From gross to barbra (and her friends): the discs of the week

To contend for the cover of the New Music Friday this week are two girls. Yes, girls, because even if one of the two is 83 years old, it remains an icon that seems immune to the passage of time, like his voice: Barbra Streisand is simply monumental. The other girl is gross, who four years after her latest album “Solar Power” returns and makes peace, if you can say so, with her beginnings, dusting off the role of the ante-litteram Brat Girl. The respective new albums, “The Secret of Life: Partners, Volume Two” and “Virgin”, are the most awaited among the discs out this week. But there are also Motörhead, Samuel and, for rap enthusiasts, as new as old as old, Tony Boy and Shocca DJ.

Gross – “Virgin”

Anticipated by the singles “What was that”, “Man of the Year” and “Hammer”, “Virgin” sees gross to put aside the fricchettonisms of “Solar Power”, the 2021 album inspired by the New Age culture (among the references the New Zealand pop star mentioned “Midsommar”, film of 2019 directed by Ari Aster set in a disturbing community, horror and mystery), to return to the electropop of the beginning with “Royals”. With records such as “Melodrama” and “Solar Power” in these years she has told her growth and maturity authentically and genuinely, genuinely and genuinely. Yet the audience’s response has not always been constant: “Solar Power”, to say, in addition to dividing the criticism, did not leave a very deep mark in the rankings, with that mix between indie folk, Psychedelic Pop, a Māori language that was interpreted by the same fans as an attempt to cut any bond with the beginning a little too early. Now, at 28, Lorde returns to recover the spirit of the beginning. And with “What was that” he tries to measure whether – and how much – his fanbase is still on his side.

Barbra Streisand – “The Secret of Life: Partners, Volume Two”

At 83, the legendary American singer and actress, 150 million copies sold worldwide, two Oscars and ten Grammy Awards won during his career, returns to the record scenes with a duet album. It is titled “The Secret of Life: Partners, Volume Two” and is the ideal successor of “partners” of 2014. Streisand has recorded him in secret during the last ten years involving friends and colleagues of the caliber of Bob Dylan and Paul McCartney in the records, with whom he duets respectively on “The Very thought of you” Billie Holiday and Nat King Cole) and on “My Valentine” (which the former beatle engraved in 2011 for the album “Kisses on the bottom”). In addition to Dylan and Macca there are also James Taylor, Sting, Seal, Sam Smith, Tim Mcgraw, the Icelandic Jazz Laufey, Hozier, Mariah Carey and Ariana Grande. “My new album gave me the opportunity to work and play with some of my old friends, colleagues and new artists. I admire them all and I hope you will like to listen to our collaborations as much as I liked to record them together with them,” said the unforgettable interpreter of “Funny Girl”.

Motörhead – “The Manticore Tapes”

The celebrations for the fifty years of the legendary Motörhead continue. For the first time, he publishes BMG “The Manticore Tapes”, an album that contains the first recording of the band that included Lemmy (bass and voice), “Fast” Eddie Clarke (guitar) and Phil “Philthy Animal” Taylor (drums). In August 1976, the group entered Emerson’s manicer studio, Lake & Palmer in Fulham to carry out the first tests with the new training. The ribbon, for a long time considered lost, re -emerged, and was restored on the occasion of the celebration of the fifty -fifty anniversary of the band.

DJ Shocca – “60 Hz II”

After almost twenty years from the first famous “60 Hz”, DJ Shocca returns with a new record project: “60 Hz II”. The new album represents a return to the origins for one of the most influential producers of the Italian rap scene, known for having collaborated with artists of the caliber of Club Dogo, Bassi Maestro, Emis Killa, Lazza, undertone, Inoki, Colle der Fomento and Special Teams. Composed of unpublished songs and remakes of tracks taken from the historian “60 Hz”, the new work of DJ Shocca messes classic hip hop and contemporary productions, keeping its unmistakable style intact. The hot and round drums, the deep bassline and the sought -after sounds transport the listener to a sound journey that celebrates rap culture with a look at the future.

Samuel – “Maree”

Electronic and visionary, “Maree” marks a new solo chapter for the artist, for the first time alongside the independent label Asian Fake. The album is a sound wave that alternates clubbing and melancholy introspections, where the tip crate merges with dilated sound landscapes and a powerful and poetic lyrical writing. An author electronics that vibrates in the dark, the disc was created to make dance and reflect, in perfect balance between club cultures and existential songwriting. Samuel in the past months has given us a taste of this new project with the songs “Sol of the future” published on April 25 – a hypnotic journey between melody and groove and Tech House sound – and “Black Sea” released on May 30 – a wave of synths, drum machines and sharp guitars lines, which hides a social reflection.

Tony Boy – “Uforia”

After carrying out his performance at the Allianz Cloud in Milan with a Listening Experience, Tony Boy revealed the official release of his new album: “Uforia”. “But this is not just a record: it is a journey. A leap into the future, a real sound evolution, which combines energy and introspection”, reads the press release. Some of the possible feats that will accompany the artist in this new chapter: Simba La Rue, Thasup and Lazza. The latter will certainly be present: the first anticipation of the project, in fact, is the collaborative single “Step”.