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Memories, regrets and a keen sense of time
IAN SINCLAIR reviews latest from Michael Chapman, Kaia Kater, and William Tyler

Michael Chapman
True North
(Paradise of Bachelors)
★★★★

VETERAN British guitarist and songwriter Michael Chapman has released a brooding album full of memories, regrets and a keen sense of the passing of time.

Made up of four original compositions and cuts from the 77-year-old’s voluminous back catalogue, True North seems to exist in the same ethereal, late-night musical and cultural hinterland as Bob Dylan’s Time Out of Mind.

On opener It’s Too Late, Chapman’s gravitas-laden vocals are reminiscent of another rock legend — Johnny Cash circa his Rick Rubin-assisted reinvention. “I never knew I wanted you until it was too late,” he laments.

Kaia Kater
Grenades
(Smithsonian Folkways Recordings)
★★★★

William Tyler
Goes West
(Merge Records)
★★★

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