Frozen Charlotte. Jack White

Released on the same day as The Rolling Stones' 'Foreign Tongues', it made it impossible for me find the time to acquaint myself with Frozen Charlotte before I went on holiday a few days later. On return I did and here is a fairly short review of the album.

It is unfair to compare Jack White with The Roling Stones. For that his standing is not big enough. At the same time Jack White has a career that nearly encompasses 30 years and with The White Stripes he was able to fill the bigger venues at some point in the 00s. After a few more difficult albums after breaking up with Meg White, I had lost track of his career, until a single earlier this year showed me that White might be back on track for a great album.

Listening to the album right now I can only admit that yes, Jack White is back in a great form and there he matches 'Foreign Tongues' completely. The fun, enthusiasm, energy and songs are all there. The difference is in the fact that his music does not truly reach me, a few songs excluded. Recently, I asked myself when I last played a The White Stripes album, and I could not provide an answer. I have them all, so that is not the issue. So, to protect my wallet, I will not buy Frozen Charlotte.

Having said that, the album is good, as Jack White and the musicians make sparks fly in the familiar over-distorted  bluesrock Jack White excels in. So, don't let my reticence keep you from getting familiar with Frozen Charlotte or even doing something as old-fashioned as buying it.

Wout de Natris - van der Borght

 

You can listen to and order Frozen Charlotte here:

https://officialjackwhite.bandcamp.com/album/frozen-charlotte 

 

Foreign Tongues. The Rolling Stones

Releasing an album at the start of the summer school holidays is not the smartest move where writing a review is concerned. I bought the album a few days before I departed, was suitably impressed but my review comes rather late to the party. Better late than never though, as Foreign Tongues presents The Rolling Stones at the top of its game.

Two and a half years ago The Rolling Stones surprised the world with 'Hackney Diamonds', an album filled with energy and songs of a consistent quality and above all a feeling of urgency. Perhaps now that the dust has settled somewhat, 'Hackney Diamonds' may not be that extremely good, but still very close to it. With Foreign Tongues the exact same effect is created by the three band members left, Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and Ronny Wood. And no, that is not just because they are still around. It is because of the quality of the songs. Once again, I'm inclined to rate this new album as better than anything released after 'Tattoo You' in 1981.

Foreign Tongues presents the band as a true rock and roll band, playing all the musical varieties that it has mastered throughout the past decades and adds a song to these styles that competes with the best of them. This is a band on a mission, fully aware that this could be its last trick and wanting to make it last. In one of Mick Jagger's mansions there is probably a recording with how his voice really sounds in 2026, because compared to all his contemporaries he sounds like age has no grip on him. The highs, the lows, the volume, it is as if age has no grip on him in any form. His falsetto sounds just like when he discovered it in the 1970s.

Ronnie Wood's guitar playing on the album is immaculate. Always berated somewhat as a limited guitar player, and compared to the likes of Steve Vai he is, but then, who isn't? His solos are totally spot on. Concise and to the point of the song. Keith Richards may be ageing the most of the three, his riffs are always interesting. It all starts with the bluesy opening track 'Rough And Twisted'. The band is back in Nellcôte in Southern France in 1971 it seems like. Mick is tearing up his harmonica, Ronnie makes sparks fly when he is playing the blues on his slide guitar and Keith is riff master numero supreme. Around the band the hired hands do everything they need to do to make the band shine. Steve Jordan and Darryl Jones may not be in the pictures, their contributions really count here. And once again, why is Darryl Jones not a member after 30 something years with the band?

Already it is apparent that the sound is superb, just like on the previous record. Andrew Watt managed to capture the best of the band and the energy it has in it. Dutch TV selected 'In The Stars' as its theme song for all World Cup 2026 related shows. Not even that can bring The Stones back into the singles charts, unlike getting U2 it's only number one song over here with 'Beautiful Day' as the 2000 Olympic Games theme song. 'In The Stars' decades ago would have given the band another top 10 hit. It's that good alright.

One of my absolute favourites on the album is 'Divine Intervention'. It is a rocker in the vein of 'Respectable' except that the song is so much richer and more varied. The chorus is heavenly, despite that "divine intervention is out of the question". My guess is that many (much) younger bands aspire to rock like this and never manage to. The Rolling Stones do, in a superior way.

The song that is growing on me is 'Mr. Charm'. It seems a bit to simple at first listening but repeat the experience and more and more details come forward. Four to the floor it is and that is the deceptive part. Come the chorus and Jagger starts to play with his voice and then the rest of the chorus kicks in with Mick Jagger getting support from a singer called Naärai, who has a role like Lady Gaga on 'Sweet Sound Of Heaven', without the lead part. By then the organ has come by several times, played by Steve Winwood, a contemporary of the band from the 1960s. Just listen to the warmth he adds to 'Ringing Hollow'.

Of course country comes by and a solo ballad sung by Keith Richards ('Some Of Us'). The band turns it all to gold. It may sound familiar, yet it sounds fresh for the whole of the way. Although I'm inclined to tick off every song, I will refrain from doing so. Later on on the album you will find the one track with Charlie Watts on it ('Hit To The Body'), is it my imagination or is the way Charlie hits the snare is simply unique and so powerful?, Bruno Mars on cowbell, Paul McCartney again on bass ('Covered In You') and other guests like Robert Smith.

What strikes me most, is the consistent quality of Foreign Tongues. I have the album on repeat since returning from my vacation and I still am not inclined to play something else as much as Foreign Tongues. It is rumoured the band is already recording new work. All I can muse about is whether The Rolling Stones will manage to present even uglier artwork then this. For the rest, lay it on me, please.

Wout de Natris - van der Borght 

Run, Run Pure Beauty. Francis of Delirium

Er komt niet veel muziek uit Luxemburg, maar met Francis of Delirium heeft het Groothertogdom een sterke troef in handen, wat goed is te horen op het bijzonder klinkende nieuwe album Run, Run Pure Beauty.

Lighthouse, het debuutalbum van de Luxemburgse muzikante Francis of Delirium deed in 2024 volgens mij niet zo heel veel, maar ik vond het een bijzonder album. Dat vond ik vooral vanwege de stem van Jana Bahrich, de vrouw achter Francis of Delirium, die imponeerde met haar stem. Die stem klinkt op Run, Run Pure Beauty nog veel mooier dan op het debuutalbum. De zang is niet het enige dat opvalt bij beluistering van het nieuwe album van Francis of Delirium, want ook in muzikaal opzicht is het een fascinerend album. Jana Bahrich kiest af en toe voor bombast en sleept er van alles bij. Het is soms zwaar aangezet en behoorlijk heftig, maar het is ook van een bijzondere schoonheid.

Achter de bijzondere naam Francis of Delirium gaat de Luxemburgse muzikante Jana Bahrich schuil. Jana Bahrich debuteerde ruim twee jaar geleden met het album Lighthouse, dat kon rekenen op goede recensies. Lighthouse was volgens mij het eerste album van een Luxemburgse muzikant dat ik ooit heb beluisterd en het was tot deze week ook het laatste Luxemburgse album dat ik heb gehoord. 

Daar komt deze week verandering in, want Francis of Delirium heeft met Run, Run Pure Beauty haar tweede album uitgebracht. Ik heb voor de beluistering van het nieuwe album het debuutalbum van de Luxemburgse muzikante weer eens beluisterd en mijn recensie van dat album opgedoken. 

Ik beschreef Lighthouse ruim twee jaar geleden als een album dat zich vooral laat inspireren door 90s indierock, maar dat zich weet te onderscheiden van de talloze albums in dit genre met het fraaie gitaarwerk op het album en vooral met de sensationele stem van Jana Bahrich, die de twintig nog maar net gepasseerd was toen ze haar debuutalbum opnam. 

Alle reden dus om met hooggespannen verwachtingen uit te kijken naar het tweede album van Francis of Delirium. Ook Run, Run Pure Beauty is een album waarop invloeden uit de indierock zoals die in de jaren 90 werd gemaakt een rol spelen en het is wederom een album met fraai gitaarwerk en geweldige zang. Run, Run Pure Beauty zet echter ook flinke stappen, waardoor het album nog een stuk interessanter is dan zijn voorganger. 

Die stappen hoor je op alle terreinen, maar om te beginnen in de muziek op het album. Francis of Delirium heeft incidenteel nog altijd een zwak voor 90s indierock, maar Run, Run Pure Beauty is in muzikaal opzicht een stuk veelzijdiger dan het debuutalbum van de Luxemburgse muzikante en kiest in veel songs voor een gevarieerder en soms uitbundiger en soms meer ingetogen geluid, dat zich zelfs richting Laurel Canyon folk kan bewegen. 

Jana Bahrich sleept er van alles bij op haar tweede album, waardoor het album de aandacht makkelijk weet vast te houden. Ook als Jana Bahrich zich beperkt tot indierock klinken haar songs nog interessanter dan op het vorige album. Het is de verdienste van het wederom geweldige gitaarwerk, maar ook de songs mogen er weer zijn. 

Run, Run Pure Beauty voegt echter nog wat extra dynamiek toe aan de muziek van Francis of Delirium en ook wat meer drama en bombast, wat overigens prachtig contrasteert met de meer ingetogen passages op het album. Veel tracks zijn voorzien van fascinerende en soms georkestreerde arrangementen, die een nieuwe dimensie toevoegen aan het geluid van Francis of Delirium. 

De Luxemburgse muzikante deed voor twee tracks een beroep op boygenius producer Catherine Marks, maar de meeste tracks op het album produceerde ze gewoon zelf. Het is allemaal prachtig gedaan, want zeker bij beluistering met de koptelefoon openbaart zich een fascinerend en wonderschoon geluid, dat vaak mijlenver is verwijderd van de indierock die nog domineerde op Lighthouse. 

Run, Run Pure Beauty is niet alleen in muzikaal opzicht nog een stuk beter dan het debuutalbum van Francis of Delirium, want ook de zang van Jana Bahrich is nog mooier dan op Lighthouse. De Luxemburgse muzikante beschikt over een hele mooie stem, maar het is ook een stem die zich makkelijk staande houdt in het vaak zwaar aangezette geluid op dit bijzondere album.

Erwin Zijleman

 

Je kunt Run, Run Pure Beauty hier luisteren en bestellen:

https://francisofdelirium.bandcamp.com/album/run-run-pure-beauty 

Bowie For Dummies, #42

Today we present a new rendition of David Bowie For Dummies with new items found on the internet, compiled by Tineke Guise.

This post remains popular with people visiting this blog. It has by far the most views, for years on end. Chances are that there is a lot of new items to be discovered there. This is the 42th version since we published the first one on 8 January 2017. In this post you find all Tineke's explorations on Bowie on the Internet with the links to music, clips, news, and what not.

Here is the link to the original but updated post where all is revealed:

https://wonomagazine.blogspot.com/2017/01/bowie-for-dummies.html

Obituary. Jerney Kaagman (1947 - 2026)

There is no denying the impact of a singer like Jerney Kaagman on a pre-pubescent boy in 1970/71. She led the band Earth & Fire with teased hair and ever more provocative clothing. Besides all the eye candy, the band made incredibly good music to go with Jerney's looks.

The members of Earth & Fire formed a band in the later 1960s hailing from the villages around The Hague. They met with their settled colleagues Golden Earring(s) with that band's principal songwriter George Kooymans providing Earth & Fire's first single, released late in 1969 to chart early in 1970. 'Seasons' was a huge hit immediately and a song I still love to hear right up to this day. That Jerney Kaagman was not the absolute front singer at that time, she joined only a few months before the recording, shows that the lead vocals are shared between her and guitarist Chris Koerts. Although the band did not call itself a symphonic rock band yet, the concept of moving beyond a one dimensional pop song, is already clear in the intro that returns throughout the song, the rocking start and the dreamy coda. 'Seasons' is one of the most innovative debut singles in this country.

It is a bar that Earth & Fire regularly met again throughout the first years of its career. First, the band went off in a hardrock direction with its self-penned top 10 singles 'Ruby Is The One' and 'Wild And Exciting'. The twins Chris and Gerard Koerts were the principle songwriters, sometimes joined by bass player Hans Ziech. In hindsight the songs are more wild and exciting than truly good, but still so much fun to hear today. The band's hits made a great string right up to 1974's 'Love Of Life'. After that the band seemed to lose focus and left its rock roots for disco influenced songs, with a loss of popularity as a result.

Despite this the band's biggest hit was still around the corner. In 1979 the song 'Weekend' was released, seen as a toss away kind of song and then it happened. Jerney Kaagman performed on TV in her now iconic blue suit and the rest is history, a number one hit, written by keyboard player Gerard Koerts in several European countries. It did not save the band. There were no big hits left and the original members bar Jerney Kaagman had already left or left after 'Weekend'.

Kaagman had a career in music at a managerial and musician representation level after Earth & Fire folded. Her last feat was as a stern juror in the Dutch version of 'Idols'. She kept having Parkinson's disease private for quite some time. Later she became the face of the Parkinson Disease Patients Foundation, in which a good personal friend afflicted with the disease, played a role in.

With Kaagman all but one of the original members of Earth & Fire have passed away. What remains, is a string of hitsingles that I love to hear. The mystique in songs like 'Invitation' and 'Storm And Thunder', the huge sound of 'Maybe Tomorrow Maybe Tonight', the symphonic poprock quality of 'Memories', the super fast guitar solos of Chris Koerts. Music to really cherish.

I was to young for the albums at the time and the only one I now own, second hand, is 'Song Of The Marching Children'. Let's call it a time document, but not something I play a lot, if ever. The 'Greatest Hits' suffices for me and I'll even listen to the disco thingies in between.

With Jerney Kaagman the second of two The Netherlands' super female singers of the late 60s has passed away. Mariska Veres and Jerney Kaagman, what more did a young boy need to dream of playing in a band with them?

Wout de Natris - van der Borght