Album reviews: Willie Nelson – First Rose of Spring and Denai Moore – Modern Dread
On his 70th studio album, William Nelson reflects on life experience, love and mortality, while British-Jamaican artist Denai Moore explores matters of the heart with a confidence she has seldom shown before on her third record
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★★★★☆
Willie Nelson’s 70th solo studio album, released in his 88th year, is a reflection on life experience, love and mortality. If that sounds morbid, it’s not: there’s catharsis in the country legend’s beguiling delivery.
The slow-paced title-track opener sets the tone with plaintive harmonica, pedal-steel guitar and tender, but weary, vocals. It’s followed by Nelson and his long-term friend and producer Buddy Cannon’s atmospheric “Blue Star”, which reassures a younger lover that they will meet once again beyond the pearly gates (“And when we reach the heaven’s bright/ I’ll be the blue star on your right”). Subtle harmonising backing vocals, sliding guitar and organ combine beautifully.
Though Nelson laments failed relationships in “Love Just Laughed” (“We can look back and smile and say/ Whatever happened brought us down to today”), it’s not all downbeat. Listen to his cover of the hammond-driven “Just Bummin’ Around” (by Pete Graves) and you’ll feel a surge of jauntiness.
Nelson’s first release since winning a 2020 Grammy for Best Country Solo Performance with last year’s “Ride Me Back Home” features just two new songs – “Blue Star” and “Love Just Laughed”. On First Rose of Spring, Nelson is more interested in paying tribute to the artists he admires, imbuing their songs with his gravelly emotion. “In this time that I’ve been given/ To fill my life with livin’/ I hope I’ve done the best that I can do”, he sings on “Our Song”. That this is a cover of Chris Stapleton – who has hailed Nelson “one of my biggest influences” – acknowledges his mutual respect for the younger star and suggests he could be ready to hand over the mantle to his successor. But First Rose of Spring is the work of an artist who will never grow old. EB
Denai Moore – Modern Dread
★★★★☆
“Is there a single quiet place?” Denai Moore asks on her third album, the immersive and deeply resonant Modern Dread. Whether the British-Jamaican artist found her answer remains to be seen, but she has certainly found clarity. Over 13 tracks, the 27-year-old explores matters of the heart with a confidence she has seldom shown before.
Moore, who now lives with her girlfriend in the coastal town of Margate, is as settled in life as she’s ever been. This perhaps explains why she’s able to look back with such clear vision, heard on “Fake Sorry” (strongly redolent of MIA’s equally liberating “Bad Girls”), which shows a joyful Moore shaking off negative relationships. On “Slate”, too, she allows herself to start anew, bouncing along a jubilant synth line.
Modern Dread is the product of Moore’s successful partnership with Everything Everything’s Alex Robertshaw (band members Jeremy Pritchard and Mike Spearman contribute bass and drums), and glimmers with fantastic, layered production. Instead of merging sounds so they become indistinguishable, each chime, each clatter of percussion, is given its space – as a result the whole album feels remarkably fresh. It’s in the low buzz and hum on opener “Too Close”, developing an almost claustrophobic sense of intimacy, and in the rawness of Moore’s vocal takes.
“Shut me up, I’m oversharing,” she pleads in crystalline tones on “Offer Me”. With a record this good, she’ll be lucky if she finds a volunteer. RO
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