48 ............... Friday, November 4, 2016 1SM

DESPITE being written off asManchester-flavoured lad rock,The Courteneers have quietlycontinued to garner a following.Now on their fifth album, theyhave matured and embellishedtheir sound, while sticking tothe blueprint.Opener Lucifer’s Dreams isdirected at the beautiful peopleof North London.No OneWill Ever Replace Usdeals with the beery-eyednostalgia of old mates whileDe La Selle is a slow ballad inthe vein of Oasis’s Wonderwall.For some, the meat-and-potatoes guitar riffsare too derivative tomerit attention – butfor the convertedthey continue tocarry the torch. JS

KURTWAGNER’S musicachieves its aims throughsubtle textures and half-spokenthoughts.As leader of Nashvillecollective Lambchop, he’sdrawn on soul, country androck but fashioned somethingelusive and individual.Now FLOTUS (For Love OftenTurns Us Still) is a startlingreinvention that employs thetype of electronic soniclandscape you might expect ona Kendrick Lamar record.With treated vocals andprocessed beats, Wagnerweaves his magic,even if theunadorned finaleThe Hustle is thisalbum’s masterstroke. SC

AS lead guitarist in The Strokes,Nick Valensi is arguably one ofthe most distinctive players inindie rock.This debut record with CRX–produced by Queens of theStone Age main man JoshHomme – places his signaturesound in a whole new context.This band is lighter on scuzzand has an more glamaesthetic.But they do go pretty heavy attimes, with tracks like On Edgeand Unnatural doing away withthe swagger in favour ofsomething more aggressive.Broken BonesandWays To Fake Itbring a pop vibe,proving they have anumber of stringsto their bow. PC

THE VOICE of Mazzy Starreturns just as dreamy andgorgeous as ever.Sandoval’s collaborationswith My Bloody Valentine’sColm Ó Cíosóig (TheWarmInventions) are few and farbetween but this third effort in15 years is worth the wait.It begins with the ambient,atmospheric Into The Trees,underpinned by keyboards anddrums that wouldn’t be out ofplace on an early post-SydBarrett Pink Floyd record. Moreconventional, The Peasant is anacoustic, country-tinged gemwhileLet Me Get There, alovely laidback duetwith Kurt Vile, is asummer breeze ofa song. SC

NEWRELEASES

THE COURTEENERSMapping the Rendezvous HHHú

LAMBCHOPFlotus HHHHú

HOPE SANDOVALAND THE WARMINVENTIONSUntil The Hunter HHHH

CRXNew Skin HHHH

NEWRELEASES

Mostly I realised how much I lovesinging and how much I dependon it. My whole life is in my voicebut I’d say it took me a year to getback to knowing how to control it.

“It was a lot weaker in thebeginning so I am very happy thatI had the surgery because it gaveme the possibility to fully have myvoice back.”

And how has she changed habitsin looking after her voice? “Theysaid I could never smoke again. Ithink it’s easy to give up thingswhen you know what you can lose.That was no trouble.”

Having recently moved to NewYork, the singer says she has beenso busy that she has not had timeto settle in her new city.

Her non-stop schedule alsomeans no time for relationshipsbut she’s enjoying being single.

Tove says: “To be honest it’s hardto hold on to relationships. My lifekeeps changing so much that Ihave to choose between my lovefor a person or my passion for my

music. And I have a very hardtime letting go of music becauseit’s something that I really need.

“It is up to me to figure outwhere and when I am willing togive up some of it for someonebecause music is a very demandinglife. Now I’m feeling pretty goodabout being on my own.”

With huge worldwide hits such asHabits and Talking Body, Tove saysshe’s happy that people compareher to another Swedish songstress,Robyn, who she admires hugely.

Tove says: “Robyn is a hugeinspiration. I’m such a fan. I alsothink Lorde is very talented andcool. The same with Lana Del Rey,who says things the way she wantsto and doesn’t apologise for it. I

also love Icona Pop, who are twoof my best friends from Swedenwho I’ve been lucky to work with.”

As well as her own hits, Tovemade her name as a songwriter forother big names when she washand-picked to team up with MaxMartin’s writing collective WolfCousins in late 2014.

She went on to write songs forGirls Aloud, Ella Eyre, Cher Lloydand The Saturdays.

Of working with her mentor,Tove says: “Working with Max wasan amazing learning experience forme and I wish I could do more. Itry as much as I can but don’thave the time.

“I wrote Still Falling For You forEllie Goulding, which I am proudof. Wolf Cousins are like a familyto me. I miss everyone a lotbecause I used to spend so muchtime with them in the studio.”

As a headstrong girl with plentyof confidence, Tove says she doessuffer from nerves such as whenshe was asked to sing on

Continued from Page 45about drug use to deal with heart-ache, the feisty singer is as open asshe was on first album, Queen OfThe Clouds.

In Lady Wood she sings aboutsex and love and the ups anddown of relationships in her usualcandid way, an approach that hasearned Tove — whose mum is atherapist — a lot of attention.

The singer says: “I have alwaysbeen a feminist and very open.With my first album I didn’t real-ise or understand that peoplewould see it as provocative.

“I had to defend myself so manytimes for being a woman and sing-ing about sex. I thought that wasso weird and why was it even anissue? People sing about this stuffall the time.

“But I realised that it was MENwho sing about this all the time.”

Like Queen Of The Clouds,which was divided into three chap-ters — The Sex; The Love and ThePain — Lady Wood is divided intoFairy Dust and Fire Fade, theextremes Tove goes through whenshe is chasing a rush.

She explains: “I was never goingto change just because a numberof people thought it was wrong forme to sing about things like this. Istill wanted to express myselfexactly the way I wanted to.

“There shouldn’t be any differ-ence between what men andwomen talk about. There are waybigger questions and issues forwomen all over the world. Issuesthat I’ve never had to experiencebeing a white woman growing upin Sweden.

“If I chose to silence myselfbecause I’d offended someone bybeing a woman, then that wouldbe wrong.”

The Fairy Dust side of the albumincludes Influence, a collaborationwith Wiz Khalifa, and her brilliantelectro-pop single True Disaster.

‘It’s hard to holdon to relationships’

Cool Girl also features, a trackinspired by Gillian Flynn’s best-selling thriller Gone Girl, which in2014 was made into a film starringBen Affleck and Rosamund Pike,as psychopath Amy Dunne.

Tove says: “There is a monologuein the film where Amy is talkingabout how she changed herself tobecome someone that she thinksher husband wants.

“It made me think about thebeginning of relationships, whenwe play those power games ofwhoever shows the least emotionhas the upper hand. It made mequestion why we change ourselvesfor a person. It is just setting your-self up to fail.

“In the song I’m being sarcastic,saying I know what you’re doingbut I just want something real.”

Chapter II, Fire Fade, is the partof the album that Tove refers to asthe darker side to her journey andincludes synth ballad Don’t TalkAbout It and another standout,Imaginary Friend.

Writing the new record was acreative time for Tove and she’sbeen working on the follow-up inbetween her shows.

She laughs and says: “I know it’scrazy but I didn’t want to cram 20songs into one album — that wasjust too much. It was very impor-tant that this record felt like onebody of work and for me, tensongs with my chapters and introsand outros was what I wanted.

“To cram 20 songs in one releaseis too much. It wouldn’t be some-thing you could take in all at once.It would be overkill.”

She adds of her next project: “Itgives time to take the first twosteps of this emotional journey in.

“Then, the second two chapters —which are called Light Beams andPitch Black — are the moreextreme contrasts of the highs andthe lows. Those songs will defi-nitely make sense when you hearthem all as one album.”

One low that Tove has recoveredfrom is the vocal surgery sheunderwent last year after sufferingfrom cysts on her vocal cords.

She admits: “It was very scaryand a wake-up call in a way.

I’m feelingprettygreataboutbeingonmyown

1.FairyDust (Chapter I)2. Influence3. LadyWood4.True Disaster5.Cool Girl6.Vibes7.Fire Fade (Chapter II)8.Don’t Talk About It9. Imaginary Friend10.Keep It Simple11.Flashes12.WTF Love Is

TOVELOLadyWoodHHHH

‘TheysaidIcouldneversmokeagainbut it’seasytogiveupthingswhenyouknowwhatyoucanlose’

MUSIC MEETSTOVELOss f t w1SM Friday, November 4, 2016 ............... 49

Coldplay’s last album A Head FullOf Dreams, on the track Fun.

She recalls: “I thought it was aprank at first.

“I got an email which said, ‘Heyit’s Chris Martin from the Britishband Coldplay’ and I didn’t believe it.

“I have been a huge fan of theband for ever and used to sing allof their songs at school. But thenwe spoke and he asked me to singon the song.

‘I’m only a role modelin that I am being real’

“I was in Brazil at the time andso when I got the track sent I waslistening to it over and over again. Iwas really nervous in the studio,questioning whether I was reallygood enough.

“It’s the only song I have eversung on without writing anythingmyself and I think wanting todeliver it the way they wanted wasreally surreal.”

Being as honest about her insecu-

rities as she is about her personallife is why so many young girls lookup to Tove.

It’s a role she takes very seriously,saying: “It’s all about honesty. Grow-ing up I remember arguing with myparents when my brother wasallowed to do something that Iwasn’t because he was a boy.

“They’d listen and think I wasright. I’ve never thought I couldn’tdo something because I was a girland that’s a big part of me.

“So I’m only a role model in thatI am being real.

“I can show all sides to everystory and some topics might not beconsidered good for young kids tohear, but things aren’t going to goaway just because we don’t talkabout them. Whether that’s sex ordrugs . . . there are ways to protectwithout ignoring. And that’s how Iapproach my songs.

“I address all the real things thathappen in my life without trying tohide anything away. It’s the onlyway for me.”

ss f t w MUSIC TOP5GIGS

BRING ME THE HORIZON, tonight, Barclaycard Arena, Birmingham; TOM ODELL, tonight, TheBrighton Centre; THE SPECIALS, tonight, Wolverhampton Civic Hall; ALL TIME LOW, March 10,Eventim Apollo, London; RADIOHEAD, July 4, Manchester Arena

HOTTRACKS

GRANDADDY: WayWeWon’t. The legendaryband return after adecade-long hiatuswith this brilliant newsingle. Think fuzzyguitar hooks andJason Lytle’s (above)signature drawl. Thetrack heads up theirfifth album Last Place,out next year.

HHHHúCHARLI XCX FT. LILYACHTY: After TheAfter Party. A glossilyproduced partyanthemwith aspooktacular video.It’s from Charli’s thirdalbum, which looks setto be her most poppyto date.

HHHHSHURA: Nothing’sReal. Elegant electropop from theMancunian singer.This is the title track ofher excellent debutalbum.

HHHHKT TUNSTALL: HardGirls. This track aboutstaying true toyourself pairs amiddle-of-the-roadmelody with a moreexperimental,saturatedinstrumental.

HHHPHARRELLWILLIAMS: Runnin’.This vibey jazz trackfrom the artist/super-producer features onthe soundtrack forupcoming film HiddenFigures.

HHHúGROUPLOVE: Do YouLove Someone. Fromthe band’s latestalbum Big Mess,comes this full-bodiedindie-rock anthemwith a subtly grungyvibe.

HHHHALPINES: Stay.Another sleek andsoulful track fromLondon duoCatherinePockson and BobMatthews. They say itwasmade to be turnedup loud.

HHHúTELEGRAM: You SaidYou Saw Us. Despitescruffy edges andplenty of reverb, this isan impressively tighttrack, it brings to mindThe Jesus And MaryChain. HHHHTA’EAST: Light TheWay. The LA-basedrapper delivers arelentlessly darksound on this track.Cairo Mayeson’s starkproduction offsets therap perfectly.

HHHúOLLY MURS: Grow Up.This track, taken fromOlly’s (below)upcoming fifth album24 Hrs, has anunfortunate nurseryrhyme quality.

HHúPOPPY COSYNS

THE BROKEN RAVENSWHO: Toby Michaels (vocals), Calum“Thrash” MacAulay (guitar), Derek Healey(guitar), John “Lotto” Ferguson (bass), KevinClark (drums)WHERE: Stornoway, Isle of LewisFOR FANS OF:Metallica, Queens Of TheStone Age, Foo FightersJIM SAYS: Stornoway metal band The Bro-ken Ravens head to Los Angeles this monthfor a string of dates.

Drummer Kevin Clark and guitarist DerekHealey are no strangers to the entertainmentcapital of the world.

Their previous band, Our Lunar Activities,spent a fair bit of time in LA, including record-ing with Blink-182’s Mark Hoppus.

The Broken Ravens first got together in late2011, initially playing cover versions of rockfavourites.

Trash explained: “We had so much fun thatit quickly led to jamming our own tunes andsnowballed from there, recording, putting ourmusic out and playing some great gigs andfestivals on the mainland.”

I first saw The Broken Ravens live a fewyears ago at a showcase in Inverness. Theirexplosive take on classic rock had mehooked.

Gift-wrappedin Harris Tweed

A line-up change at the start of last yearsaw Kevin teaming up with his former band-mate Derek, plus Toby Michaels coming in onvocals.

Kevin told me: “It gave us the kick in therear end we needed. We took a good look atwhat we were doing and decided how wecould change things.

“Derek was a friend to everyone in the bandalready.

“We had known Toby for a couple of years,and he came highly recommended. Logisti-cally it was going to be a challenge as Tobylives in Nairn, so he has a long way to comefor practice.

“Somehow we made it work, and every-thing just clicked.”

Thrash added: “It totally opened up oursound. We got to utilise Toby’s broad vocalrange and Derek’s ability.

“After two practices, we had two brand newtracks that had Toby and Derek’s imprints onthem but still very much TBR.

“They settled into the band in no time atall.”

The upcoming Los Angeles dates cameabout after Kevin went there last year to cele-

brate his 40th birthday and he put his market-ing hat on.

He told me: “We had just finished recordingten tracks in the Wee Studio in Stornoway,with the amazing Keith Morrison co-produc-ing. I saw it as an opportunity. Through con-tacts I had made in my previous band, I set upas many meetings as I could.

“Keith was mixing with the guys when I wasin the air.

“I then made up some USB EPKs, gift-wrapped in Harris Tweed handbags, filledwith local goodies, whisky and other bandmerchandise.

“The response was better than we couldever have hoped for.”

They were soon offered a date supportingmulti-million sellers Puddle Of Mudd.

They are set to play a dream set with themat the legendary Whisky A Go Go on Holly-wood’s iconic Sunset Boulevard on Novem-ber 18.

They’ve since secured a handful moredates in LA during their visit.

To celebrate, they unleash a new track,Calling Of The Hounds, as a free downloadthrough Soundcloud on Tuesday.

Back on home turf, The Broken Ravens arebooked to play An Lanntair in Stornoway onJanuary 6.

A new EP is also set for release the follow-ing month.MORE: thebrokenravens.comlJim presents a weekly showcase of NewMusic on Amazing Radio Sundays 2-4pm.See www.amazingradio.com and www.jim-gellatly.com

Watch video of Broken Ravens at:thescottishsun.co.uk

NEWMUSICBy Jim Gellatly