![\"TAKE-THAT-768794\"](\"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/www.towleroad.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/TAKE-THAT-768794.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nThis week in\u00a0New Music:\u00a0The Jesus and Mary Chain<\/strong>\u2018s triumphant first album in 18 years,\u00a0Father John Misty<\/a><\/strong> is quietly fuming on\u00a0Pure Comedy,<\/em>\u00a0Irish singer songwriter\u00a0Fionn Regan<\/strong> goes almost pop on album number five and\u00a0Take That<\/strong> (above) give it yet another go as a trio.<\/p>\n The Jesus and Mary Chain \u2013\u00a0Damage and Joy<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Many critics have given <\/span>Damage and Joy<\/span><\/i> a scalding because it sees the Reid brothers step back into familiar territory in music, themes and lyrics so comfortably it\u2019s like the last 20 years never happened.<\/span><\/p>\n They are missing the point.<\/span><\/p>\n JAMC are one of the most highly regarded and influential post punk bands of the 1980s and they got there with a modicum of talent and an addiction of biker rock, 60s pop, surf pop and cherry coke.<\/span><\/p>\n The album is highly self-referential with Jim Reid moaning \u201cTry to win your interest back \/ But you ain\u2019t having none of that\u201d on opener \u201cAmputation.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n But fans are having a lot of that exactly because the references to past glories come thick and fast.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cFacing Up to the Facts\u201d is a rip off of their own \u201cKill Surf City.\u201d Reid sings \u201cI hate my brother and he hates me \/ That\u2019s the way it\u2019s supposed to be,\u201d swapping out \u201cbaby\u201d for \u201cbrother.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n The best songs on the album are the doo-wop surf pop duet ballads \u201cAlways Sad\u201d and \u201cSong for a Secret\u201d (think of the latter as a follow-up to \u201cJust Like Honey.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Closing with a re-recorded version of \u201cCan\u2019t Stop the Rock\u201d \u2013 the song originally appeared on side project <\/span>Sister Vanilla<\/b>\u2019s one and only album \u2013 the brothers prove that you really, really can\u2019t.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/p>\n Father John Misty \u2013 <\/b>Pure Comedy<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n 2015\u2019s <\/span>I Love You Honeybear<\/span><\/i> featured on many best of\u2026 lists that year \u2013 including <\/span>Towleroad<\/b><\/a>\u2019s \u2013 and Tillman has since become something of a folk pop pied piper.<\/span><\/p>\n Pure Comedy<\/span><\/i> is not what the title suggests. Rather, Tillman takes on the pure stupidity, recklessness and selfishness of modern America. <\/span><\/p>\n Musically, Tillman has to an extent dropped the folk approach in favor of <\/span>Elton John<\/b>-style 70s piano pop. <\/span><\/p>\n Tillman is often described as self indulgent and the sheer length of <\/span>Pure Comedy<\/span><\/i>, at 70 minutes attests to that. <\/span><\/p>\n Having said that, the centerpiece of the album, the 13-minute-long \u201cLeaving LA\u201d is Tillman at his best.<\/span><\/p>\n These L.A. phonies and their bullshit bands<\/span><\/p>\n That sound like dollar signs and Amy Grant<\/span><\/p>\n So reads the pull quote from my last cover piece<\/span><\/p>\n Entitled \u201cThe Oldest Man in Folk Rock Speaks\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n You can hear it all over the airwaves<\/span><\/p>\n The manufactured gasp of the final days<\/span><\/p>\n Someone should tell them \u2018bout the time that they don\u2019t have<\/span><\/p>\n To praise the glorious future and the hopeless past<\/span><\/p>\n Basically, Tillman is pissed off with everything and he lets us know in great style.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/p>\n Fionn Regan \u2013 <\/b>The Meeting of the Waters<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n His debut album <\/span>The End of History<\/span><\/i> earned a Mercury award nomination in 2006 along with comparisons with the likes of Bob Dylan and Nick Drake.<\/span><\/p>\n The 2009 second album <\/span>The Shadow of an Empire<\/span><\/i> was apparently beset with problems and in fact an entire album was supposedly scrapped and rerecorded.<\/span><\/p>\n 100 Acres of Sycamore<\/span><\/i> and <\/span>The Bunkhouse, Vol. 1<\/span><\/i> were altogether quieter affairs on release, a huge shame considering that Regan addressed the problems with album number two and went back to what he does best.<\/span><\/p>\n While <\/span>The End of History<\/span><\/i> was a straight up genius folk pop affair, <\/span>The Meeting of the Waters<\/span><\/i> ramps up the pop with a wash of orchestrations.<\/span><\/p>\n Songs like \u201cCormorant Bird\u201d remind listeners of what made Regan special in the first place \u2013 sublime yet simple acoustic tracks with sometimes stunning lyrics (\u201cYou pulled a rainbow from my skull and you said, \u2018Look at that\u2019\u201d).<\/span><\/p>\n Elsewhere, songs like \u201cBook of the Moon\u201d and \u201cUp Into the Rafters\u201d are so close to pop that you could imagine <\/span>Take That<\/b> covering them.<\/span><\/p>\n Closing with a 12-minute ambient track \u201cTsuneni Al\u201d suggests that Regan has caught the Bon Iver bug for experimenting with his sound.<\/span><\/p>\n The Meeting of the Waters<\/span><\/i> has none of the immediate charm of his earlier albums but on repeated listening its without doubt his best since <\/span>The End of History<\/span><\/i>.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/p>\n Take That \u2013 <\/b>Wonderland<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n Man band <\/span>Take That<\/b> are currently down to three members with a revolving door for <\/span>Robbie Williams<\/b> and the mooted possibility of a return for Jason Orange for an anniversary tour on the cards.<\/span><\/p>\n For <\/span>Wonderland<\/span><\/i> only Barlow, Owen and Donald remain. <\/span><\/p>\n There\u2019s nothing here as iconic as early Take That stuff (\u201cNever Forget\u201d, anyone?) or even later classics like \u201cGreatest Day\u201d or \u201cShine\u201d but it hardly matters. The album was announced at the same time as an accompanying tour or more likely the album is taking a back seat to the trio\u2019s massively successful tours. <\/span><\/p>\n Visually, Take That is just wrong with three members. Everyone knows the magic number if five. Or four. Or seven in the case of <\/span>Steps<\/b>. Tellingly, a recent appearance on an English tv show with the two presenters joining the band for a medley was one of the band\u2019s most powerful performances in recent years.<\/span><\/p>\n There\u2019s no need for <\/span>Wonderland<\/span><\/i> but there\u2019s no need for Take That to split up. Hopefully, Jason Orange will see the light and return. Four good. Robbie Williams \u2013 meh.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/p>\n And finally\u2026.<\/strong><\/p>\n Don\u2019t panic.\u00a0Jared Kushner<\/strong> has not \u2013 as far as I know \u2013 taken a break from Saving The World to record an album of original material.<\/p>\n However, a Last.fm profile<\/a> allegedly belonging to the King of Preppy is doing the rounds.<\/p>\n Last.fm has been around for 15 years now. It\u2019s essentially a social network that allows users to show off their fabulous taste in music.<\/p>\n Kushner has neither confirmed or denied that the profile is his. If it is, Son-In-Law Number 1 has been binging on\u00a0Lorde<\/strong> and\u00a0Troye Sivan<\/strong> since Trump\u2019s election.<\/p>\n Other insights \u2013 \u201cMamma Mia\u201d is Kushner\u2019s third favorite song of all time followed by \u201cDancing Queen.\u201d Depeche Mode and the xx also feature heavily.<\/p>\n What with Superman duties, Jared appears to not have listened to any music this week.<\/p>\n According to last.fm, my comparability with Jared is very high. Good to know.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n The post New Music: The Jesus and Mary Chain, Father John Misty, Fionn Regan, Take That, Jared Kushner<\/a> appeared first on Towleroad<\/a>.<\/p>\n
\n<\/a>Who would have thought that <\/span>The Jesus and Mary Chain<\/b><\/a>\u00a0would get back together in the first place and then drop possibly their third best album 19 years after the disappointing <\/span>Munki<\/span><\/i>.<\/span><\/p>\n
\n<\/a>Former <\/span>Fleet Fox<\/b> Josh Tillman \u2013 aka <\/span>Father John Misty <\/b>\u2013 could have suffocated under the weight of expectation for his third solo album <\/span>Pure Comedy<\/span><\/i>.<\/span><\/p>\n
\n<\/a>Commercially, Irish singer songwriter <\/span>Fionn Regan<\/b>\u2019s greatest success so far was closing out <\/span>Bon Iver<\/b><\/a>\u2019s <\/span>22, A Million<\/span><\/i> on \u201c00000 Million.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n
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