of stark solo folk music of working class stories in his bedroom. After trying to make full band versions of the songs, it was decided to release the original demos as Nebraska.

This four disc boxset includes outtakes, a new live performance of the album and, most exciting, the so-called Electric Nebraska sessions — described as “noirish punk rockabilly” by Erik Flannigan, who wrote the liner notes. Johnny 99 and Open All Night are particularly thrilling.

A fascinating portrait of an artist on the cusp of mega-stardom.

Chet Baker
Chet Baker Performs & Sings Swimming By Moonlight
(Slow Down Sounds)
⭑⭑⭑☆☆

THE leading man, and pretty face of the 1950s West Coast jazz scene, Chet Baker has one of the most stylised images of any popular musician.

Which is one reason Bruce Weber’s alluring 1988 Oscar-nominated documentary Let’s Get Lost is so fascinating, following the jazz star in the last year of his life.

This 15-track set collects previously unreleased studio recordings, along with a poetry reading and live cuts of the legendary vocalist and trumpeter — all recorded during the making of the film.

Gone is the romantic longing and crooning of his younger years, replaced by a sometimes wayward voice cracked with age and a hard life of prolonged drug addiction. There’s lots here for fans, from his take on favourite Just Friends, to the muted cover of Milestones, and the emotionally devastating closing ballad Almost Blue.