Albums of the week: Glowing in the Dark, Vida Breve, Skellig
New releases from Django Django, Stephen Hough and David Gray
1. Glowing in the Dark
Django Django
The London-based four-piece band Django Django remain as “slippery to categorise” as ever on this excellent fourth album, said Phil Mongredien in The Observer. Like their previous releases, Glowing in the Dark is a “masterclass in blurring genre boundaries”, as “indie song structures are subtly enhanced with clever, deceptive rhythms, propulsive krautrock momentum and splashes of synths”. On Headrush, for example, the sinuous intro is underpinned by a “mighty, Peter Hook-like bassline”, while Waking Up features a “breathy guest vocal from Charlotte Gainsbourg”.
On another highlight, Free from Gravity, the band “heads into psych-pop heights” with Brian Wilson-style vocals and the “spacey electronic melodies” of 1970s German kosmische Musik, said Ludovic Hunter-Tilney in the FT. By contrast, the title track features an “oscillating techno tone” and dance beats. But whatever the genre or style, Django Django invest their music with “vibrant textures and psychedelic colours”, and a “pulsating sense of animation”. It’s all “deliriously enjoyable”.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
2. Vida Breve
Stephen Hough
There is “something for every pianophile” on this “characteristically ingenious concept album” from the British-Australian pianist and composer Stephen Hough, said Hugh Canning in The Sunday Times. Consisting of a series of pieces by great composers, it has as its climax Hough’s own 2018 sonata Vida Breve. The theme linking them is death, starting with Busoni’s famous piano transcription of the chaconne from Bach’s second violin partita, and continuing with Chopin’s “Funeral March” sonata and Liszt’s Funérailles. In the Chopin, Hough’s playing draws on his love of operatic bel canto and is “seamlessly lyrical”, while there’s a “demonically witty glint” to Liszt’s Bagatelle sans tonalité.
His accounts of these works is “arresting”, agreed Anthony Tommasini in The New York Times. His performance of the “colossal” Busoni/Bach piece – a real “cathedral of sound” – is “stunning”. His own sonata “shifts from lacy, harmonically wandering passages” to “stretches of industrious counterpoint, which build to a climax of teeming intensity”.
3. Skellig
David Gray
In the late 1990s, David Gray’s fourth album, the global smash White Ladder, became “as much of a dinner party staple as focaccia”, said Will Hodgkinson in The Times. Since then, he has gone further and further “down his own path”, and it has led to Skellig, a “concept album about a group of monks” who, in AD600, sought hermetic solitude on a rocky outcrop off Ireland’s southwest coast. It sounds odd, but it works. Made up of simple guitar parts, mournful violin and beautiful harmonies, the album is reflective and “warming”.
If all you know of Gray is his “singalong” single Babylon, then “you are missing out on one of the most thoughtful and nuanced singer-songwriters of recent decades”, said Neil McCormick in The Daily Telegraph. Skellig is a “ruminative” album that is ultimately about the tensions between sensualism and asceticism; participation and withdrawal. But “complex” lyrics are set to elegant arrangements adorned with “tinkles of electronica” and “gilded with gorgeous six-part harmonies that come floating in with a spooky loveliness”.
Laugh a Minute £10 [pre-order]
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
What would it be like in jail for Trump if he's convicted?
Today's Big Question The Secret Service has begun grappling with how to protect a former president behind bars
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
How much can you save shopping secondhand?
The Explainer Many Americans are buying pre-owned items to counteract the effects of inflation
By Becca Stanek, The Week US Published
-
Downtown St. Louis is in a real estate 'doom loop'
Under the Radar The city is ripe with abandoned buildings and vacant lots, with its real estate market in dire straits
By Justin Klawans, The Week US Published
-
Silversea cruise review: a Central and North American adventure
The Week Recommends An incredible journey featuring cultural exploration, cooking classes, comfort and more
By Yasemen Kaner-White Published
-
The Westbury Hotel review: stunning suites in charming Dublin
The Week Recommends This hotel is the perfect spot to while away a weekend in Ireland's capital
By Kaye O'Doherty Published
-
Drama movies 2024: new films out this year
In Depth Latest reviews include The Boys in the Boat, One Life and Tchaikovsky's Wife
By The Week UK Last updated
-
Best new hotels and places to stay in 2024
The Week Recommends Featuring stylish island resorts, historical properties and wilderness retreats
By The Week UK Last updated
-
Albums of the year: best music of 2023
The Week Recommends A look back at the best pop, rap, jazz, dance, classical and rock releases
By The Week UK Published
-
Savoy Grill by Gordon Ramsay review: an institution reinvented
The Week Recommends Traditions are maintained and the tweaks are clever and modern
By Neil Davey Published
-
Tulum: a Mexican beach town of 'two halves'
The Week Recommends With the 'pueblo' and 'Zona Hotelera', Tulum is home to great hotels, restaurants and beach clubs
By William Leigh Published
-
La Zebra review: beach chic, perfect tacos and secret cenotes
The Week Recommends Enjoy a stylish stay in Mexico at this family-friendly beach hotel and restaurant
By William Leigh Published