SHAKIRA LAS MUJERES YA NO LLORAN REVIEW: THE COLOMBIAN'S FIRST EFFORT IN SEVEN YEARS JUMPS UNEVENLY BETWEEN GENRES, WRITES ADRIAN THRILLS
SHAKIRA: Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran (RCA)
Touted as her big breakup album, the Colombian's first effort in seven years jumps unevenly between genres.
Sung almost entirely in Spanish — its title translates as Women Don't Cry Anymore — it finds Shakira calling out the alleged infidelity of her ex-partner, footballer Gerard Piqué, on dance-pop track Bzrp Music Sessions, Vol. 53 ('You traded a Ferrari for a Twingo,' she sings) and deploying double entendres with rapper Cardi B on Punteria.
Piano ballad Ultima is a highlight, but the quirkiest tracks are collaborations with Mexican-American bands Grupo Frontera and Fuerza Regida.
ED HARCOURT: El Magnifico (Deathless)
Having written for Paloma Faith and helped to craft Sophie Ellis-Bextor's last three albums, Harcourt gets back to songwriting basics here.
With its gothic strings recorded in a church, El Magnifico is sometimes overly theatrical, but its writing is intimate and inventive.
Seraphina, written after the death of a friend, unfurls across five minutes, and the soul ballad Strange Beauty celebrates life amid an awareness of mortality.
Guests include Kathryn Williams, rocker Greg Dulli and Somerset singer Stevie Parker, whose breezy voice shines on At The Dead Of The World.
RIDE: Interplay (Wichita)
Oxford quartet Ride are now fully back on track after seeing a successful reunion stalled by the pandemic.
Despite signposting its influences a little too readily — early U2 on the shimmering Peace Sign; New Order on Last Frontier — this is an assured return.
Lead guitarist Andy Bell (who spent a decade with Oasis while Ride were off-duty) adds torrents of reverb and echo to tracks that range from dreamy pop to psychedelic rock.
'We'll never fade away,' promises singer Mark Gardener on Sunrise Chaser. Second time around, Ride look ready to go the distance.