Nadine Shah and Ghostpoet on The Moon Again

The Moon presents another two repeat offenders who both featured on A Best of 15
They have also previously worked together as Nadine Shah was a guest vocalist on two tracks from Shedding Skin Ghostpoet's excellent 2015 album

First up is Holiday Destination  from Nadine Shah, who first appeared on a Moon back in 2013 with a Spotify playlist made up of her debut and some excellent pre-album b-sides. I described her sound as "a pretty unique mix of Later PJ Harvey, Dame Shirley Bassey and the Unthanks". Her second LP carried on in the same vein and quality, but this recently released third is more like a mixture of early and recent PJ Harvey and Siouxsie and the Banshees. It has a concise and urgent sound and it is her most consistently great LP so far. Also, like the last PJ Harvey LP, it has some excellent sax, but also a strong political focus, especially on the refugee crisis 

Which is an issue the new Ghostpoet album also deals with and one that the EU as a whole should hang their heads in shame. This is especially true of the UK, as it is the European county most culpable for the situation in the Middle East, thanks to colonial and more recent history. But instead of leading, or even taking part in dealing with the crisis at the borders of Europe, we have had David "Pontius Pilate" Cameron and now we have the Maybot controlled by a bunch of Brexshitting Quislings. Who want to take us into splendid isolation from Europe and team up with the Anglosphere of "English-Speaker Peoples" who, according arch-Brexshitter Daniel Hannan, are the  inventors of freedom....

But in reality arch-Brexshitters represent the UK in much the same way that Charlottesville torchbearers represent the USA.  You would get more sense from listening to Nadine Shah, born and bred in the land to the north east of The North, but to a part-Norwegian English mother and a Pakistani father, or to  Ghostpoet, born in Ghana to a Nigerian father and a mother from the Caribbean, but brought up in Tooting, South London, as they represent the Blighty of today.

GHOSTPOET  - DARK DAYS + CANAPÉS

This latest Ghostpoet LP carries on in much the same vein as Shedding Skin, only it is more moody with less collaboration and, as mentioned above, it is does not shy away from the issues of the day. But I do find he is at his best when dealing with the personal; my highlights from Shedding Skin dealt with the breakdown of relationships and now, with the likes of  the brilliant Woe is Meee, he is dealing with the trials and tribulations of trying to find love. Some may find it all a bit bleak, but if you listen close enough you may find it causes a wry smile.