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CHARA
Union
(Universal)
Chara’s music has always been full of
contradictions. Crooning like a sweet pre-teen, her delivery
nevertheless has a maturity beyond that of mere idols. Here,
seemingly simple song names (“Boy,” “This Is My Car,” “Sweet
Sweet”) hide a song-craft that’s superior to her sugarcoated
first albums. Recent releases had shown Chara’s more daring
side, pitching her as a kook—yet one significantly more
approachable than her eccentric, similarly baby-voiced
contemporary Yuki. On Union, Chara reclaims old territory,
every track exuding the innocent charm that made her
early-’90s releases (Happy Toy, Soul Kiss) so alluring. Light
and refreshing, playful and curiously comforting, Union is
top-notch disposable J-Pop at its finest. Robert Poole
JUBA DANCE
Orange
(Audio8)
Take a jazz and blues man from the south side of
Chicago and transport him to Rio de Janeiro. Next, hook him up
with a word-spouting poet and a rotating cast of producers and
musicians. The result? Benjamin Lamar and Will Freyman and an
otherworldly amalgamation of jazz, blues and hip-hop with
Brazilian rhythms and abstract downtempo electronica.
Sometimes the pair stretch too far, but when Lamar’s muted,
Miles Davis-flavored trumpet and Freyman’s laconic vocal
observations click on tracks like “Angela Jeanette,” the
effect can be mesmerizing. Words like “eclectic” and “fusion”
barely scratch the surface of Juba Dance’s ambitions. DG
CHARLOTTE HATHERLEY
The Deep Blue
(Sony Music Japan
International)
While missing out somehow on the work of Ash,
ex-guitarist Charlotte Hatherley’s second solo album comes as
an agreeable surprise. Working with Frank Black producer Eric
Feldman and PJ Harvey cohort Rob Ellis, Hatherley delivers a
sprawling, 17-song opus that recounts the journey of an
axe-wielding rock chick reaching maturity. Comparisons with
post-grunge sisters like Garbage’s Shirley Manson come to
mind, but Hatherley is her own woman, as capable of catchy pop
numbers like “Behave” as she is of ethereal uplifters such as
“Dawn Treader” (written with XTC’s Andy Partridge). With Sony
taking a bet on this 27-year-old “guitar beauty,” audiences
here may soon get a chance to take in one of her sets in
person. DG
PAOLO NUTINI
These
Streets
(Warner)
 |
“Don’t treat me like a baby,” pleads 20-year-old
Paolo Nutini in the opening track on this debut. Nutini’s
lyrics paint him as a lovelorn teenager singing the blues,
while his soulful vocals add a whole new dimension to that
tried and tested formula. It is this heartfelt, gravelly voice
that gives Nutini’s sound a ripeness beyond his years and
saves this from being just another whiny “take me seriously”
rant. These Streets is honest soul-baring that somehow manages
to avoid descending into self-pity. Standout tracks “Jenny
Don’t Be Hasty,” “Last Request” and the title track, for
example, tackle older-woman-chasing, a dead-end relationship
and hometown nostalgia—but each track lilts along so
pleasantly that you can’t help but smile and want to give the
guy a pat on the back. Mark Butterworth
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