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Her third collection – and second since parting company with Irish pop-rockers Ash – is bursting with brisling new-wave bluster, powerful sing-along friendly choruses and an apparently effortless conjuring of prickly electricity. Each song surges and swells, with many strong contenders for standalone single release. The record’s lead track, White, is a fine first choice though – it sets a neat tone for what follows, Hatherley’s confident vocals sparring with a chunky bassline for attention supremacy.
Straight Lines’ chiming guitar is an echo of Dischord catalogue acts like Bluetip and Faraquet, though Hatherley’s accessible lyricism keeps proceedings comparatively lightweight. Indeed, there are several moments when she seems to pay homage to underground inspirations, rather than solely pursue a pop-savvy direction. Full Circle is a dizzying delight of staccato vocals and oddball keyboard motifs, and Firebird is a completely unexpected diversion into peculiar big top atmospherics supporting a hushed proclamation that a relationship will stand up tall to any trials or tribulations.
If New Worlds has a flaw, it’s that – for all of its temporarily engaging invention – it doesn’t linger too long in the memory. A handful of numbers aside, including White and the Foo Fighters-like charmer Colours, with its quirky vocal tics, the songs slide from thoughts soon after they’ve been silenced. This is perhaps down to the album’s twitchy skittering from one approach to the next – while the tone is always upbeat, the execution varies considerably – and it may have been improved by an alternative sequencing.
That said, be they on CD or downloaded, the listener can choose their own ordering of these tracks if they wish – there seems to be no narrative driving the piece as a whole, so shuffle to your heart’s delight. And it’s sure to be impressed, however briefly, as while its effects last New Worlds is a quaint, quietly enchanting listen. --Mike Diver
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Customer Reviews
The first lady of British Quirky-pop with a penchant for colour metaphore is back with her third solo album and she's as sharp as ever. After the finely crafted mini-epic feel of 'The Deep Blue', Charlotte has pared things down with a more immediate, instinctive sound.
Recorded virtually as live in the studio, 'New Worlds' opens with its first two singles. First up is 'White', with it's no-nonsense stomping guitar riff counterpointed by Charlotte's chilled-out vocals leading into a dreamy chorus. This is followed by 'Alexander', a lilting ballad which explodes into triumphant pop-rock. Next up is the strident rock 'n' roll work out of 'Straight Lines', possibly the most in-your-face track on the album, followed by the title track with it's vibrant, upbeat calypso-pop and a killer arpeggio guitar riff. By now, even the newcomer to Charlotte Hatherley's music will have cottoned on to the fact that her tunes rarely go in the direction you expect. However, 'Firebird' is one hell of a curve-ball, with its retro-whimsy conjuring up images of WW2 keep-your-chin-up sing-alongs. Track six is 'Full Circle' with it's brash opening punctuated by bars of prog rock guitar, followed by the lively 'Little Sahara', with its bouncing chorus featuring 'whoa-oh-oh-oh-oh's which could be straight out of an early XTC number. Track eight is 'Colours' - a punchy slice of pop-rock excellence which, along with the title track, would be my choice for the third single. Winding down, now, we come to 'Cinnabar', the most beautiful track on the album for which I would use the words 'lilting' and 'dreamy' if I hadn't already used them earlier in this review. Even here, there is a little wake-up call near the end to keep you on your toes. Finally, there is 'Wrong Notes' a track which evokes a sense of longing and apprehension, has a chorus which gives you goosebumps and ends with some wonderfully deranged guitar in the mix.
If you like your pop music intelligent, original and full of surprises, you'd have to go a long, LONG way to beat this album.
was a fine affair. A veritable Pandora's box of
shimmering elegance and ribald post-punk-pop mayhem.
With 'New Worlds' she gets straight down to business
with ten distinctive compositions which demonstrate
her admirable capacity to produce music of intelligence,
power and nuance.
The chugging opening chords and laconic vocal of opening
track 'White' brought Liz Phair to mind for a moment but the
impression was quickly swept away by the luminous beauty of
the song's gorgeous chorus. The delicious harmonies sound
as if they might be produced by four naiads swimming round
and round in a chocolate fountain.
In contrast 'Straight Lines' is as raw as it gets.
Big riffs, squealing feedback and more than a little
whiff of The B52s in the refrain. Canny and to the point.
'Firebird' is pure burlesque. A prickly, dream-like
composition from a music-hall at the end of the world.
'Little Sahara' captures the scent of the spirit of 1976
in the verses but Ms Hatherley manages, once again, to
cook up another harmonically otherworldly middle-eight.
It is this clever use of contrast which keeps interest alive.
'Colours' is perhaps the weakest track in the collection.
The melody and arrangement lacks definition and energy.
A bit of a make-weight truth-be-told.
'Cinnabar', however, is a wonderful song.
Richly textured and unpredictable, it is perhaps the finest
song Ms Hatherley has written in her career so far.
A perfect little alchemical wonder in fact!
'Wrong Notes' winds up the project in fine style.
The tonally off-kilter synth adds depth and intrigue
to another magically realised composition.
Left-field pop doesn't get much better than this.
Recommended.
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