Photo: Denholm/WireImage
As you may have noticed when checking out those new prices on iTunes, a slate of fresh albums dropped today, most notably Neil Young’s Fork in the Road. Will Hermes writes in his three-star review that the album — a by-product of the Canadian singer’s obsession with the LincVolt, Young’s ‘59 Lincoln that he’s transformed into a hybrid-electric automobile — is “mostly raw, chop-shop rock & roll, so auto metaphors fit right in.” Like Young’s other thematic albums Trans and This Note’s For You, “It’s messy, funny and pretty crazy at points — like when Young snarls, ‘Cough up the bucks!’ while sweet harmonies implore, ‘Where did all the money go?’ or on the title track’s awesome old-coot tirade.” More on Young’s album here:
• Neil Young Finds Inspiration in the Garage for Fork in the Road
• Exclusive Premiere: Neil Young’s Video for “Light a Candle”
Also out is Two Suns, the second album by Bat For Lashes, or British chanteuse Natasha Khan, an artist Radiohead handpicked to open European tour dates in the summer of 2008. This time around Khan taps into her mystical split personality “Pearl” to produce an album in the vein of Björk and Kate Bush. “Pounding on pianos, cranking out delicate little click-clack beats and shivering through choruses with an ultraromantic soprano, Khan proves she’s a powerhouse under her billowy sleeves,” Melissa Maerz writes in her three-and-a-half star review.
British rapper Lady Sovereign makes her return this week with Jigsaw. “Her second LP rewrites her script with amusingly out-of-character club pop and more emo-rap introspection,” Hermes writes in his two-star review. “But producer Medasyn’s beats are uneven, and so is Sov’s hood-rat humor.” Perhaps you might instead want to check out the other albums released this week: