Midlife crises are difficult things for any man to avoid. We've all witnessed middle-aged office workers desperately trying to revisit their youths rather than embrace the inevitable. But what do rock stars do when they start to feel a little over the hill? Answer: They hire Steve Albini.
It's not a name that you'll recognise from the front cover of many records, but it's a safe bet you could find it written inside more than a few albums in your own collection. This Chicago-based producer is the man behind some of Nirvana, PJ Harvey and The Pixies' greatest records, as well as those of countless other artists.
Recent months have seen not only Jarvis, but also the Manic Street Preachers calling in Albini in the hope that he can give their latest albums a shot in the arm.
The signature "Albini effect" is achieved by encouraging the artist to play live and fast, leaving little room for excess weight. There are few overdubs and the producer is notoriously reluctant to get involved with the songwriting process. As a result, Albini is credited with having helped to reinvigorate the sound of many artists.
But is a giant dose of adrenalin really what Jarvis Cocker's career needed?
With his last album, 2006's Jarvis, the Sheffield singer successfully made the transition from Britpop survivor into a kind of poet laureate of pop. Sure, we've all known he could turn a phrase since the early days of Pulp, but the album reaffirmed the singer's place as one of Britain's most important voices. Since then he has curated festivals, given lectures and even grown a beard.
But with his second solo outing Further Complications, he seems to have transformed once again. This is Jarvis the stomp-rocking professor. It is undoubtedly the loudest record that he has ever created, with heaps of guitar fuzz and feral drumming.
The album sounds like Cocker has rooted through his record collection and pulled out his favourite "danceable" LPs by The Stones, The Who, Roxy Music and The Stooges.
Sure, the change is refreshing, but it's also a little strange. The glam-rock-style Angela with its Thin Lizzy-riff and crashing drums is fun, but it also feels a little dumb. In fact, Leftovers, I Never Said I Was Deep, Slush and You're in My Eyes all centre around the same kind of love-struck mentality that the singer looked to be overcoming on his last record.
Despite somewhat tedious subject matter, Leftovers does sound like the first song on the album to feature the classic fingerprint of Jarvis, boasting the opening line: "I met her in the museum of palaeontology and I make no bones about it."
Under closer inspection, after stripping away layers of later-day Nick Cave from the surface, almost every song features a glimmer of the intelligent and disarmingly honest pop star who won our hearts with Disco 2000.
This album is also much more fun than his previous outing. Take the over the top Krautrock of Pilchard for example, in which Jarvis succeeds in getting early laughs without even using any words, and there is further evidence that Cocker's trademark wit can go beyond words on the sax-funk of Homewrecker (on which the original Batman theme is creatively employed).
The album's most bizarre song is Slush, written after the singer's eco-trip to the North Pole, on which he sings "If I could, I would refrigerate this moment." Perhaps he's finally starting to act his age.
The quality doesn't lessen towards the end of the album either, with Caucasian Blues one of its finest moments. However the drums never let up, either - an unfortunate side effect of Albini's involvement.
Despite its shortcomings, Further Complications is the most fun record that Jarvis has made since 1995's Different Class. It also has the odd combination of feeling both incredibly derivative and at the same time like new ground has been broken.
Paatal Lok season two
Directors: Avinash Arun, Prosit Roy
Stars: Jaideep Ahlawat, Ishwak Singh, Lc Sekhose, Merenla Imsong
Rating: 4.5/5
Emergency
Director: Kangana Ranaut
Stars: Kangana Ranaut, Anupam Kher, Shreyas Talpade, Milind Soman, Mahima Chaudhry
Rating: 2/5
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
Started: 2020
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Entertainment
Number of staff: 210
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
Movie: Saheb, Biwi aur Gangster 3
Producer: JAR Films
Director: Tigmanshu Dhulia
Cast: Sanjay Dutt, Jimmy Sheirgill, Mahie Gill, Chitrangda Singh, Kabir Bedi
Rating: 3 star
How to avoid crypto fraud
- Use unique usernames and passwords while enabling multi-factor authentication.
- Use an offline private key, a physical device that requires manual activation, whenever you access your wallet.
- Avoid suspicious social media ads promoting fraudulent schemes.
- Only invest in crypto projects that you fully understand.
- Critically assess whether a project’s promises or returns seem too good to be true.
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The biog
Favourite films: Casablanca and Lawrence of Arabia
Favourite books: Start with Why by Simon Sinek and Good to be Great by Jim Collins
Favourite dish: Grilled fish
Inspiration: Sheikh Zayed's visionary leadership taught me to embrace new challenges.
THE BIO: Mohammed Ashiq Ali
Proudest achievement: “I came to a new country and started this shop”
Favourite TV programme: the news
Favourite place in Dubai: Al Fahidi. “They started the metro in 2009 and I didn’t take it yet.”
Family: six sons in Dubai and a daughter in Faisalabad
COMPANY%20PROFILE%20
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Ibrahim's play list
Completed an electrical diploma at the Adnoc Technical Institute
Works as a public relations officer with Adnoc
Apart from the piano, he plays the accordion, oud and guitar
His favourite composer is Johann Sebastian Bach
Also enjoys listening to Mozart
Likes all genres of music including Arabic music and jazz
Enjoys rock groups Scorpions and Metallica
Other musicians he likes are Syrian-American pianist Malek Jandali and Lebanese oud player Rabih Abou Khalil
The specs
Engine: Four electric motors, one at each wheel
Power: 579hp
Torque: 859Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh825,900
On sale: Now
TUESDAY'S ORDER OF PLAY
Centre Court
Starting at 2pm:
Malin Cilic (CRO) v Benoit Paire (FRA) [8]
Not before 4pm:
Dan Evans (GBR) v Fabio Fogini (ITA) [4]
Not before 7pm:
Pablo Carreno Busta (SPA) v Stefanos Tsitsipas (GRE) [2]
Roberto Bautista Agut (SPA) [5] v Jan-Lennard Struff (GER)
Court One
Starting at 2pm
Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND) v Dennis Novak (AUT)
Joao Sousa (POR) v Filip Krajinovic (SRB)
Not before 5pm:
Rajeev Ram (USA) and Joe Salisbury (GBR) [1] v Marin Cilic v Novak Djokovic (SRB)
Nikoloz Basilashvili v Ricardas Berankis (LTU)
The biog
Family: He is the youngest of five brothers, of whom two are dentists.
Celebrities he worked on: Fabio Canavaro, Lojain Omran, RedOne, Saber Al Rabai.
Where he works: Liberty Dental Clinic
Leap of Faith
Michael J Mazarr
Public Affairs
Dh67
Other workplace saving schemes
- The UAE government announced a retirement savings plan for private and free zone sector employees in 2023.
- Dubai’s savings retirement scheme for foreign employees working in the emirate’s government and public sector came into effect in 2022.
- National Bonds unveiled a Golden Pension Scheme in 2022 to help private-sector foreign employees with their financial planning.
- In April 2021, Hayah Insurance unveiled a workplace savings plan to help UAE employees save for their retirement.
- Lunate, an Abu Dhabi-based investment manager, has launched a fund that will allow UAE private companies to offer employees investment returns on end-of-service benefits.
Vidaamuyarchi
Director: Magizh Thirumeni
Stars: Ajith Kumar, Arjun Sarja, Trisha Krishnan, Regina Cassandra
Rating: 4/5
If you go
Where to stay: Courtyard by Marriott Titusville Kennedy Space Centre has unparalleled views of the Indian River. Alligators can be spotted from hotel room balconies, as can several rocket launch sites. The hotel also boasts cool space-themed decor.
When to go: Florida is best experienced during the winter months, from November to May, before the humidity kicks in.
How to get there: Emirates currently flies from Dubai to Orlando five times a week.