Photo: ? 2024 Loren Jalyn Kett, all rights reserved.
High Horse by Adam Hattaway and The Haunters
On past albums, Adam Hattaway's voice has been rambunctious and unrestrained, but on his sixth it's often simmering and subdued. He'll swoop up to a falsetto or impassioned howl as the song sees fit, crediting producer Marlon Williams with encouraging him to try new things.
Hattaway has amusingly referred to High Horse as "frustratingly quiet", and the difference seems to stem from switching electric guitar to acoustic. He credits Williams as a hands-on producer, with the results bringing his songs out from a blanket of distortion and into the light.
Even 'Ain't No Surprise', which has plenty of Hattaway zest, is all clean surfaces and restraint, with a perfectly applied piano line, and some synth bleeps that feel weirdly at home.
Lines in that one like "We looked into each other's eyes, till one of us got left behind", and "Worse things have happened to much better people", on 'Dark Places', prompt questions about personal changes influencing the aural ones, but regardless, it's as impassioned as ever, showing a softer side to an already great songwriter.
Dreamstate by Kelly Lee Owens
Photo: dh2
The last release from Welsh techno producer Kelly Lee Owens, LP8, was boldly experimental, and makes for an interesting pairing with her latest, which aims to be as broad and euphoric as possible.
Professional LA songwriters are dotted throughout the credits for Dreamstate, as well as Northern Irish duo Bicep, and Tom Rowlands of Chemical Brothers. He co-wrote one of two drum-free tracks, appropriately called 'Ballad (In the End)', (although I prefer the other, album closer 'Trust and Desire').
There's also George Daniel, who drums for The 1975, and released Dreamstate on his dance-focused label dh2. He co-wrote the title track, a highlight thanks to an insistent, eventually acidic, bassline, and expert structure, with every fourth bar unveiling a new aural treat.
Owens flirts with pop songwriting more than ever here and the results are often anthemic. If you're prone to an exhilarating dancefloor pogo, there's plenty to enjoy.
I Wanna Run Barefoot Through Your Hair by Christopher Owens
Photo: True Panther
Some of the lyrics here would be tempting to write off as self-pity, if you didn't know how hard the last 10 years have been for this acclaimed singer-songwriter.
After his successful duo Girls split, Owens released three similarly raved-about solo records, and then things started to go bad. An SUV knocked him off his motorbike, and because he lacked health insurance, he was refused an ambulance.
He couldn't move properly for a month. During this period his fiancée left him, he lost his job at a coffee shop, and his camper was stolen (with his cat and favourite guitar inside), leaving him homeless.
In 2020, his former collaborator Chet "JR" White died aged 40, after the pair had reconciled and started work on a new album.
There's a reflective, meandering nature to the new songs, and knowing Owens has a lot to reflect on makes his gentle philosophising feel fully earned.
The breeziest is called 'I Think About Heaven', in which he sings, "I think about heaven and I break out into a big grin. Things don't seem so bad."
On the majestic, gospel-tinged 'Do You Need a Friend', there's the line "If you really wanna know, I'm barely making it through the day."
Appropriately personal and passionately performed, it's a triumphant return for a beloved musical figure.
Tony Stamp reviews the latest album releases every week on The Sampler.