Banga

Patti Smith’s first collection of new material in eight years touches on classic Russian literature, post-Tohoku earthquake Japan, and the life of Amy Winehouse. Looking increasingly like some wizened tribal elder, Smith’s delivery is appropriately shamanic. She orates, sings and occasionally screeches. The record is sumptuously produced by Smith and her band, and the musicians expertly provide fitting soundscapes to match the disparate lyrical themes. There’s a distinct whiff of New York in Tom Verlaine’s guitar work on ‘April Fool’, and on the heavily Sonic Youth influenced title track. Elsewhere, several tunes nod towards Eastern European folk music. ‘Tarkovsky (The Second Stop is Jupiter)’ is a reworking of a relatively unknown Sun Ra composition with Smith’s poetry superimposed over it. ‘This is the Girl’ is a tasteful and beautifully crafted tribute to Amy Winehouse’s fragile talent, infused with a dreamy 1950s rock and roll atmosphere. An unremarkable cover of Neil Young’s ‘After the Gold Rush’ is a strange choice to close the record – but otherwise, Banga is a very strong album indeed.