REVIEW: LADY GAGA - HARLEQUIN

4/5

A Harlequin Is Born

She just couldn't let her go, like the love between Dr. Harleen Frances Quinzel and Arthur Fleck. Hot off the heels of her 'Die With A Smile' duet with fellow pop powerhouse Bruno Mars, Lady Gaga may have just announced her 'Chromatica' follow-up 'LG7', coming in February like Valentine lovers, but this week, she has another trick up her sleeve. 'Harlequin', her surprise soundtrack companion album to underscore her forthcoming film sequel 'Joker: Folie à deux' with the Oscar winning card of Joaquin Phoenix's Joker. Not to mention the actual scoring soundtrack itself for this musical from the 'Sin City: A Dame To Kill For' and 'House Of Gucci' actress. The Academy award-winning 'A Star Is Born' actress and singer, reborn and far from the shallow. Now showing she really is the soundtrack darling after her maverick 'Top Gun' performance.

Holding the hand of the clown prince of crime after 'Barbie' herself, Margot Robbie, Lady Gaga is set to make her own iconic interpretation of Harley Quinn, like Heath Ledger and Jack Nicholson (et al) before the joke was on Joaquin. Stefani Germanotta gets real personal on this Interscope album inspired by her latest movie muse. All for the 'Joanne' singer's boldest album yet that sounds like her work with the late, great Tony Bennett (the double decadence of 'Cheek To Cheek' and 'Love For Sale'), all whilst striking the fine line between Prince's own 1989 'Batman' soundtrack and Jay-Z's 'American Gangster' influenced record. Art pop at its Warhol finest for this American Horror Story on a milk carton, the album artwork sees the red running out of this Harlequin's hair, as she showers in her clothes, jacketed by a life preserver. Floating through the notions of going Gaga through the bad romance with the man who thinks he holds all the cards, the fantabulous Harley Quinzel's eyeliner is running. Circling the drain before she finds her emancipation.

If the movie is going to be anything like the music, then 'Folie à deux' deserves an ovation that stands. Like the test of time of these two animated characters and the series of stories they've been in. The brooding Batman may have just received his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, but there is nothing that shines stronger, albeit darker instead of brighter, than this imperfect pair's crazy, stupid love. You can feel it on the jazzy standards of the classics from the great American songbook, and the two outstanding original pieces that Gaga made thanks to the film. But just like the beautiful work she did with Bennett, the Grammy and Oscar winning star who only needs a Tony, makes all of this music her own. And not just an ode to Mr. J like the incredible 'The Joker'. Although bringing a 'Smile' back to that face like the iconic prison plexiglass moment over the phone is a master move like that standard originally being used in the first film's teaser trailer.

Putting a Joker grin on that Mona Lisa smile for a collaboration with The Louvre Museum in Paris, France for this record's promotion, this is an actual album from Gaga, no stop gap between the movie and the forthcoming seventh seal set to take 'The Fame Monster' back to her 'Poker Face' roots. Now, with one of her greatest deals that nods to her 'Cheek To Cheek' with the late, and one of the last remaining great American songbook singers and even a wink to her 'A Star Is Born' showcase, Gaga gives us it all. From 'Good Morning' and a 2024 version of 'Get Happy' ("c'mon!"), to the 'That's Life' closer that you can't deny. Bang, bang, even if you're shot down in May after dancing with the devil, in the pale moonlight. 'Folie à deux' is in for a treat, like 'Oh, When The Saints', or 'If My Friends Could See Me Now'. Let alone the 'Happy Mistake' of her own writing with the 'World On A String' like Sinatra. Building a mountain to get close to you (or him) like those birds that suddenly appear (just like he). "I'm acting in this play of/Comedy with tragic words/The audience was smilin'/Cheerin' on a scene absurd." Now, to those worrying about this movie being a musical, why so serious? TIM DAVID HARVEY.

Playlist Picks: 'Smile', 'The Joker', 'Happy Mistake'.

Spin This: Prince - 'Batman'

REVIEW: BILAL - ADJUST BRIGHTNESS

4/5

The Adjustment Bilal.

No need to turn down the brightness on the tube. The revolution will not be televised, like the late, great Gil Scott-Heron said. It will, on the other hand, come live and in living color from the soul of your stereo. Just like the 'Sunshine' off of Bilal's new, lead single from his first album in eight years, 'Adjust Brightness'. Following 2015, which felt like we were 'In Another Life', two years after the Japanese art of 'A Love Surreal'. Brought to light, by the Robert Glasper keyboard assisted 'Tell Me', 'Brightness' is an adjustment of genres, like D'Angelo, as this jazzy album is supreme like Coltrane and miles ahead of the competition, with love. From the self-titled opener with bright album artwork that touches God, to the big 'Micro Macro' closer of a new classic for a man whose 'Love For Sale' was leaked before he had a chance to show and prove to you, that like the best thing, that beauty is free.

Firstborn second, ever since the hook hitmaker was coveted by the likes of Dr. Dre in 2001, and before this genre fluid time, many wondered if he was male or female, Bilal has been one of the greatest in his genre. The closest thing to timeless in the matrix of this neo-soul. And what a time for it, coming out of summer, this New Music Friday as NPR recently gave us Maxwell living large and live on their Tiny Desk, which surely must be the perfect precursor to a 'BlackSummersNIGHT'? But this is the 'Soul Sista's' turn for his best album since 2010s 'Airtight's Revenge'. Philly's own Airtight continues his progressive soul and heart for his brothers for this 'Evr Chngin Nrml' like the Prince typography of a Musiq Soulchild, singing, "Come, September/I'll find a new way to survive/This evil wind can't keep me trapped inside/I gotta get my thoughts out in the sun/I still remember when we made love for the first time/Watching your body sway under the moon lit sky/I hoped that it would always be that way/But nothing ever stays the same/Yesterday was high/Now we're bracing for the fall So is this my new normal?/Life is it ever changing thing."

Others just don't clock lyrics like this in this TikTok age. 'Tell Me', who has it like this voice going over the 'A27' like one, two, three. Reminding you of the Jackson's (rest peacefully, Tito) for those who put five on it like the Luniz. Futuristically funky, to confuse the computer, this is 'Who We R Now', as Bilal shows love in the face of a war with AI that may see us lose our humanity like 'The Terminator' prophesised. "We're brining a love frequency", Bilal tells us, as we tune our radios into new album art acting as hits like 'Lay Around' for those lazy Sundays. After Bilal made history in June's month for black music with Questlove, Common (on his own one with Pete Rock) and of course, Robert Glasper ('Live At Glasshaus'), he returns with a sonic 'Sunshine' single of New Jack Swing and so many more compelling chapters in this collection to add to 'The Story'. Turning yet another brand-new page of seamless adjustment.

The canvas is completed with the 'Conditional' likes of "God made man then man made God/She dance and played/We all sing along/But how long has this been going on?/You say you want your heart back?/You got your head screwed on But what about your love?" Questioning everything you believe in on God, as you put your hands together for hope in a world that does so for mercy. It's Bilal's broad and beautiful world once again, like all the times he turned other's songs into hits just 'Waiting For The DJ'. The Solquarian appearing on the likes of Jay-Z's 'Fallin'', Jermaine Dupri's 'Supafly', Clipse's 'Nightmares', Kendrick Lamar's 'These Walls', and our favourite Erykah Badu's 'Jump In The Air & Stay There' featuring Lil' Wayne. Now in his 'Quantum Universe' he welcomes you to his world that rocks the planet with words of the gospel like, "In the language of the universe No words only love/I was running from the light to the dark/Trying to find my way/Back to the divine/But you can't run away from God/The God in you, who is God/I'm walking with the sun in my heart/I realize it's all a part of me." And you too. It's been a period of adjustment, these last few years, but the brighter day and way is here, like him. TIM DAVID HARVEY.

Playlist Picks: 'Sunshine', 'Tell Me (Feat. Robert Glasper)', 'Micro Macro'.

Spin This: Bilal 'Airtight's Revenge'.

REVIEW: SERJ TANKIAN - FOUNDATIONS EP

3.5/5

System Of A Foundation

Painting a picture of beautiful album artwork in broad strokes on the same New Music Friday that Lady Gaga gives us her surprise 'Harlequin' Jack-in-the-box album accompaniment to the forthcoming 'Joker' sequel, 'Folie à deux'. System Of A Down's very own Serj Tankian gives us the 'Foundations' of his new EP. Intended to be a compliment to the memoir he's just released, 'Down With The System'. Serving as the boldest Takian's been since is 'Riot' of a duet with Wyclef Jean, off the Fugee's 'Carnival Vol II.' classic follow-up, these five tracks are a "retrospective of songs from different eras in (his) life as Serj puts it for collection of music and lyrics from previous decades, rewrote to making this acclaimed autobiography all the more amazing.

Waking up with the rebellion to 'A.F Day' in opening, you know what it all means. Singing along strong, "I borrowed rent today so I can let my body stay awhile/Twice sorrowed by mistake for the color of my step seems too dry/The Ruby of the north is red yet it's green for the blind consent of our time". But before you complain that this is "another f#####g moan" (oh, the irony), 'Justice Will Shine On' in the form of a protest we should all pay heed to, right now. "Can you tell me dear grandmother of your childhood from hunger and pain/Of the orphans you called brothers in her teared eyes disarray?/Can you tell me my grandson she said why this country won't recognize that day/Of the genocide of your fathers?/Believe me, grandma they will pay." Generations haven't learned. It's time we all did.

For the better of this world, these 'Appropriations' are a same song sung for those who still deserve their reparations. Don't be fooled by a 'Cartoon Buyer' who might tell you, "You see me without emotions/I see you across the oceans/We see us but we are them today/You see me after your potions/I see you across the oceans/We see us above these notions." The downtimes are over. We need a new system for 'Life's Revengeful Son'. "The final revolution will occur when the arms of the clock fall/Jesus seen in the streets/Dragging a car axel/Instead of the cross/Souls betrayed from life's/Revengeful son/But I know I won't die tonight/Fields ablaze from life's/Children that cannot grow/But we won't die tonight", Serj sings for hope amongst the harrowing. Tankian has always tried to take us to a better place with his way. A system of a change. Foundations for the future. TIM DAVID HARVEY.

Playlist Picks: 'A.F. Day', 'Justice Will Shine On', 'Life's Revengeful Son'

Spin This: System Of A Down 'Toxicity'

REVIEW: NELLY FURTADO - 7

3.5/5

Nellyville

Whoa, Nelly! That's what everyone was posting, when Furtado hit the stage last year. The Canadian, Portuguese superstar singer from British Colombia on the comeback trail. And what a comeback! You can call it! Just like she told Elle Magazine in Canada, feeling the most confident in her life. In the prime of her life, like her new millennium debut, or when Timbaland set his beats 'Loose' on her in '06 (the year this writer moved to Toronto, Canada. What a real time to be alive, Drake). Her nation needs this, her first album since 'The Ride' of 2017.

All '7' and we'll watch them fall, like Prince said when the icon turned himself into a symbol, for the princess who has become a queen of the dance floor. Smoking the competition in the same week we get more pop for your weasel with the new album from Katy Perry, and another one from Gwen Stefani this month. No doubt about it, Nelly Furtado has won like the Raptors a decade after 'Loose' or like Kendrick over Drizzy Drake. She's not like us, she's on a whole other plane with her seventh seal. Seven years after her last release. Painted black on her naked back above, the all American denim for the one who took the US and us by storm in black and white. The 'Like A Bird', 'Maneater' and 'Promiscuous' singer returning with the hits 'Love Bites' (with Tove Love and SG Lewis for the clubs), 'Honesty' and the 'Corazón' anthem, featuring Bomba Estéreo.

The 'Crown' (featuring Blxckie) fits like Elizabeth Debicki playing Princess Diana for one of the best for the record. But it's 'All Comes Back' that's the real declaration for the 'Showstopper'. All the way back to a unanimous, 'Untitled' classic closer. "Funny how we run to the danger/Like we got a lesson to learn/And we don't think we deserve it/When happiness ain't served", Nelly poignantly plays on a track with Charlotte Day Wilson. Collaborations continue with Gray Hawken ('Better For Worse') and Williane 108, Charmie, Taborah Johnson, and Tynomi Banks (now, that's a mouthful) on 'Save Your Breath'. But it's empowering anthems like 'Ready For Myself' that everybody gets like "You slept on and I woke up (Woke up)/Diamond rings and pixie dust/Can't nobody buy my love/I woke up for me." And you will too.

Recorded in The Orange Lounge (Toronto, Ontario), Paramount Studios (Los Angeles, California), Westlake Studios (Los Angeles, California), Phase One Studios (Scarborough, Ontario), Engine Room (New York City), Milk Boy Studios (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) and Abstrackt Sound Studio (Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania) recording houses. Around 400–500 songs over a four-year period were made for this album. Furtado referring to the different tracks and takes as a collection of "random seashells", not all like. From opening the 'Floodgates' to a 'Fantasy'. Beautiful ballads, 'Better Than Ever'. Before hitting the floor again to 'Take Me Down'. No wonder the swan song has no title, like the album's number. "Fashion collections don't really have titles, they're just called collection number 10 or 21. This is my collection seven." Like Chanel, it feels so good like sweat on the skin as you begin to dance again. Lucky number seven for us. TIM DAVID HARVEY.

Playlist Picks: 'Corazón' (Feat. Bomba Estéreo), 'Crown', 'All Comes Back'.

Spin This: Nelly Furtado 'Loose'.

TV REVIEW: ARE YOU SURE - Season 1

4/5

Map Of The Soul.

8 Episodes. Starring: Jimin, Jung Kook & V. On: Disney +.

Are we there yet? Surely you don't need to ask that when we have no real destination except life itself. And in the new reality series travelogue 'Are You Sure', starring the youngest and coolest members of South Korean K-Pop phenomenon BTS, Jimin and Jung Kook (not to mention special appearances by members V and Suga (on the phone)), these big hitters continue their streaming service Disney deal with a plus. Even if this show seems like just a series of them eating food. Are you sure this isn't the cooking network? 

Following their 'Monuments: Beyond The Star' docuseries last Christmas and New Year, not to mention all the shows in concert on Disney +, like 'Permission To Dance: Live In LA', comes another documentary season of sorts. Something to hold the fans over whilst Jimin and Jung Kook conduct their mandatory military service (best of luck, boys) for the South Korean army. Much like the behind the scenes shows and album accompaniments 'J-Hope In The Box' and 'Suga: Road To D-Day', also deep into Disney's hyped HYBE entertainment vault. And any fears of this BTS hiatus being permanent are alleviated with the guys singing each other's solo songs as they take this trip across the world and a map of their favourite memories.

Jimin jokes that World Cup anthem singer Jung Kook wants to be a YouTuber as he documents their span across the globe that we are all dreamers for. From taking silly selfies, to pictures of their fabulous food, the two J's are exactly like us, across America and back to their South Korean home and map of the Seoul. With cute captions, tittering translations and emoji and emoticon effects filtering through this show, offset by Mario like sound effects, this is like the best YouTube channel you watch...but with an even bigger budget. Fond, funny and with a real fantastic feeling, even when these guys are just lazing around and doing nothing, you feel like you're hanging out with them. Even V wanted to get in on this action that makes this show (about almost as nothing as 'Seinfeld') one of the freshest and most compelling of the calendar. 

Whether snowboarding in Sapporo, Japan, go-karting on Jeju Island, or lounging around on a yacht, like you know, we all do, these boys do it all...with, or without a paddle. Cooking, camping, canoeing. Riding through it all on the back of Kook's motorbike, the 'Muse' and 'Golden' hitmakers have chemistry every friendship would feel jealousy towards. It's their camaraderie that's the winning combination on this show that shows another step for BTS and the big hits they make across all entertainment platforms. It's a great travel guide, too, to some of the planet's picture perfect, postcard stamp spots. Reminding us, in this world of woe, that it's still a beautiful one. Especially when shared with the dear friends we hold closest. Are you sure you want to miss out on this? TIM DAVID HARVEY.

Further Filming: 'BTS - Monuments: Beyond The Star', 'BTS - Permission To Dance: Live In LA', 'Suga: Road To D-Day'.

REVIEW: FUTURE - MIXTAPE PLUTO

4/5

Pluto Nash

What a time to NOT be alive in rap! Drake just got lyrically assaulted by Kendrick Lamar for the stranger things that happen in his personal life. Meanwhile, after being raided by the Feds, music mogul and bad boy Diddy faces life imprisonment for a series of some of the most heinous crimes you would never want to think of. Seeing the video of what he did to Cassie (I couldn't watch), or what Dawn Richard wrote (I shouldn't have read) is enough to swear you off the entertainment industry for life. Especially with a rumoured rap sheet of the awful and abhorrent lifestyles of some of the rich and famous, longer than his bill for baby oil, expected to come to light.

The future does not look good. Fortunately for us, Future still seems like one of the bright spots in hip-hop. Even though those who hated tried to bring his mumble core rap generation down. They really won't like the 'MJ' track that moon sleepwalks, sounding like Nayvadius DeMun Wilburn just woke up like this, with Jordan eyes. Nevertheless, Atlanta's Cash returns with his seventeenth mixtape, two years after his ninth album 'I Never Liked You' racked up the Grammy nominations. But after all that, even so, as they say, mixtape Future is different. Especially with a J.Cole amount of features. Like the King on the Cavaliers, as he puts the sword in the stone, going 'Beast Mode' with another 'Monster' mix. Get your tape decks ready for 'MIXTAPE PLUTO' on the 808s. Another Freebandz Epic, shot gunned by the single 'TOO FAST', as an illuminating, trademark purple reign like the Lakers, emits from this princes castle of a haunted house just in time for Halloween. From 'LIL DEMON' to 'AYE SAY GANG', these are the real scary hours this season.

Making waves, 'SURFING' through his signature sound that you can just press play on ('PRESS THE BUTTON'), even though you can't with Puff, this is another classic tape from the legend of them, that took over from the locks of Lil' Wayne. This 'TEFLON DON', lets it all slide off him, smoother than a 'SKI' slope with the flow. It's his instrument 'READY TO COOK UP', all to his own planet 'PLUTOSKI' for his out of this world sound. You got that, broski? Just track after track of railroading the game. 'OCEAN' flows the same, as the birds over the beat sound like something out of a horror movie for this thriller dialled to eleven with no A Minor in sight. Hold up, on the big booming bass beat of 'BRAZZIER', Future raps "Keep it cool, don't front the mood, play the back, yeah/My n####s ain't no construction workers, but they love playin' with sand (Woo)/I just bust down another Rol' and put emeralds in the band (Yeah)/Touchin' down in Wakanda, goin' international on the 'Gram ('Gram)." Forever. Each cut is like a kill for this 'monger.

After his duology withe Metro Boomin ('We Don't Trust You', and the sequel 'We Still Don't Trust You', although it's only been a couple of months, guys), Future's seventeen tracks for his seventeenth mixtape (and his first in six years since 'Wrld On Drugs' with Juice WRLD) are enough to take him to the 'SOUTH OF FRANCE', merci beacoup. Produced primarily by Southside and Wheezy from 'MADE MY' to 'TOLD MY', this is an outstanding 'OATH' like "I went rags to riches just goin' ballistic". Breaking it down for 'LOST MY DOG' like a Weezy F. Baby 'Miss My Dawgs', over, "Lost my dog to fentanyl/I go up and I cry for you/Love you so much, I'd die for you/Lost my lil' homie to a gang war/I don't cry, I go slide for you," and haunting harmonies. It's been a big New Music Friday, especially with women in music. From pop superstars like Katy Perry and Nelly Furtado. But who would have thought the best album would be a mixtape? Somebody who saw the future as far as Pluto, that's who. Eminem, Common and Pete Rock, Lupe Fiasco, Big Sean, Childish Gambino, Rakim, LL Cool J and this week MC Lyte. It's also been a time for rap releases. And just like Lyte said she was '1 Of 1', this work shows that there is nothing to look forward to quite like the Future. TIM DAVID HARVEY.

Playlist Picks: 'Too Fast', 'MJ', 'South Of France'.

Spin This: Future 'Beast Mode'.

REVIEW: THE KILLS - HAPPY GIRL SESSIONS EP

4/5

Happy Days

A year after their games with God, The Kills are back. And like birds of a feather, they give you a new extended play based around a cover of the titular track off Billie Eilish's smouldering and smoky, second album. And what better than the scorching vocals of The Dead Weather and, of course, The Kills singer Alison Mosshart to sing Billie's brooding 'Happier Than Ever'? As VV sings, "I don't relate to you/I don't relate to you, no/'Cause I'd never treat me this s####y/You made me hate this city/And I don't talk s### about you on the internet/Never told anyone anything bad/'Cause that shit's embarrassing, you were my everything/And all that you did was make me f#####g sad," with the same powerful poignancy as Billie. Proving that, to even the coolest double act in music, Eilish is epic. Just like Finneas.

Book another stay in the Hotel, as Jamie Hince rips through non-electric versions of some of the best cuts off of last year's greatest 'God Games' from the bull and the matador of the US/UK act. The number '103'. The best 'Better Days' since Tupac. The new 'New York' anthem, so good, they had to do it twice. And their own empowering one singing 'My Girls My Girls', with a call and response of, "I'm on those middle of the night vibes/Those singing 'til I die vibes Reminiscing while I cry vibes/Twitching, I'm so high/Like put me in a ride/Like those vibes/Clinging on for dear life/Like I know I should/I picked a bad time/To feel this good." But oh, how it does.

'New York' with the "Wait for me, stay for me/You medicate my bad days/Hit all my highways/Speed for me, bleed for me/Steal me away from all the bad guys/'Cause I'm nice/Down here on the Bowery/The city's got me feelin' high," on this Dylan in reverse, this eclectic group will soon be singing for the cities of Memphis, Jackson, New Orleans, Florence and Mexico City on a forthcoming tour. Making up for the cancelled one in support of the Queens Of The Stone Age due to Josh Homme's health issues (get well soon). But now, a new classic cover is good enough for its own EP, painted in a green album artwork mural above a booming box on the window sill for your tape deck. So open up the curtains and window and let the music in. The acoustics are amazing, and joined by a joint Alison was singing all around the house anyway, what more could you want? Happy now, boys and girls? TIM DAVID HARVEY.

Playlist Picks: 'Happier Than Ever', 'New York (Non-Electric)', 'My Girls My Girls (Non-Electric)'.

Spin This: Billie Eilish 'Happier Than Ever'.

REVIEW: MC LYTE - 1 OF 1

4/5 

Lyte Work

Being '1 Of 1' doesn't refer to the awesome album artwork. The throwback pic, fit in a gold frame, bordered by graffiti. All in the same red as the Mexican restaurant Chi-Chi, Crenshaw like, signature tee. Being '1 Of 1' refers to rapping legend MC Lyte being one of the greatest in the game...and we aren't just talking about when it comes to gender. All in the same bell rocking month that fellow New York hip-hop legend LL Cool J showed us he was still 'The FORCE'. A calendar after hip-hop's 50-year anniversary. The next half century is already being taken care of by the pioneers. Now, 'Lyte As A Rock', and still heavy in the game with her ninth wonder of an album, 'Act Like You Know' about one of the mother's of the game and members of the Stop The Violence Supergroup. If 'Eyes Are The Soul' like one of her classics, then you can see into her evergreen one that she sounds and feels as fresh as the moment that futuristic beat dropped. Still the one like Shania. On fire like Mariah. MC Lyte, maaaan, in your best Jermaine Dupri voice. Rock with her.

"So the prayers my mama quoted really didn't go unnoticed/God heard and then He spoke this, "Drop everything and get devoted"/Or what you gain, you will blow it/You'll never reap what you sow, and lest in fact, you'll be demoted/You're the Lyte because I made you, never be afraid to/Stand tall against 'em all and protect what I gave you/Never mimic what you see, all them gimmicks come for free/And the cynics will look to me and bow with all apologies/For treating you as less, but at that point, you were a mess/How could they have treated you better? Not even you knew you were blessed", Lyte raps on the lead signature single, 'Thank You'. Giving thanks to the most high with Mary Mary and Muni Long as she breaks free of the shackles that held her down. Only God actually did in the good way like He always does. As SHE appreciates it all like, "Sometimes running, sometimes falling/Sometimes fighting, sometimes crawling/A thousand miles of life and I'm still going/I thank God that I'm still growing/And all the pressure took me higher/And I thank God it took me higher/Couldn't break me, so it built me/Now I'm blazing like a fire/Like a fire, like a fire/Like a fire, like a fire."

And the fire will never go out on one of the best rap albums in recent memory (forget all the years) that rounds the bases with some real big hitters. Fellow queen, Latifah on 'King King' for your checkmate. Wu-Tang legend Ghostface Killah and Lil Mama on...well...'Lyte Ghost Lil Mama'. Q-Tip, fresh off producing 'The FORCE', for 'Kick Back Relax'. Legend Big Daddy Kane (with no half steppin') and R&B King Raheem DeVaughn on the 'Woman' worth dedication. And even some 'Wisdom From Easy Mo Bee'. But it's when Chicago icon Common, whose throwing it back himself with his latest work with Pete Rock, links up with the greatest in Stevie Wonder for 'Change Your Ways when Lyte really shines. It doesn't get more inspirational than this for and MC, who gives us her first album in almost a decade since the 'Legend' last left us.

Artists of the future also give this album more range on the same day as a 'Mixtape Pluto'. All as another wonder woman returns on the same weekend as pop's finest Katy Perry and Nelly Furtado. But even the 'Dark Horse' fireworks and man eating Nellyville couldn't hit quite like this. Affion Crocket on 'Sunni Block Barber Shop', a cut above the rest. Warryn and Zaya Campbell on the 'Vote 4 Change' that brings us all together like family. The more than 'Alright', Jai'Len Josey. All the way to the classic 'Music Is' featuring JoiStarr, that is as affirming as a 'Music For Life' from Hi-Tek, dedicated to Dilla (with Nas, Common, Busta Rhymes and Marsha Ambrosius of Floetry), when the super-producer went for 'The Chip'. Taking us back to school and the streets that raised her, Lana Michele Moorer talks about her first track that KRS-One said was "wack". But still getting out boogie down, after all these years, sometimes even the best of the best are wrong.

No longer paper thin, we still ride with the Grammy getting, acclaimed artist who still has it like those who love Cool James Todd Smith. Like the Queen, the voice of female hip-hop rapping, "I hear if you hear it enough you'll believe it/King be it, King live it, King receive it/Straighten up your crown, King/Let nobody knock you off your square and the joy that you bring/Let your light shine bright, illuminate the night." This force has 'Life & Luxury' in amazing abundance and 'To RockThe Mic' is the same calling from God she answers like '1-5', or Nashville's finest, '9 to 5'. What a way to 'Make A Livin', 'All Day All Night' like this. Moving the crowd after all these years like a true MC, don't take Lyte lightly. There are so many dropping mics that need to pick up the slack. Yet Lana is still more than 10% and that many toes down in 'dis'. After almost 40 years later, no one else comes quite as close. And now, we thank HER. TIM DAVID HARVEY.

Playlist Picks: 'Thank You (Feat. Mary Mary & Muni Long)', 'Change Your Ways (Feat. Common & Stevie Wonder)', 'Music Is (Feat JoiStarr)'. 

Spin This: MC Lyte 'Act Like You Know'.

REVIEW: LONDON GRAMMAR - THE GREATEST LOVE

4/5

Country Grammar.

The greatest romance that's ever been told...since Prince. The Big Smoke of London Grammar are back. Hannah Reid, Dan Rothman and Dominic "Dot" Major. Nottingham's finest, from the forest to the concrete jungle of London, going forth with the 'Truth Is A Beautiful Thing' pop star's fourth album. And like those who can't tell the difference between "your" and "you're (*my pre-English teacher days self puts his hands up*...or is that, "hand?"), it's hard to believe it has been three years already since the Grammar's last album, for a group who usually release a record every four years. But new standout tracks like 'LA' and 'Santa Fe' call back to the roots of London's 'California Soil' in 2021, like an extended play of Cali' love for their Los Angeles times.

Once they're back in the 'House' with electro pop, headlining your stage, you just know London Grammar are welcomed back to 'The Greatest' Love', all the way to the self-titled curtain. With a new look, Hannah and her company, in perfect harmony, could even give 'Jolene' a run for her money, like Norah Jones 'Miriam' with the single 'Fakest B####'. "Talking about miracles/The fakest b#### in all the world/Fingernails that make me curl, uh-huh/Given half the chance you'd steal my man/Think I'm naive/Girl, you can give it up, uh-huh/I saw your mum across the road/I feel guilt, and it hurts my soul/Maybe if she loved your dad/You'd have the things that you should have had/We'd be friends for real, not popping party pills", Reid berates with the best barbs of the year. Ready to post-up on all those Instagrammable phonies who start disingenuous posts with the "POV" of, "can we just talk about this person."

Can we just talk about this band, "though?" One of the best of the Brits, stinging with the bees of their new buzzing record for your music week and new Friday. The red room focus of this new album of Hollywood highlights for London town is as cinematic as it is photogenic. The heaven sent lyrics of 'You And I' bring us right back to the beauty of dedication with, "Did somebody tell you that/Life was easy?/They were wrong/All the lines are blurred/Your emotions, they get so lost/And I wish I could tell you now/How much my heart breaks like a song/I love you forever/And I hope forever becomes." This is that kind of love that is so bright it might burn you...or anoint you. Whichever path you choose to take. On 'Ordinary Life's it's the same song of heartbreak as us ordinary people sing-a-long to these legends in the making. Their relationships can relate to ours. Taken as gospel for the record. That's why many like a communion head to the altar of their stage at a festival. Even in concert with headlining at the same time as fellow generational greats like SZA and The National.

"Know you like the powder, it makes you louder/It makes you feel so goddamn beautiful/But I saw you fading, becoming jadеd/You can't believe it, lifе's a challenge", is the 'Kind Of Man' you're looking for, as you say "hey" to the "Na-na, na-na-na, na-na-na-na-na", like Jude. Those same kind of harmonies continue on the 'Rescue' that Hannah Reid gives us with the bridge of "Oh, they wanna tear you apart/Tear you apart, they wanna tear you apart/I'm your rescue calling/If my number's dialing", to carry us over. But on this top ten of tracks for 'The Greatest Love' and romance to no longer be sold, they go 'Into Gold' with "Rivers run red, river run dry/River run red and whitе/I am the fire and you are watеr/Drown me out, but I learnt/So if you see me, cross the street/But I still see you in people I meet/And I am fire and you are water." And perhaps platinum...even in this day and age. This is the kind of pure pop, full of heart, that life, like the feelings in those echo chambers, promised. London calling it like they see it. Love is the greatest. TIM DAVID HARVEY.

Playlist Picks: 'You And I', 'LA', 'Santa Fe'.

Spin This: London Grammar - 'California Soil'.

REVIEW: AIMYON - JEALOUS OF CATS (猫にジェラシ-)

4/5

The Cat Returns 

Hello! Kitty's back! Here, here, Doraemon. K-Pop may be the dominant force in music straight out of Asia, but when it comes to J-Pop, stars don't get much bigger than Aimyon. The Nishinomiya native with big billboards scrambled in Tokyo's Shibuya Station. The Warner Music Japan artist has just released her fifth album, on September the 11th, one month and change after the world's International Cat Day (not to mention six months before her 30th birthday). But beware, Hachiko. Aimyon's first album since 2022's 'Falling Into Your Eyes Record' is 'Jealous Of Cats', like the ones that bust the boxes of her mosaic, iconic album artwork front cover. Jiji from Studio Ghibli's 'Kiki's Delivery Service'. The Cat Bus off of 'My Neighbor Totoro'. They're all getting the claws.

Neko-mancing all the way to the titular closer, Aimyon gives us another classic with 'Jealous Of Cats (猫にジェラシ-)'. About to have the envy of the entire industry as she becomes one of the greatest recording artists in the land of the rising sun. Lucky for us, these thirteen tracks come early for us on this midweek special before Friday the 13th. From the big burst of an opening '私に見せてよ (Show Me All You Got)', to the singles 'ラッキーカラ (Lucky Color)', 'ざらめ (Zarame)' and '会いに行くのに (Wish I could see you, but)' in the rain, the cat in the hat is back with this cream. All for the year of her career, as the Ghibli 'Castle In The Sky' fan provided a key voice for the Academy Award-winning 'The Boy and The Heron'. She told you she was going to see you like 'A Brain Surgeon's Diary'.

"そういえば僕は君のこう/いうところが大好きで/たまらないんだけれど知っていた？/「そんなの今話すことじゃない」って怒ると思ったよ/そんなとこも ぜんぶ 好きだなあ," or "Let's make plans for the weekend, let's go to the place you said you/wanted to go a little bit?/I look down and puff out my cheeks all the time", the tea house popular star sings on '駅前喫茶ポプラ (Coffee Shop Poplar)', a standout special like 'あのね (Anone)' and 'リズム64. But on 'ノット・オーケー (NOT OK)' she declares, "can imagine being/alone, and/the bathtub on the second day is also/crystal clear" ("想像ができる/ひとりで居ること/２日目の湯船も/透き通っているんだろう), like the lipstick sinkhole, single artwork. Circling the drain.

Under construction with Shibuya in the Japan TV 'News Zero' theme song of 'On This Day We Say Goodbye', Aimyon's music has a compelling sense of hope, even in the depths of despair. Whether it's, '朝が嫌い (I Don’t Like Mornings)', or a '炎曜日 (Firely Tueday)'. Never a '偽者 (Fake Me)' like the whistles of, " I want to pretend I don't know and go to sleep/I'm swaying up and down the night/Also, the contacts that are left on will hurt," ("知らないふりして眠りたい/上下に揺れてた夜を/イタタ また付けっぱなしの/コンタクトが痛むのです", in her mother tongue). Penultimately the '愛の花 (ai no hana)' of last year in red hair and flowers in bloom on the billboard, Tokyo way to the Toyku Line reminisces on its debut last year like last summer that didn't seem all that long ago. Showing just how much and hard, with a "ganbatte", that Aimyon has been working since locking it down during COVID. Ever since she heard there was good pasta. "空が晴れたら/愛を 愛を伝えて/涙は明日の為/新しい花の種 ("When the sky is clear, love is conveyed/And tears are for tomorrow/The seed of a new flower"). This 'Caturday' and stroke of artistic genius is purring with a stray talent that everyone wants to be connected with. "Like coins to a cat." TIM DAVID HARVEY.

Playlist Picks: '私に見せてよ (Show Me All You Got)','駅前喫茶ポプラ (Coffee Shop Poplar)', 'あのね (Anone)'.

Spin This: Aimyon - 'おいしいパスタがあると聞いて (Heard That There's Good Pasta)' (2020).

SONG FOR THE MOMENT: LADY GAGA & BRUNO MARS - DIE WITH A SMILE

4/5

Die Another Day.

Japan. Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars have a lot in common with this land of the rising sun that this writer currently resides in. Coming out of COVID, both pop music superstars took Tokyo by storm with their sold out live shows that welcomed everyone back to the live concert circuit. And two of the world's most famous, and greatest live performers really put on a show. Gaga finally giving us her 'Chromatica Ball' out of the shallows of a reborn star. Mars, on the other hand, attacking the Tokyo Dome like a Giant at bat, selling it out more times than a championship game heading for home. So much so, the newly adopted "Kawaii King" had to do it twice, coming back last year.

Don Quixote, Japan's famous sell anything store, also has the two megastars in its floor by floor rapture. Gaga racked up the registers in Shibuya's MEGA Donki store after two hours of shopping. Whilst, Bruno has even made a music video in said store for a Donkey promotional campaign, rocking the house beat. But it's Lady Gaga's latest collaboration which we are really wanting to shop for...and we aren't talking about what's to come with Joaquin Phoenix as she plays Harley Quinn in the new sequel musical 'Joker: Folie à deux' next month (although we can hardly wait for that too). In-between all of this, Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars give us a definitive debut worthy of the greats like Marvin and Tammi. 'Die With A Smile' really puts one on our face for life, even if we're not sure if this soft rock throwback classic will find an album home. 'LG7' has just been announced via Vogue for a February release. Whereas soon it will be unbelievably a decade since Bruno boasted '24K Magic'. Although he did give us 'An Evening With Silk Sonic' and Anderson .Paak back in 2021. Collaboration anyone?

"Wherever you go, that's where I'll follow/Nobody's promised tomorrow/So I'ma love you every night like it's the last night/Like it's the last night", Bruno sings in a cowboy hat 'Joanne' would be proud of, as her daughter counters "Ooh, lost, lost in the words that we scream/I don't even wanna do this anymore/'Cause you already know what you mean to me/And our love's the only war worth fighting for" in matching crushed blue suit with red accents. Filmed like a fifties TV special that even The King would be proud of, this one and the Queen are set to light up the Sin City strip the next time Mars knocks this out of the park at his Vegas residency...all the way to the Hoover Dam. Damn! It feels so good when two amazing artists get down like this. Singing together, "If the world was ending/I'd wanna be next to you/If the party was over/And our time on Earth was through/I'd wanna hold you just for a while/And die with a smile," for all the lovers who feel this to the letter.

Retro fitted in unison and perfect harmony, this is the kind of song we need right now in this world where people would rather swipe than turn the page on revealing how they really feel. Number one in Malaysia, New Zealand, Norway, Singapore. Top ten in Australia, Bolivia, Canada, Croatia, Denmark, Hong Kong, Iceland, Ireland, Latvia, Luxembourg, the Middle East and North Africa, the Netherlands, Paraguay, Peru, the Philippines, Portugal, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, the United Kingdom, and the United States. From a 2016 Victoria's Secret fashion show, to being invited to the studio for a session, this work in progress has come to pure and beautiful bloom fruition. Outside of Taylor Swift and Beyoncé, these are the two biggest pop stars on the planet. Rocking each other's t-shirts whilst going chord for chord through this progression. This western, country leaning standout, standalone single is as soulful and seventies as they come. Making melodies over the kind of love you'd die for. The one that always leaves you with a smile, like the first time you ever saw their face. TIM DAVID HARVEY.

REVIEW: LL COOL J - THE FORCE

4/5

Force Of Nature.

'Frequencies Of Real Creative Energy'. LL Cool J is a force. No! F### that! He is 'THE Force'. Like Deadpool said that Wolverine was THE X-Man. Fourteen studio albums deep from the man who helped build the Def Jam towers. It's legendary, like Hugh Jackman playing Marvel's scratchy superhero nine times. And now, like finally getting to see Logan in that iconic yellow suit, we get James Todd Smith taking it back to the old-school he ruled like he was the Professor of the Academy of gifted rhymers.

A force of Naughty By Nature, Public Enemy, A Tribe Called Quest, De La Soul, Eric B and Rakim, DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince. Making movies like Will Smith after rapping in the days of the Bad Boys. Now, mama said knock you out again, and you know we ain't calling it a comeback. Ladies still love Cool James, but it's the def jams that mean the most from one of New York's finest from the birthplace of hip-hop. Going long, like a Yankee or the island he came from, borough to borough. His re 'DEFinition' with Timbaland was hot, but this force majeure, which James Todd calls "the blackest s### he ever wrote" might be his best hit since them '14 Shots To The Dome'. And like Nas, it ain't hard to tell that's the 'Bad' ish he's on with the classic cover that looks like a graffiti throwback, all the way down to the Kangol and gold chain of a man who needed love.

Pop the cassette in the tape deck of 'The FORCE', and this is the one that radio needs. It's crazy to think it's been eleven years since LL was 'Authentic', and even more since some fans think he has been. Even though you can't deny the 90s big-three of 'Mr. Smith', 'Phenomenon' (do-do-da-do-do) and 'G.O.A.T' (certified). Or the new millennium, one of the anniversary of '10', the self affirming 'Todd Smith', or the 'Exit 13' detour. Yet walking with a panther once again, we get to see why the most slept on legend in the game, who is still pushing rhymes like his weights is bigger and deffer. Bringing the boom box, street shaking joints of pure 'Passion' for this live 'Saturday Night Special' (featuring Fat Joe and Rick Ross). The punctuated 'Proclivities' (featuring Saweetie and a 'Flava In Your Ear' sample) of these string singles and throwbacks like 'Murdergram Deux' (with an epic Hall of Fame inducting Eminem) makes this amazing album a classic for the source of all you mics. Not just one of the best rap, or actual albums of the year, but one of the best LP's of LL's classic career.

Farming from this boulevard, on this quest, fellow timeless legend Q-Tip is all over this album like a marauder. Producing the entirety of this album like Sufjan Stevens did John Legend's 'Favorite Dream' of a children's album last week. And after the last New Music Friday of Legend, Big Sean and Tyrese's 'Beautiful Pain', nothing is bigger than this. Recorded over four years and with four singles, this creative energy frequency features Snoop Dogg on the 'Spirit Of Cyrus', Busta Rhymes with 'Huey In The Chair', Nas on 'Praise Him', and Don Pablito, J-S.A.N.D. and Mad Squablz on the closing 'Vow'. Not to mention Sona Jobarteh on the standout 'Black Code Suite'. This is spiritually (and almost), 'The GOAT 2' from a man who resigned with Def Jam, like DMX before the late, great's tragic departure. And without them, too, the label on your LP wouldn't be so iconic. "Learning how to rap again" after almost making collaborative albums with 50 Cent (let's hope that sees the light of day like Lenny Kravitz's work with Prince), this is real.

Don't call it a retirement, like he almost did for his 'NCIS: Los Angeles' TV work. This is no lip sync battle for the real rhymer, who was spitting truth on his socials during the lockdown and Black Lives Matter movement of 2002. And now with 'Basquiat Energy' like Jay-Z, from the titular track to when he 'Runnit Back', Cool is on it again. 'Post Modern' impressionism with Tip ad-libs. "I came up off the street/Took some pissy steps up to the belly of the beast/Which way I go?/Kinda confusin', the machines are not workin’/There ain't no tokens or nothin', this s### done changed all a sudden/It’s like I died and came back", James T. Smith rips on '30 Decembers' like he will for the rest of his years and the infamy of his career. But on 'The FORCE' itself, THE force reminds us how far he's come. "Smooth as Luther Vandross down at St. Andrews/Shower on the yacht while we boppin' to Pop Smoke/Somebody tell immigration them cases is wardrobe/Succulent juices, we sip Pétruses in Bordeaux/Never losin' my memories of Farmers and Old Gold." After all these years, 40 to be exact, LL Cool J is still hard as hell. TIM DAVID HARVEY.

Playlist Picks: 'Spirit Of Cyrus (Feat. Snoop Dogg)', 'Black Code Suite (Feat. Sona Jobarteh)', 'Murdergram Deux (Feat. Eminem)'.

Spin This: LL Cool J - 'The DEFinition'.

REVIEW: JOHN LEGEND - MY FAVORITE DREAM

4/5

Dream On

How legendary is this? A pair of years after John released his surname self-titled album 'Legend', he's back with 'My Favorite Dream'...or should we say his? All in a big New Music Friday for rap and R&B that sees Detroit's Big Sean release his 'Better Me Than You' new outlook on life, and actor/singer Tyrese give us his 'Beautiful Pain' in the same week as his '1992' movie about the L.A. riots. But where's the love for 'Ordinary People' and Legend's like John, NPR? One who gave his own 'Preach' call to arms a year before the Black Lives Matter moment really took hold in 2020.

Reaching for a 'Bigger Love', Legend released a breath of fresh air of an album right before COVID. I remember listening to it on a break in work a week before we got locked down like the 'Blinding Lights' of The Weeknd. Ir remains one of the overlooked (obviously because of the time) and lost classics of 2020, like Lianne La Havas' self-titled, big third album or Haim's absolute California classic, 'Women In Music Pt. III'. This morning it dawned on me, how the pillow talk, tear-inducing lyrics of 'Conversation's In The Dark' even, in my opinion, bests everybody's wedding song of 'All Of Me', as the ultimate ode to love. So, searching my Spotify to listen to it on the train to work, I saw the face of John Stephens as a child and realized he had a new album out. I checked the date, was I late for a review? Wait...it came out last week? What was I doing?!

Legend might just be the king of the concept, every time he steps from behind his legendary, 'Everything Is Everything' piano, like when Andre 3000 gave him the 'Green Light' for an epic 'Evolver'. More styles than Three Stacks with the flutes that ladies love like Cool James does not, the 'Get Lifted' man of G.O.O.D. music has released old-school soul with The Roots ('Wake Up!) and 'A Legendary Christmas'. The best Yuletide album in recent Xmas memory, this side of a jolly Norah Jones, ensuring both of their trees will be stacked for festive seasons of presents to come. But now his new album is truly a dream, and a favourite (sorry...I'm British) for families. Perfectly produced by the 'Mystery Of Love' that is the great Sufjan Stevens (featured on the 'L-O-V-E' single with the family dynamics of Chrissy, Luna and Miles), this lovely album is one of lullabies like an 'Upside Down', Jack Johnson soundtrack for 'Curious George'.

The story of this children's music for John Legend's top and tenth album is a simple one. If learning the Fisher-Price song 'Maybe' on the piano is easy. I don't know...I can't even play 'Chopsticks'. But let's face it, the next time Legend reunited with The Roots, Jimmy Fallon will have fun with them both on his school instruments section. The family man, John just wanted to make a record for his kids. Like when Ben Harper wrote a lullaby for the late, great 'The Dark Knight' Joker Heath Ledger's daughter, after the 'A Knight's Tale' star directed the vivid ballerina video for the violin beauty of Harper's 'Morning Yearning' off 'Both Sides Of The Gun'. This Republic record took shape after spouse Chrissy Teigen posted a video of a dear John singing 'Maybe' to his children. The viral response was a hit, issuing Legend with a challenge to extend is by reaching for the stars of Seuss like children's music.

Something to keep his kids 'Safe', with sweet, childlike drawings on the album artwork. All the way to the lullaby to 'Go To Sleep', all the way to the morning that will 'Always Come Back'. Not to mention the beautiful bonuses of 'Great, Great Day', 'Friendship' and 'Maybe' itself. Legend lovingly reworks classics like the 'Legend' of Bob Marley himself and his 'Three Little Birds', famous like 'I Am Legend'. He even gives us the best version of the radiant 'You Are My Sunshine' since the Fresh Prince and all those Bel-Air prep sunflowers. Yet, from 'We Are Family' (and its piano solo version), to the soaring dreamworld of 'When We Fly', it's the nine original songs that are a wonder from Legend. Sounding just like classic standards, you feel like you've heard before, like his original and outstanding Christmas compositions. Now that's legendary.

This is 'For You' and your family too. 'When I Feel Sad' like, "When I feel sad/I think of all that makes me glad/I think of all the good times that we've had/And I don't feel so bad/When I feel blue/I think of what I love like you/I think of how it's cool you love me too/And I don't feel so sad/I don't feel so bad." Showing you it's OK to feel that way too. But just wait until he dives 'Deep In The Ocean Blue' like an early days Maroon 5 bootleg. "Deep in the ocean blue/We may find mermaids, turtles too/We'll wave to the octopus/And give that dolphin's nose a kiss/Yeah/Deep in the ocean grand/We'll meet King Crab, who rules the sand/Oh I see a jellyfish/And there's a star, let's make a wish." You don't need a 'Yellow Submarine' to find lines and lives like this. Maybe next up will be a children's book like Springsteen's 'Outlaw Pete'. Stephens and Stevens have given us maybe one of our favorite records of the year. An absolute dream. Now, it's time to sleep. TIM DAVID HARVEY.

Playlist Picks: 'We're A Family', 'L-O-V-E (with Sufjan Stevens featuring Chrissy, Luna and Miles)', 'Three Little Birds'.

Spin This: Jack Johnson - 'Sing-A-Longs and Lullabies for the Film Curious George'