Having been nominated for both the Polaris and Juno music prizes, Basia Bulat is back with her fourth album Good Advice. This time with My Morning Jacket’s imperious leader Jim James on production duties and electric guitar, recorded in James’ hometown Louisville Kentucky. As the album opens with the upbeat bouncing tones of ‘La La Lie’, her voice instantly drawing comparisons to Zooey Deschanel. 

There are fleeting moments of understated pop sensibility, as tracks are filled up with danceable electronics. Once that is stripped away though, Basia’s urgent vocals and lyrics shine through, ‘In The Name Of’ being a perfect example of this. In spite of its powerful opening, there’s an exposed rawness to the track. Her chanted lyrics delivered with passion, a feeling that she’s in trouble. As the album delves deeper the instrumentation becomes increasingly scarce.

The wonderfully textured tracks remain but are playing second fiddle to Basia’s delicate and beautiful tones, the swaggering tones of the title track being case in point. Her vocals sit atop an elaborate bed of dense instrumentation, the electronics in the track creating the graceful almost psychedelic pop tone. 

As the album closes in upon its conclusion, ‘The Garden’ sees Basia making further use of these incredible sonic soundscapes. However, there is a real elegance and tenderness to the track, without over complicating it. That doesn’t mean to say it’s simplistic in any way, there is a rich sound underpinning the song, but it is delivered in a non-intrusive way allowing the vocals to shine.

Whilst this record doesn’t strike you immediately as a pop record per se, it has numerous pop qualities and these are not being dismissed, but the record downplays them well. From the soaring choral elements to the downbeat and sometimes sombre lyrics, a rich sonic tapestry holds them all together. Such that these wouldn’t be out of place on any modern pop record.

In all Good Advice is exceptionally beautiful with Basia’s ethereal vocal the real star of the show.

Good Advice is available from amazon.

There are very few shows that fill us with such excitement, with one band currently riding high on critical acclaim following the release of their eighth studio album. Another band who are also benefiting from a similar raft of praise, Heartless Bastards take to the stage with their distinctive brand of Americana-tinged rock.

Kicking the show off in an exciting style, they burst out of the blocks and have the room jumping in a matter of seconds as that distinctive tone of Erika’s resonates throughout this beautiful hall. With tracks from the latest long player Restless Ones being the stars of the show this evening, with the wonderful 'Gates Of Dawn' being the stand out of this early set.

As they exude passion and enthusiasm, they win over the crowd that are quickly amassing, with their singalong choruses and enigmatic stage presence. To support one of the most passionate bands on the planet, you need a huge presence yourselves and tonight Heartless Bastards showed that they were well equipped to blow away tonight’s crowd.

With the crowd now suitably hyped up, the stage is reset for Jim James and the rest of My Morning Jacket, to take things to a whole new level. Kicking proceedings off with 'Victory Dance', Jim struts around the stage with his sampler hung around his neck, akin to a messiah, his baying subjects falling at his feet and there’s an immediate sense of adoration.

From the laidback tones of 'Masterplan' to the atmospheric beauty of 'Tropics (Erase Traces)', My Morning Jacket are in the form of their lives. Jim James’ lyrics will always remain the star of the show though, his heartfelt laments coupled with crushing guitars and pounding drums. It’s truly a sight and sound to savour as he riles the crowd up as they reach frenzy.

 Such frenzy is no more evident than during 'Believe (Nobody Knows)', this huge singalong hands in the air moment sees the crowd and the band at their most animated. Yet My Morning Jacket makes this entire set look so effortless, each track delivered with equal measures of heart and breathtaking excitement. With a plethora of new tracks standing up against the classics, Waterfall comes alive tonight.

As the band return to a rapturous reception they set about turning the level up even further, with a mammoth five song encore featuring phenomenal renditions of 'Holdin’ On To Black Metal', 'Off The Record' and topping it all off 'One Big Holiday'. All this capping off a raucous evening from two of the finest live bands around.