Album review overview: James Blake, Anjimile and more

Dozens of new albums arrive at Maxazine’s editorial staff every week. There are way too many to listen to them all, let alone review them. It ensures that too many albums are left behind. And that’s a shame. That is why today we post an overview of albums that arrive at the editors in short reviews.

Philip Shouse – Side I

Philip Shouse is the most famous man nobody knows in the rock world. For years, he has been part of the touring bands of Kiss members Gene Simmons as guitarist and bassist and Ace Frehley. He can also be heard on the album “Origins Vol. 2” by Ace Frehley. He has also worked with John Corabi (The Scream/Mötley Crüe) and country rock star Rodney Atkins. “Side I” is literally and figuratively a solo album. Philip Shouse takes care of the vocals, bass and guitar himself. The music on “Side I” is very melodic with beautiful harmonies inspired by The Beatles. You might also think of Tom Petty and Led Zeppelin. But the majority of the five beautiful songs on this promising debut mini-album can be described as country pop rock. I am already looking forward to the follow-up (“Side 2”?)! (Ad Keepers) (8/10) (Wild Kingdom/Sound Pollution)

Champian Fulton – Flying High: Still Soaring

They were called ‘canaries’: female jazz vocalists who made a name for themselves in the 1930s and 1940s with the big bands of Glenn Miller, Artie Shaw, Gene Krupa and Benny Goodman and later grew into stars as solo artists. American pianist and singer Champian Fulton delivers a worthy tribute to illustrious predecessors on “Flying High: Still Soaring”. From the opening “S’posin'” to “Sentimental Journey”, Fulton proves that she is a true master of this genre. This is hardly surprising, as the Great American Songbook was instilled in her from an early age. The art is to keep the material sounding fresh and original, and Fulton succeeds in doing so. She receives help from several vocal powerhouses in this field: Bria Skonberg, Tahira Clayton, Carmen Bradford and Nicole Zuraitis. In “What a Little Moonlight Can Do”, you clearly hear Fulton’s strength: the arrangements remain faithful to the swing tradition without sounding old-fashioned. It gives the vocals the stage, while Fulton’s piano playing flutters around the voice with a light rhythmic touch. For lovers of swing and vocal jazz, this is a particularly charming record: stylish, energetic and clearly made out of love for the tradition of swing. (Jeroen Mulder) (8/10) (Songbook Ink)

Anjimile – You’re Free To Go

Anjimile makes music like someone breathing after holding their breath underwater for a long time. “You’re Free To Go” is intimate, vulnerable and at certain moments devastatingly beautiful. Lyrics about freedom, identity and letting go are carried by a voice that lands straight in your chest. Where the debut by Anjimile was more rooted in folk, this album deliberately chooses openness, more space, more silence, more light. Listen to the title track as the starting point: if that does not convince you, this album is not for you. But chances are it certainly will. (Elodie Renard) (7/10) (4AD)

Modha – At Your Place

Soulless, calculated and polished. The Berlin duo Dhanya Langer and Max Scholl does not hide its opinion about much contemporary music. As Modha, the pair wants to surprise its audience with raw energy packaged in experimental compositions. The songs deal with relevant matters such as mental health, but also the challenge of the artist amid the emotional and economic realities of everyday life. Hello. Such marketing rarely promises anything good. Thank heavens the marketing completely misses the mark here, because “At Your Pace” is a wonderful album that is far less experimental than the marketing would have us believe, partly thanks to guest musicians such as singer Allysha Joy in the languid jazzy “Good News” or the hip hop crossover “Bullet” with sharp lyrics by Baton Rouge rapper Wakai. The highlight is “River”, featuring Hungarian keyboardist Ábasé and a beautiful flute solo by Fanni Zahár. In this way, Modha combines jazz with a generous touch of R&B and hip hop. Nothing new under the sun, but well done. Raw energy? Nah. For that, it all sounds far too calculated and polished. Fortunately. One point deducted for the blistering marketing. (Jeroen Mulder) (7/10) (Sonar Kollektiv)

James Blake – Trying Times

Blake returns as a man who has finally become his own boss. “Trying Times”, his seventh studio album and first without a major label, sounds like a relieved exhale after years of contractual suffocation. The familiar ingredients are still there: that hallucinatory falsetto voice, the almost painfully quiet production, the electronic textures that feel like wet concrete. But there is a new calmness. Anyone who thought this would be the album of existential crisis is mistaken. This is the album of someone who has come to rest. Not as urgently pressing as “Retrograde”, but just as thoughtful. Suitable for anyone who has always found James Blake a little too loud. (Jan Vranken) (7/10) (GOOD BOYS COMPANY)