The long-serving British pop crooner repackages the posh opulence of his excellent orchestral Symphonica tour into his first album in a decade.
GEORGE MICHAEL/ Symphonica
Despite personal problems and health issues in recent years, George Michael emerged from the crises with grace and aplomb as deftly demonstrated during his sold out Symphonica tour between 2011 and 2012. The tour saw Michael performing a total of 75 shows in and around Europe, supported by either the Wroclaw Philharmonic Orchestra or the Czech National Symphony Orchestra. Indeed, the success of the tour proved that the former Wham! star has well and truly overcome adversity, and is overdue for a follow-up to his 2004’s Patience. Don’t get too excited just yet, though, because Symphonica is not it. Instead Michael’s latest release, helmed by the late legendary producer Phil Ramone, is merely a live recording consisting of covers and classics culled from the tour.
Originally appearing on Patience, introspective opener Through receives a sophisticated revamp as Michael soars through the orchestral flourishes, singing: “I guess it's tough, I guess I'm older/And everything must change/And all this cruelty and money instead of love/People, have we no shame?” before finally concluding: “It's so clear to me now/ I've enough of these chains/Life is there for the taking/What kind of fool would remain in this cheap gilded cage?”
More lush reworkings of Michael’s past hits include A Different Corner, Praying for Time, John and Elvis Are Dead, One More Try and Cowboys and Angels.
As for the covers that make up the majority of Symphonica, most of them are previously included on Michael’s 1999 album Songs From The Last Century. Here, the singer reminds us just how brilliantly he pays homage to a host of musical greats — from Nina Simone (My Baby Just Cares For Me, and of course, Feeling Good and Wild is the Wind), Roberta Flack (The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face), Bing Crosby (Brother Can You Spare a Dime), Elton John (Idol), the Police (Roxanne) and Rufus Wainwright (Going to a Town). Michael’s renditions of these classics are impeccable, particularly a cover of the lesser known Terence Trent D’Arby’s Let Her Down Easy, which happens to be the album’s lead single.
Compared to Robbie Williams (whose flair for big band music fully manifests itself on his latest output Swings Both Ways), Michael seems to be sitting more comfortably in this sonic setting, displaying understated confidence and class. The set’s repertoire may not be all that exciting and inspiring since it’s largely made up of old material, but Symphonica does make the wait for Michael’s fifth studio album slightly more tolerable.
At its core, the album serves as a perfect reminder of how exceptional Michael is as a singer-songwriter, and how far he has come since his ’80s pop days. What’s more, it will definitely come in handy for those who wish to relive the tour or those who missed it and would like to find out what the fuss was about. n
THE PLAYLIST
The Whitest Crow/ Be With You
With artists including excellent acts such as Part Time Musicians and Dot, up-and-coming local independent label Rats Records has become the go-to place for unearthing the country’s latest talent. The label continues to churn out quality music, and this time it’s by rock quartet the Whitest Crow. Their debut single, Be With You, finds the foursome channelling a bit of the Black Keys and Tame Impala to great effect. And while the lyrics (“Let me closer to you … let me be with you/’Cause I just wanna be with you”) may look uninspired on paper, their rousing “come on” chorus does make up for it.
Tune-Yards/ Water Fountain
Merrill Garbus’ one-woman project Tune-Yards is undoubtedly one of the most riveting acts to have emerged from 2011, thanks to her wildly eclectic style and musical influences. Following up her exceptional second album Whokill, Garbus gives us Water Fountain, the first taste from her upcoming LP Nikki Nack. And, of course, she doesn’t disappoint. Joyously rumbustious, the song packs in myriad influences including the famous Bo Diddley beat, handclaps, sing-song chants and a whole lot of woo-hahs. If this pleasant madness is any indication, Nikki Nack will indeed be another Tune-Yards masterpiece.
Throwing Snow (featuring Adda Kaleh)/ The Tempest
London-based producer Ross Tones, better known by the name Throwing Snow, teams up with Romanian vocalist Adda Kaleh to bring us more than four minutes of staggeringly thrilling soundscape in the form of the Tempest. Lifted from his new EP Pathfinder, the track opens with hectic arpeggiated chords, then Kaleh chimes in alongside the icy synths. As if that wasn’t enough, the drum machine kicks in, triggering a maelstrom of strings that cut through the song like a malicious gale.
Roddy Frame/ Forty Days of Rain
Former Aztec Camera frontman Roddy Frame is back in the limelight after an eight-year hiatus with new single Forty Days of Rain, which is taken from his upcoming fourth solo album Seven Dials. The song rides merrily on the sound of breezy harmonica and guitar as the 50-year-old Scottish singer-songwriter talks about springtime (“I used to pray for the sun”) and how he was lost and then he’s found. Frame sounds reinvigorated here, like a man reborn and rejoicing the fact that he’s alive.
Kylie Minogue/ Sexercise
Its name may instantly grab attention, but the latest offering from the Australian diva sounds like a rejected cut from one of Britney Spears’ albums. Why? Well, the dubstep element on Sexercise is no longer in vogue. The incorporation of the bass-driven genre is painfully outdated, especially in the context of 2014. The lyrics, too, are equally cringe-worthy: “Feel the burn … let me see you take it down/Let me see you take it up/Let me see you bounce … stretch it out baby/I want to see you beat all your best times.” It is perhaps the worst thing the singer has put out in the past decade. n
