ROCK
The Beaches
Blame My Ex (Awal)
A year after being dropped by their record label and splitting up with their management company, the Beaches found themselves with a hit on their hands this summer after a brief TikTok clip of singer/bassist Jordan Miller singing a few lines from Blame Brett went viral, racking up 2.9 million views by September.
The first single from the Toronto quartet’s second full-length album, Blame Brett name-checks Miller’s real-life ex (Brett Emmons of the Glorious Sons), but it isn’t a vengeful rant, a la You Oughta Know. It’s energetic but it isn’t angry, riding a ringing guitar riff, a propulsive, power-pop beat and a rousing chorus to become a tuneful expression of the vulnerability and fear of commitment that follows any breakup. As such, it’s clearly struck a chord with a younger audience, giving the Beaches — a joyful, queer-positive quartet of women in their mid-to-late 20s — new agency with a cohort just primed to respond to the group’s catchy, new-wave and post-punk influenced guitar pop.
Almost all the material on Blame My Ex is thematically linked to the idea of rediscovering yourself after a relationship. What Doesn’t Kill Makes You Paranoid, the album’s second single, might be its best tune, as Miller deepens her alto and reflects on self-doubt and loss of innocence while the band — which includes her sister Kylie on guitar, drummer Eliza Enman-McDaniel and keyboardist/guitarist Leandra Earl — slows the tempo while retaining the hooks.
Free to do what they pleased after being released by Island Records, the band members have chosen their collaborators wisely, working with Montreal’s Gus Van Go and Toronto’s Lowell as producers and co-writers to broaden their sound.
There are other breakup songs on the album — notably Shower Beer, If a Tree Falls and Edge of the Earth — but the Beaches are also aware of the no-strings freedom that being single brings, and they express it steamily and playfully on My Body ft. Your Lips and Kismet.
The band play a sold-out show at the Burton Cummings Theatre on Sunday. ★★★★ out of five stars
Stream these: Blame Brett, What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Paranoid, Edge of the Earth
— John Kendle
ROCK
Prince and the New Power Generation
Diamonds and Pearls
Super Deluxe Edition
(NPG Records)
The amount of music left behind by groundbreaking funkmaster Prince is, thankfully, good and voluminous. To that end, a newly remastered reissue box set, Diamonds and Pearls Super Deluxe Edition, offers his 13th studio album from 1991 with his backing band, the New Power Generation, once again. There are 47 previously unreleased tracks for Prince fans from his vaunted vault, and over two hours of live performance footage.
Sure, the lush Dolby Atmos mix of the title track Diamonds and Pearls is there, with its gorgeous musical swells and Prince’s soulful voice. So are a handful of other versions of the track, including a longer version and audio from live tour performances.
Cream is back with its salacious delivery, but better still is Cream (N.P.G. Mix), a version with an extra layer of stuttered percussion and a deep, melodic synth.
The unreleased tracks range from middling reworks of Daddy Pop and Gett Off, to the torchy I Pledge Allegiance to Your Love, a superbly slow blues scorcher with Prince soloing skillfully on the guitar throughout.
For some Prince purists, his New Power Generation backing band beginning in 1990 and leading to this 1991 album offered a bit too much polished pop, lacking some of his famed the Revolution ’s grittier approach. Regardless, Prince’s N.P.G. phase still delivered his evolving musical vision, as is evidenced here — particularly in the inclusion of real hip-hop influence: rapper Tony M is featured throughout.
The complete Diamonds and Pearls Super Deluxe Edition includes 75 audio tracks across seven CDs and 12 vinyl records. It also comes with a 120-page hardback book with unseen photos and essays.
All told, this massive special release is a must-have for Prince fans who have been partying like it’s 1999 since roughly 1982. ★★★★★ out of five stars
Stream these: I Pledge Allegiance to Your Love, Cream (N.P.G. Mix)
— Ron Harris, The Associated Press
POP
Taemin
Guilty (SM)
The prince of sultry K-pop is back. The gothic, fall season is here and the prolific Taemin returns with some appropriately atmospheric music on a new EP titled Guilty. It is his first release since completing his mandatory military enlistment in the South Korean army in April 2023.
Taemin cut his teeth in the spotlight by starting out in boy band SHINee but has emerged as a strong solo artist in the last nine years, with four previously released full-length albums under his belt. Guilty marks his fourth mini album — and proves that it only takes Taemin six tracks to realize a robust comeback.
Dramatic, mysterious, sometimes unsettling but always dreamy, Guilty is an offer one can’t refuse.
It would be inaccurate to say he’s back and better than ever, because he was never not excellent. Guilty is Taemin just being just Taemin, surpassing himself not by being better but by being different. This EP is a pivot from the cool, synth-wave Taemin who explored themes of Stockholm syndrome on Criminal from his 2020 album Never Gonna Dance Again, or the cool R&B-meets-dance pop cool Taemin of his 2021 EP Advice to, well, a new kind of cool on Guilty.
From the theatricality of a 30-piece string ensemble on the title track, the record feels like a grand, triumphant return to music. And it certainly doesn’t remain stagnant: dynamic synths and magnetic vocals — complete with spooky, ASMR-esque whispers — complete the song.
The Rizzness, a silly title playing with internet slang “rizz” meaning “charisma,” is seductive, pulsing, deep bass hip-hop. Taemin is not here to play nice. The song switches midway through, mutating from the musical incarnation of a thriller flick to a horror film with electric guitar tremolos dialed to 11.
Comparatively, She Loves Me, She Loves Me Not is a tamer pop track, a melancholic tune that twins with the dreamy Not Over You in the pantheon of heartbreak.
Night Away whisks the listener away on a hopeful daydream of romance with its soft guitars and Taemin’s gentle vocals. While Blue, its opposite on the emotional spectrum, offers a farewell with its vintage drums and hopeful mood. ★★★★ out of five starts
Stream these: Night Away, Guilty
— Cristina Jaleru, The Associated Press
CLASSICAL
Bruno Philippe,
Tanguy de Williencourt
Camille Saint-Saëns: Cello Concerto No. 1 — Franck, Fauré & Poulenc (Harmonia Mundi)
This upcoming release on the Harmonia Mundi label features nearly a century of luscious French cello music, courtesy of cellist Bruno Philippe and pianist Tanguy de Williencourt.
The program comprised of works by Faure, Franck and Poulenc also features the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Christoph Eschenbach.
Following the duo’s opener of Faure’s Romance, Op. 69, listeners are treated to a cello transcription of Franck’s Violin Sonata, FWV 8, its original guise regarded one of the pillars of 19th-century chamber music. Philippe brings lyrical grace to each of its four movements, with the penultimate Recitativo-Fantasia a particular highlight for further showcasing the cellist’s expressive artistry.
Saint-Saens’s Cello Concerto No. 1, Op. 33 provides greater dramatic contrast, with the orchestra particularly compelling during fiery finale Molto allegro.
Also offered is Poulenc’s Cello Sonata, FP 143, given bite by the soloist, and matched note for note by Williencourt, before another Faure work, Apres un rêve, Op. 7, No. 1 leaves listeners in the lap of dreams. This short piece, contrasted earlier by the same composer’s Papillon, Op. 77, serves a lush bookend for the entire album, offering plenty of ooh la la while becoming a fine addition to the French music discography. ★★★★ out of five stars
Stream these: Romance, Op. 69; Violin Sonata, FWV 8
— Holly Harris
