Closer to The Music

After half a century in the music industry, it's amazing that Cher is still making records in 2013. That Closer to the Truth is any good at all is even more shocking. With the help of her longtime producer Mark Taylor, plus Billy Mann and Paul Oakenfold, the album has a fully modern sound, a large portion of the songs (written by the usual cast of many who include P!nk and Cher herself) are hooky and fun, and her voice, aided by technology or not, still carries a lot of weight and power. The album is split down the middle with the first half made up of shimmering, supercharged dance tracks that have disco and house influences and seem destined to fire up clubgoers with their soaring choruses.

The inspiration behind Closer to the People was to get Tanita Tikaram closer to her road band: to record the singer/songwriter with a touring combo with serious blues and soul roots. Several of these players have done time with Van Morrison, a comparison that comes in handy for Closer to the People, not because her songs sound like Van's – they don't – but the record trades in jazz and soul influences while also spinning these familiar tropes into the realm of the personal. Tikaram specializes in sculpted, open-ended compositions – even when the tempo quickens her songs seem to unfold gracefully – and that means the hushed arrangements, underpinned by acoustic bass and brushed drums, seem like reflections of the song's soul.

Former Gypsy Rose, Phenomena, and Dogface guitarist Martin Kronlund launches his new musical venture, Kings Crown: a musical alliance featuring the powerhouse british vocalist Lee Small (SHY, Phenomena, Sweet), along with Anders Skoog on keyboards, Berra Holmgren on bass and Pontus Engborg (Glenn Hughes) on drums. Kings Crown were formed in 2021 in Gothenburg, Sweden and the plan was to create a strong sound combining bluesy 1970s Hard Rock (think Deep Purple, Bad Company, Whitesnake, Rainbow), with the Swedish melodic hard rock of the 1980s. Thanks to Kronlund, strong experience in songwriting, and production, they managed to craft an exciting set of songs that were topped and completed with the terrific vocals of Lee Small, who truly shines with his exquisite of clean vocal range. The end result–great melodic Hard Rock with some rather tasty Hammond organs among all the guitars–is an exciting affair for all the lovers of the classic melodic hard rock sound and offers a truly enjoyable and entertaining listening experience.

It’s rare to find a ’60s legend still on trailblazing form in their eighth decade. The 73-year-old guitarist finds himself in a golden late-bloom of creativity. In recent years, his solo output has been championed by both press and public, with the impact of 2014’s ‘Something’s About To Change’, 2016’s ‘Where You Are Going To’ and 2017’s ‘Time & Emotion’ setting up some of his best-attended US dates since he conquered that continent with ‘Bridge Of Sighs’ in the mid-’70s.

The music marks a distinct departure from the busy bebop style Gillespie is more closely associated with, as he turns his attention to laid-back music with a funk/smooth jazz feel.

You'll recognise the wonderful Steamy Windows (covered by good friend Tina Turner with TJW backing her) but the awesome opening track Tunica Motel which tells of Tony Joe's return to his blues roots sets the stage for the whole album. Tunica Motel has it all - strong hooks and TJW's strong songwriting which starts as a song about getting away from it all, and becomes, gradually, a gut-spilling account. "I'm so tired of fighting with myself…" confesses TJW. Later, when he's contemplating his musical direction, he "sees the ghost of Robert Johnson" and for me the line brings an involunatary tingle down my spine every time I hear it, which is often. Tony Joe is Back! In this album he reintroduces us to his warm Stratocaster blues in gorgeous tracks: Ain't Going Down This Time and You're Gonna Look in Blues. In some ways these marked a new sound that he'd develop on subsequent albums - moving us closer to his use of Spanish guitar.