Album reviews of the latest music available for streaming.

Børns / Blue Madonna

Mike Wood

The second studio album by the on-the-rise American musician opens on a bummer of a song. But, curiously, that song is not the titular “Blue Madonna,” which is the second-to-last track on the album…when it makes sense that it should be the first. “Blue Madonna” (the song) is a slow serenade that simultaneously explores innocence while flaunting sexuality. This seems a prevalent theme throughout the album, so why it’s slapped on as one the closing tracks seems odd.

Instead Blue Madonna (the album) gets its melancholic start with “God Save Our Young Blood,” a slow burn ballad of sorts that pairs Børns with a similarly moody and atmospheric guest star: Lana Del Rey. You’ll be lulled into a haze of contentment — or boredom — as they pray-sing lyrics surrounded by pounding kick drums and bass. I hate to say it, but I fell into the latter camp.

The album picks up its much more pop-appropriate beat the next tune in (“Faded Heart”) and for the remainder (mostly) of the album. Despite its title, this track is one of the liveliest, poppiest productions on the album, and this is the sound we want to hear more of from Børns. You’ll find a melding of nostalgia for pop of yore and a forward-looking vision in his arrangements of where he thinks pop will go. That said, it seems likely that Børns’ best work is surely still to come.

For more information, visit bornsmusic.com.

Chris Stapleton / From a Room: Vol. 1

Jennifer Russo

So I am driving down the highway, listening to the local country station this time around, but not really paying attention. Suddenly, I hear a song that grabs my focus. I hear a man singing that sounds like Chris Cornell, A LOT like Chris Cornell…but on the country station? What?

Thankfully, I have one of those cars that shows me what is playing, and it is “Broken Halos” by Chris Stapleton. The song is beautiful, and I am immediately drawn in. I decide to buy the whole album based on that one song, and I am glad I did.

If you are not a country fan and lean more toward the rock genre, you will still like this record. Stapleton’s voice, as I mentioned, has a Cornell sound to it, with a nice, gritty push in it that screams soulful. The CD offers us nine songs that pull at the heartstrings and make us smile, finding ourselves looking forward to the next one. “Broken Halos” is the first song on the album and recently won the 2018 Grammy for the Best Country Song, though I would tag it as a much more bluesy jam. The song puts life and death into perspective with lyrics like “Don’t go looking for the reasons/Don’t go asking Jesus why/We’re not meant to know the answers.”

Another great song is “Them Stems,” an anthem for anyone smoking a little green. And “Up to No Good Livin’” brings in the voice of a reformed criminal trying to make a living after he has made some bad choices.

Overall, I found the album to be a modest one that does not strive to create something over and above what it is — a really good, down home album.

For more information, visit chrisstapleton.com.

Saxon / Thunderbolt

Jason Savio

Get your air guitar back out because it’s time to rock. Coming at you with their whopping 22nd album are the British headbangers Saxon. The band’s newest effort, Thunderbolt, is a loud and proud display of pure metal bliss.

“Release the gods of war!” screams singer Biff Byford on Thunderbolt’s title track, and releasing power is exactly what the guys in Saxon do for this 11-song record. Loaded with ’80s metal screams, double bass drums and blistering guitars, Thunderbolt reminds you just how fun it is to rock and roll.

Byford favors images of epic badassery, painting pictures of battle and enchanted places in the imaginative “Sons of Odin” and “A Wizard’s Tale.” Horror and metal have always been a match made in heaven, and Saxon adds to the affair with the brooding “Nosferatu (The Vampire’s Waltz).” Thunderbolt is mostly a non-stop barrage of hits that you won’t want to stop, but there is speed bump with “Sniper,” especially when Byford sings “let the bullets fly,” which may seem distasteful in light of recent events.

As for the shades of metal music gone by, the collection of songs here doesn’t sound dated or mundane. Sure, there are the familiar vocal deliveries and guitar acrobatics, but Saxon owns it well and makes it somehow seem simultaneously genuine and fresh.

For more information, visit saxon747.com.