Edie Brickell is a genre-blender, ricocheting from rock to bluegrass, by way of pop-funk… it all adds up to a beautifully crafted patchwork
Edie Brickell and New Bohemians
Hunter And The Dog Star Out Friday
Arlo Parks Collapsed In Sunbeams Out now
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Edie Brickell has two claims to fame. She is the wife of Paul Simon – the third and longest-serving holder of the post, married for 28 years so far, mother of three of his four children.
More importantly, she’s a singer who had already made her mark, with What I Am, before her eyes met Simon’s across a crowded television studio.
The new album from Brickell and her band, New Bohemians, is only their fifth in a 32-year career, but they play so fluently, it’s as if they had never been apart. The 11 tracks glow with the flow.
The new album from Edie Brickell (above) and her band, New Bohemians, is only their fifth in a 32-year career, but they play so fluently, it’s as if they had never been apart
Like Simon, Brickell is a genre-blender, ricocheting from rock to bluegrass, by way of pop-funk. On the folksy Rough Beginnings she could almost be Dolly Parton; on the sparky Tripwire she leans towards Toni Basil; on the dreamy Miracles she turns into Jenny Lewis; on the fiery My Power she channels Patti Smith.
It all adds up to a beautifully crafted patchwork.
You wait ages for a rising star, then two come along at once. Last weekend the charts were stormed by Celeste, who went straight in at No 1 with her soulful debut album Not Your Muse, while another tip for the top, Arlo Parks, was at No 3 with Collapsed In Sunbeams.
A first-generation Londoner who lives in Hammersmith with her French mother and Nigerian father, Parks is so young (20) that she was born this century. Her album is the diary of a clever student with some easy-going trip-hop attached.
The lyrics deal with love, friendship and mental health, and gleam with bookish details. ‘I had a dream, we kissed,’ she sings, ‘and it was all amethyst.’
Parks went to the same private school as Hugh Grant, Latymer Upper, but sounds more like Lily Allen. She’s a big talent who just needs to work on making the words fit the melody. She could begin by listening to Edie Brickell.