Idlewild
Idlewild
(V2)
★★★★

FROM their punkish beginnings in the late 1990s, Idlewild hit the mainstream with their expansive 2002 album The Remote Part, with anthemic tracks like You Held The World In Your Arms and American English climbing the charts.

Sonically, the Scottish band’s new self-titled record — their 10th studio album — sits somewhere between these two artistic poles. Their knack for a melody endures, though the linear tracks sound pretty restrained compared to their noise rock early ventures.

Frontman Roddy Woomble, who lives on the remote Hebridean island of Iona, remains one of the more interesting lyricists, with references to Under Mild Wood on (I Can’t Help) Back Then You Found Me and Marx and Weber on Writers Of The Present Time.

No big surprises, then, but there’s something consoling about Woomble’s emotive vocals that makes Idlewild’s return very welcome indeed.

Pulp
Different Class – 30th Anniversary Edition
(Universal)
★★★★★

WHILE the Oasis reunion tour has filled stadiums and newspapers, there’s a strong case that Pulp’s 1995 album Different Class was actually the high point of Britpop.

Famously, the Sheffield band stood in as headliners when The Stone Roses pulled out of Glastonbury the same year. This 30th Anniversary Edition includes the electrifying live set, including frontman Jarvis Cocker telling the pre-mobile phone crowd that prime minister John Major had just resigned as Conservative Party leader to trigger a leadership challenge from his critics.

And the record itself? Despite being overplayed, anthems like Disco 2000 and the middle-class-goading Common People still retain their immense power. Even the lesser known tunes, like Monday Morning and Underwear, are phenomenally good, world-building pop songs, managing to be both incredibly specific and universal at the same time.

The sound of an era.

Laura Veirs
Laura Veirs And The Choir Who Couldn’t Say (Live In Angoulême)
(Raven Marching Band)
★★★

FOR over 25 years Laura Veirs has been plying her trade as a folky singer-songwriter, regularly putting out critically acclaimed records and building up a dedicated fan base.

Which brings us to her new record, a live recording of the Oregonian performing a suite of her songs in Soutwestern France with a school choir composed of 32 students aged 12-18, directed by Patrice Cleyrat.

While I was initially unsure it was going to work, repeated listens have confirmed Veirs’s work is actually well suited to a multitude of voices, with some of her best tunes on her previous albums including noteworthy backing vocals. The choir-assisted versions of Here Wide-Eyed, Legless, and I Want To Be Here from her 2016 album with Neko Case and k.d. lang, are particularly impressive, with the choir providing additional emotional heft.

Hooray for the kids!