I’m liking myself for the first time

Sam Smith

A STEADY DRIP, DRIP, DRIP

SPARKS ★★★★★ EVER felt that rush of the familiar and the unfamiliar at the same time? It’s like that in Sparksland.

A Steady Drip, Drip, Drip is full of such moments. Nothing Travels Faster Than The Speed Of Light could be a Gary Numan track from the synth craze of the early 1980s, but then on I’m Toast, puts us firmly in the present.

Though there are few of their trademark collage-style songs on here, Russell Mael is in fine voice, those impossible falsetto notes still ringing out clear as a bell, and brother Ron’s lyrics have stayed wickedly funny and gloriously direct. They might be living through dark times, but the songs show they’re still a pair of bright sparks.

FLIGHT

HANNI EL KHATIB ★★★★★ SAN FRANCISCObased Hanni El Khatib may be a new name to many, but his fifth album in a decade should make him your new favourite garage-soul-punk-blues stylist.

There are 13 songs packed into 31 adrenaline-fuelled minutes, all with one-word titles such as Alive, Room, Dumb and Harlow.

The album is short, sharp and thrilling, with a classic rock ‘n’ roll ethos underpinned by samples, tape loops and drum breaks.

Superb closing track Peace states “I’m a child of the 80s, born in the Bay”, before proclaiming “I’ve found peace in my mind” and ending abruptly. You’ll want to play it again immediately.

LOVERS ROCK

THE DEARS ★★★★★ LOVERS Rock is The Dears’ eighth studio album.

After numerous line-up changes husband-and-wife duo singer/ guitarist Murray Lightburn and keyboardist Natalia Yanchak are leading their self-styled “orchestral pop noir rock band” back into the limelight.

As the world gets gloomier, The Dears are getting smoother, with hints of yacht rock in Stille Lost’s sax and the polished strings arrangement on Instant Nightmare.

This radio-friendly album repays repeated listening.