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Albums of the week: Rudimental and Bring Me The Horizon

Rudimental - Toast to Our Differences

(Atlantic)

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Rudimental’s third studio album has been three years in the making, and at first glance it’s perhaps easy to see why. It’s 16 songs long and features multiple collaborations — Anne-Marie, Rita Ora, Ray BLK, Jess Glynne, Stefflon Don and James Arthur are a mere handful involved. It’s undoubtedly ambitious, if a little overwhelming: it’s mammoth length quickly becomes a burden and the manifold styles of so many artists can too often clash.

Yet it’s difficult not to appreciate what Rudimental have done with this record. DJ Locksmith said the album’s key message was “bringing people together from all walks of life through the music that we create”. Piers Agget added: “There’s a lot of emphasis on dividing people at the minute, so we’d like to celebrate our differences instead of getting angry.”

In such a divisive era, a simple message of unity is welcome, and it’s well delivered on the album’s affecting title track opener: “Let’s raise a glass/And have a toast to all our differences,” newcomer Shungudzo sings. It’s a message punctuated by the excellent Ladysmith Black Mambazo. The uplifting sounds of the multiple-Grammy-winning South African choir prove reflective. No Pain is another highlight and features a rap about the importance of supporting communities. “They said change was gonna come ... who helps us now?”

Strong moments like this bring hope and power amid Rudimental’s calls for harmony. Yet more such moments are needed as too many songs sit between the overly elaborate and the anodyne. Ultimately, their message of positivity prevails — but only just.

by Elizabeth Aubrey

Better Oblivion Community Center - Better Oblivion Community Center

(Secretly Canadian)

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Phoebe Bridgers, 24, was the breathiest third of the (all female) acoustic supergroup boygenius, whose eponymous EP was one of last year’s highlights. Now she has found a kindred spirit in Nebraskan troubadour Conor Oberst, 38. It’s a canny alliance. Service Road is an engrossing piece of storytelling that makes clever use of the contrasting textures of their voices: his velveteen, hers crystalline, both seemingly on the point of tears. It’s not all so inspired – the momentum sags in the second half – but Bridgers is clearly a talent and it’s good to see Oberst, who has had a horrible time of late, get a little spring back into his step.

by Richard Godwin

Keuning - Prismism

(Pretty Faithful)

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It's a full-time job keeping up with The Killers. Counting the solo releases of all four members sees the band’s catalogue run to 13 albums. Surprisingly, this is guitarist Dave Keuning’s first lone creation, and he hasn’t used it as a place to put all the experimental weirdness he couldn’t get onto a Killers collection. It’s a feel-good selection of synth-heavy rock ’n’ roll, including the heavy riffing of Broken Clocks and the propulsive catchiness of the overall standout, I Ruined You. The bigger tunes cry out for the more expressive vocals of Brandon Flowers, but it’s easy to spot Keuning as the source of many of the main band’s best moments. This is a fine stopgap until they’re back together again.

by David Smyth

Bring Me the Horizon - Amo

(RCA)

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With rock music struggling to remain relevant in the hits-driven streaming environment, Bring Me the Horizon’s radical makeover on their sixth album makes commercial sense. The band have shape-shifted into an EDM act on brooding bangers Why You Gotta Kick Me When I’m Down? and Nihilist Blues, featuring art-pop innovator Grimes. Where there used to be churning riffs and shouty vocals, there are now blaring synths and pulsing soundscapes. Yet for all their dip into glitchy electronics, the spirit of rock endures on rampaging choruses such as Mantra and Wonderful Life. The teasing lyrics on Heavy Metal acknowledge the album’s potential to alienate fans. But their new direction feels more like progress than panic.

by Andre Paine

Bassekou Kouyaté & Ngoni Ba - Miri

(Out Here Records)

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Bassekou Kouyaté, the Malian ngoni (desert lute) player, has emerged as a magnificent soloist in his own right after years of backing big names from his country such as Ali Farka Touré and Toumani Diabaté. This is his fifth solo album and one of his best, going back to a roots sound with the lithe, sinewy ngoni and the vocals of his wife Amy Sacko to the fore. There are guests like Michael League from Snarky Puppy and a vibrant Cuban track featuring Madera Limpia, but it’s really the virtuoso ngoni-playing on tracks such as Konya that make this album really shine. This is one of West Africa’s leading bands, which is saying something. They play at Subterania, W10, on Sunday.

by Simon Broughton

Vula Viel - Do Not Be Afraid

(Jus Like Music)

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A portentous blast on a conch shell and we’re plunged into the labyrinthine other world of Vula Viel, a British trio whose lean polyrhythms and frenzied intricacies owe much to the ringing wooden keys of the gyil xylophone of northern Ghana, which bandleader/composer Bex Burch takes into territories punk, free jazz and minimalist, while never straying far from the instrument’s roots. But where 2015 debut Good is Good was all traditional tunes, this sophomore album sees Burch come into her own. Buoyed by drummer Jim Hart and bassist Ruth Goller of Melt Yourself Down, Burch’s gyil pulses and cycles through eight punchy, danceable originals, of which the grooving Inside Mirror, with its vocals by Rozie Gyems, is a highlight. Vibe-tastic.

by Jane Cornwell