Album Review: Psapp - Tiger, My Friend (Uncut)

4/5
Anglo-German collaboration reaps rewards in derelict Kings Cross studio

With a distinctly honeyed voice hovering between Stereolab’s Laetitia Sadier and Dani Siciliano, Psapp’s cat-obsessed Galia Durant weaves languid and inventive melodies over colleague Clarim Classman’s strikingly raw production. The enchanting results – not unlike Siciliano’s husband Matt Herbert let loose in a toy shop – combines found sounds as diverse as pneumatic drills, dial tones and cat’s toys with a delightfully fresh and playful melange of electronics and old instruments. With hauntingly naïve choruses, unexpected harmonies – especially on the fragrant “Calm Down” – and Durant’s pure and mellifluous delivery, it’s hard to find fault with this uplifting debut.

Album Review: Psapp - Tiger, My Friend (Uncut)

Album Review: Francoise Hardy - Tant De Belles Choses (Uncut)

3/5
Blur and St Etienne endorsed Yeh Yeh Girl makes a sultry return to form

Eternally elegant French icon Francoise Hardy – now a successful writer of astrology books – leaves behind, for the most part, the rockier sound of 1996’s Le Danger in favour of the more intimate, gentle sounds of ‘70’s albums like La Question. With several appearances by her son (by French legend Jacques Dutronc) Thomas Dutronc, who contributes mature jazzy guitar licks, and contributions from Ben Christophers and Benjamin Biolay – a rising star of the French nouvelle chanson – this is a welcome return, even if at times it suffers from an ‘80’s production style that, on the title track, recalls the worst excesses of Pink Floyd .

Album Review: Francoise Hardy - Tant De Belles Choses (Uncut)