Robert Plant Lullaby and … The Ceaseless Roar Nonesuch Four stars
Some albums blow you into the weeds from the opening note. Robert Plant's Lullaby and … The Ceaseless Roar is not one of those. But, like a weed, it is tenacious.
Repeated listening piles surprises upon delight. Gone are the bawling vocal pyrotechnics of Plant’s early career with Led Zeppelin. In their place is the considered, mellow and surprisingly gentle tenor of a 66-year-old comfortable in his own skin and vocal range.
With a cracking backing band, Sensational Shape Shifters, Plant takes us through an eclectic collection with hints of bluegrass, Celtic blues, African rhythms and straight-ahead rock. Well, perhaps not quite so straight-ahead. Highlights are the banjo-driven opener, Little Maggie and the groove-laden Pocketful of Golden, which left me wondering whether he'd been listening to Martyn Bennet's Distortion Pipe – it's classy.
There are other touchstones aplenty, hints of John Mellencamp (Turn It Up) and Bono (Rainbow), all topped off with the ultra-radio-friendly ballad Somebody There. This is a really lovely album with plenty to enjoy.
artslife@thenational.ae
Company profile
Name: Thndr
Started: October 2020
Founders: Ahmad Hammouda and Seif Amr
Based: Cairo, Egypt
Sector: FinTech
Initial investment: pre-seed of $800,000
Funding stage: series A; $20 million
Investors: Tiger Global, Beco Capital, Prosus Ventures, Y Combinator, Global Ventures, Abdul Latif Jameel, Endure Capital, 4DX Ventures, Plus VC, Rabacap and MSA Capital
UAE SQUAD
Khalid Essa (Al Ain), Ali Khaseif (Al Jazira), Adel Al Hosani (Sharjah), Mahmoud Khamis (Al Nasr), Yousef Jaber (Shabab Al Ahli Dubai), Khalifa Al Hammadi (Jazira), Salem Rashid (Jazira), Shaheen Abdelrahman (Sharjah), Faris Juma (Al Wahda), Mohammed Shaker (Al Ain), Mohammed Barghash (Wahda), Abdulaziz Haikal (Shabab Al Ahli), Ahmed Barman (Al Ain), Khamis Esmail (Wahda), Khaled Bawazir (Sharjah), Majed Surour (Sharjah), Abdullah Ramadan (Jazira), Mohammed Al Attas (Jazira), Fabio De Lima (Al Wasl), Bandar Al Ahbabi (Al Ain), Khalfan Mubarak (Jazira), Habib Fardan (Nasr), Khalil Ibrahim (Wahda), Ali Mabkhout (Jazira), Ali Saleh (Wasl), Caio (Al Ain), Sebastian Tagliabue (Nasr).
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COMPANY PROFILE
Company name: Happy Tenant
Started: January 2019
Co-founders: Joe Moufarrej and Umar Rana
Based: Dubai
Sector: Technology, real-estate
Initial investment: Dh2.5 million
Investors: Self-funded
Total customers: 4,000
UK's plans to cut net migration
Under the UK government’s proposals, migrants will have to spend 10 years in the UK before being able to apply for citizenship.
Skilled worker visas will require a university degree, and there will be tighter restrictions on recruitment for jobs with skills shortages.
But what are described as "high-contributing" individuals such as doctors and nurses could be fast-tracked through the system.
Language requirements will be increased for all immigration routes to ensure a higher level of English.
Rules will also be laid out for adult dependants, meaning they will have to demonstrate a basic understanding of the language.
The plans also call for stricter tests for colleges and universities offering places to foreign students and a reduction in the time graduates can remain in the UK after their studies from two years to 18 months.
