ALBUM OF THE WEEK
EZRA FURMAN Transangelic Exodus Bella Union, Out Friday
Ezra Furman, from Chicago, has a unique place in the pop world. He’s the only cross-dressing, gender-fluid, bipolar observant Jew in the village. And you don’t have to belong to any of those groups to appreciate his music.
Like David Bowie as he explored androgyny, Furman is an entertainer first, an evangelist second. When he broke through in 2015 with Perpetual Motion People, it wasn’t just because of the boom in identity politics: it was because his band, the Boy-Friends, made a lovable racket.
The sound, with its crisp rhymes and singalong choruses, was actually quite conservative. It made for some enchanted evenings as Furman rocketed from 200-capacity bars to 2,000-seat theatres.
Ezra Furman performs on stage at The Roundhouse on October 31, 2016 in London. Like David Bowie as he explored androgyny, Furman is an entertainer first, an evangelist second
This, his seventh album, is the first to be saddled with any pressure to succeed. Perpetual Motion People reached No 23 in Britain and its successor is expected to trouble the Top 10. But the minute you hear Transangelic Exodus, you know that won’t be a problem. Furman has risen to the challenge and delivered an album with more hooks than a gender-neutral changing room.
While his observations could only be from today (‘they’ll never find us if we turn off our phones’), his musical taste still hails from 1972. If you like Lou Reed’s Transformer, you’ll enjoy these tunes. The sound has become quirkier without being hard work. Furman’s two voices – a soulful croon and a desperate howl – are unchanged but the Boy-Friends, renamed The Visions, now deploy assorted funny noises.
Furman’s homeland, like ours, has become more divided. He tackles this like a novelist, telling the story of a gay couple on the run after one of them has an illegal operation to become an angel. It’s Thelma & Louise meets Angels In America.
This is a coherent album with glittering highlights in Driving Down To LA, The Great Unknown and Compulsive Liar. Pop has plenty of angels – Angel Eyes, Angel Fingers, ‘I’m loving angels instead’ – and Transangelic Exodus joins them in the firmament.
THIS WEEK’S CD RELEASES
By Adam Woods
Justin Timberlake Man Of The Woods RCA, Out Now
Rating: 
Don’t be fooled – Timberlake hasn’t gone back to Tennessee and made a record next to a campfire. There’s sexy robo-funk with Filthy, moody hip-hop in Supplies and plenty of high-gloss pop with a country-soul theme. While not a reinvention, it’s an album with a heart – and lots of good tunes
Franz Ferdinand Always Ascending Domino, Out Fri
Rating:
Franz Ferdinand have been on a journey of mildly diminishing returns since their first album. But after a collaboration with Sparks, personnel changes and the addition of producer Philippe Zdar, Always Ascending finds them refreshed. Their indie-disco dancefloor is now a little more strobe-lit