MARY CONWAY applauds the revival of a tense, and extremely funny, study of men, money and playing cards
Album Reviews with Ian Sinclair: December 2, 2020
MEHDI ACHOUCHE explores the constant fascination of cinema with Marxist alienation from Fritz Lang and Chaplin to Bong Joon Ho
FIONA O’CONNOR steps warily through a novel that skewers many of the exposed flanks of the over-privileged
MARY CONWAY applauds the study of a dysfunctional family set in an Ireland that could be anywhere
MICK MCSHANE is roused by a band whose socialism laces every line of every song with commitment and raw passion
New releases from Mountain, Soul Asylum and Michael McDermott
ALEX HALL is disgusted by the misuse of ‘emotional narratives’ to justify uninformed geo-political prejudice
Hjalte Ross
Waves of Haste
(Wouldn’t Waste Records)
★★★★
FOLLOWING his beautifully melancholic, Nick Drake-influenced 2018 debut LP, Norwegian singer-songwriter Hjalte Ross returns with the Waves of Haste, written during stays at a remote Norwegian lighthouse and in New York City.
Engineered by John Wood (John Martyn, Cat Stevens and, yes, Nick Drake), there is a noticeable expansion and maturing of his acoustic folk sound, with more varied and complex song structures. The tired-sounding Off My Mind includes strings, piano and some lonesome sax, while the horns-boosted Thinking About You is positively upbeat.
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