Album reviews: Wolf Alice show their teeth; sad farewell from DMX
Ellie Rowsell of Wolf Alice; and the late DMX.
★★★★☆
Wolf Alice’s Ellie Rowsell joined the chorus of women speaking out against misogyny in the music industry recently when she recounted how Marilyn Manson had filmed 'upskirt' footage of her backstage at a music festival.
That wasn’t the first time Wolf Alice found themselves in the public eye. There was a weird backlash after the London quartet won the 2018 Mercury Music Prize – the gripe being that an indie band was a slightly predictable choice for the award.
It’s unclear whether Wolf Alice had those critics in mind when recording Blue Weekend – either way, it’s a thrilling riposte to the idea that 'conventional' guitar rock is trapped in a dead end.
For one thing it isn’t really a guitar record. Rowsell’s aching voice and piano are paired with gothic production on The Last Man On Earth – a Britrock power ballad that evokes Blur’s This Is A Low even as it bumps up against Sigur Rós. But elsewhere they veer in precisely the opposite direction with the post-grunge of Smile.
The feeling evoked is akin to attending an indie disco at the end of the world. Surreal, sublime, spectacular – don’t be surprised if Blue Weekend bags Wolf Alice another shot at the Mercury.
★★★★☆
Rapper Earl Simmons, aka DMX, had planned for Exodus to be his grand comeback. Instead it arrives as his bittersweet swan song, following Simmons’ death last April at aged 50 (the result of a suspected overdose).
A powerful melancholy infuses the record, produced by his great friend and collaborator Swizz Beatz. The big moment for more casual hip hop fans will obviously be Bath Salts, which features cameos from Jay Z and Nas. Snoop Dogg pops up too, swapping verses with Simmons on Take Control, which is built around the chassis of Marvin Gaye’s Sexual Healing.
Yet the most revealing moment is opening track, That’s My Dog, where, unencumbered by superstar collaborators, Simmons unleashes his grainy flow against a backdrop of spectral piano loops. It’s a haunting farewell from an artist taken before his time.
