Music & Concerts
Zayne sophomore album bloated and banal
Clocking in at nearly 90 minutes, former One Direction singer’s effort sounds dated


‘Icarus Falls,’ the new ZAYNE record, sounds like the former One Direction singer got all his sex education by listening to pop radio. (Photo courtesy RCA)
It was late summer 2014 when I saw Zayn Malik perform at Nashville’s LP Field, which regularly serves as football stadium for the Tennessee Titans. At the time Malik was touring alongside fellow One Direction members Harry Styles, Niall Horan, Liam Payne and Louis Tomlinson in sold-out NFL arenas and mega-stadiums around the world. It was a part of the group’s ambitious 2014 “Where We Are Tour.” But among the over 50,000 people in attendance that August evening, it was clear Zayn was crowd favorite, rivaled only perhaps by Styles.
For artists like Zayn, it can be hard to make the transition from filling arenas with teenagers to appealing to a broader demographic. And Zayn became aware of the potential challenge earlier than other members of the boy band, making his exit while the group was still at peak popularity. His departure, no doubt, marked the beginning of the end for One Direction, but Zayn wasted no time developing a solo act.
He quickly released the single “Pillowtalk,” which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, followed by full debut album, “Mind of Mine,” also a No. 1 on Billboard. But Zayn’s sophomore album “Icarus Falls,” which marks almost four years since his departure from One Direction, is perhaps the best test yet of Zayn’s ability to appeal to a larger audience.
Lead single “Let Me” is a laid back, R&B-infused track that works rather well. It’s nothing spectacular but has catchy, chill rhythm. It would be entirely inoffensive if it weren’t for the excessively banal lyrics: “Sweet baby, our sex has meaning/Know this time you’ll stay ’til the morning.” Sex is always a given in pop music, but one has the impression that Zayn learned everything he knows about relationships from listening to Top 40 radio. The content is more of a regurgitation of everything else one hears than something with even a hint of originality. The freshness of “Mind Of Mine” makes the banality of certain tracks on the new album appear especially pronounced.
The other singles released ahead of the album — and there were five of them after “Let Me” — have been mixed. “Entertainer” abstains from total lyrically inanity but travels little distance musically. The opening hook is ear-catching, but the song seems to be stuck in some sort of limbo, never really changing tenor. “Sour Diesel” is something of a musical outlier on the album and sounds like something that will be used on the runway at Paris Fashion Week. It’s a sort of hollow, monotonous upbeat thing that would pair well with another more stimulating spectacle. The nail in the coffin is a kitschy guitar solo toward the end that was ostensibly borrowed from the rehearsal of a Guns N’ Roses cover band.
The single “Too Much,” featuring Timbaland, is much better. It has a sensual pulse that carries the melody and robust synth pads that make for an ethereal sound. “Fingers” is a largely mediocre R&B track and sounds a bit dated. It’s better suited to 2008 than 2018. “No Candle No Light,” featuring Nicki Minaj, is a good uptempo dance track, but the EDM-inspired chorus again sounds a few years out of date with effects not unlike Skrillex and Diplo’s 2015 “Where Are Ü Now” with Justin Bieber.
Yet for all its faults, there is no shortage of material. The album clocks in a just under 90 minutes, surprisingly long for a pop record. And there are solid tracks interspersed throughout. The songs “Scripted,” “Fresh Air” and “Imprint” are all musically interesting and avoid the lyrical unoriginality that plagues several of the singles.
There is no questioning that Zayn has successfully distanced himself from his boy band days and with more success than his former One Direction bandmates, with the exception of Harry Styles, who has a fairly developed solo project. Yet “Icarus Falls,” unlike the much more innovative “Mind of Mine,” secures his place in the pop music scene by appealing to the lowest common denominator. In 2018 we can do better and so can he.
Music & Concerts
Underdog glorious: a personal remembrance of Jill Sobule
Talented singer, songwriter died in house fire on May 1

I’ve always prided myself on being the kind of music consumer who purchased music on impulse. When I stumbled across “Things Here Are Different,” Jill Sobule’s 1990 MCA Records debut album on vinyl in a favorite Chicago record store, I bought it without knowing anything about her. This was at a time when we didn’t have our phones in our pockets to search for information about the artist on the internet. The LP stayed in my collection until, as vinyl was falling out of fashion, I replaced it with a CD a few years later.
Early in my career as an entertainment journalist, I received a promo copy of Jill’s eponymous 1995 Atlantic Records album. That year, Atlantic Records was one of the labels at the forefront of signing and heavily promoting queer artists, including Melissa Ferrick and Extra Fancy, and its roster included the self-titled album by Jill. It was a smart move, as the single “I Kissed A Girl” became a hit on radio and its accompanying video (featuring Fabio!) was in heavy rotation on MTV (when they still played videos).
Unfortunately for Jill, she was a victim of record label missteps. When 1997’s wonderful “Happy Town” failed to repeat the success, Atlantic dumped her. That was Atlantic’s loss, because her next album, the superb “Pink Pearl” contained “Heroes” and “Mexican Wrestler,” two of her most beloved songs. Sadly, Beyond Music, the label that released that album ceased to exist after just a few years. To her credit, the savvy Jill had also started independently releasing music (2004’s “The Folk Years”). That was a smart move because her next major-label release, the brilliant “Underdog Victorious” on Artemis Records, met a similar fate when that label folded.
With her 2009 album “California Years,” Jill launched her own indie label, Pinko Records, on which she would release two more outstanding full-length discs, 2014’s “Dottie’s Charms” (on which she collaborated with some of her favorite writers, including David Hadju, Rick Moody, Mary Jo Salter, and Jonathan Lethem), and 2018’s stunning “Nostalgia Kills.” Jill’s cover of the late Warren Zevon’s “Don’t Let Us Get Sick” on “Nostalgia Kills” was particularly poignant as she had toured with him as an opening act.
Jill was a road warrior, constantly on tour, and her live shows were something to behold. My first interview with Jill took place at the Double Door in Chicago in early August of 1995, when she was the opening act for legendary punk band X. She had thrown her back out the previous day and was diagnosed with a herniated disc. To be comfortable, she was lying down on a fabulous-‘50s sofa. “I feel like I’m at my shrink’s,” she said to me, “Do you want me to talk about my mother?”
That sense of humor, which permeated and enriched her music, was one of many reasons to love Jill. I was privileged to interview her for seven of her albums. Everything you would want to know about her was right there in her honest lyrics, in which she balanced her distinctive brand of humor with serious subject matter. Drawing on her life experiences in songs such as “Bitter,” “Underachiever,” “One of These Days,” “Freshman,” “Jetpack,” “Nothing To Prove,” “Forbidden Thoughts of Youth,” “Island of Lost Things,” “Where Do I Begin,” “Almost Great,” and “Big Shoes,” made her songs as personal as they were universal, elicited genuine affection and concern from her devoted fans.
While she was a consummate songwriter, Jill also felt equally comfortable covering songs made famous by others, including “Just A Little Lovin’” (on the 2000 Dusty Springfield tribute album “Forever Dusty”) and “Stoned Soul Picnic” (from the 1997 Laura Nyro tribute album “Time and Love”). Jill also didn’t shy away from political subject matter in her music with “Resistance Song,” “Soldiers of Christ,” “Attic,” “Heroes,” “Under the Disco Ball,” and the incredible “America Back” as prime examples.
Here’s something else worth mentioning about Jill. She was known for collaboration skills. As a songwriter, she maintained a multi-year creative partnership with Robin Eaton (“I Kissed A Girl” and many others), as well as Richard Barone, the gay frontman of the renowned band The Bongos. Jill’s history with Barone includes performing together at a queer Octoberfest event in Chicago in 1996. Writer and comedian Julie Sweeney, of “SNL” and “Work in Progress” fame was another Chicago collaborator with Sobule (Sweeney lives in a Chicago suburb), where they frequently performed their delightful “The Jill and Julia Show.” John Doe, of the aforementioned band X, also collaborated with Jill in the studio (“Tomorrow Is Breaking” from “Nostalgia Kills”), as well as in live performances.
On a very personal note, in 2019, when I was in the process of arranging a reading at the fabulous NYC gay bookstore Bureau of General Services – Queer Division, I reached out to Jill and asked her if she would like to be on the bill with me. We alternated performing; I would read a couple of poems, and Jill would sing a couple of songs. She even set one of my poems to music, on the spot.
Jill had an abundance of talent, and when she turned her attention to musical theater, it paid off in a big way. Her stage musical “F*ck 7th Grade,” a theatrical piece that seemed like the next logical step in her career, had its premiere at Pittsburgh’s City Theatre in the fall of 2020, during the height of the pandemic. The unique staging (an outdoor drive-in stage at which audience members watched from their cars) was truly inspired. “F*ck 7th Grade” went on to become a New York Times Critic’s pick, as well as earning a Drama Desk nomination.
In honor of the 30th anniversary of Jill’s eponymous 1995 album, reissue label Rhino Records is re-releasing it on red vinyl. Jill and I had been emailing each other to arrange a time for an interview. We even had a date on the books for the third week of May.
When she died in a house fire in Minnesota on May 1 at age 66, Jill received mentions on network and cable news shows. She was showered with attention from major news outlets, including obits in the New York Times and Rolling Stone (but not Pitchfork, who couldn’t be bothered to review her music when she was alive). Is it wrong to think that if she’d gotten this much attention when she was alive she could have been as big as Taylor Swift? I don’t think so.
Music & Concerts
Tom Goss returns with ‘Bear Friends Furever Tour’
Out singer/songwriter to perform at Red Bear Brewing Co.

Singer Tom Goss will bring his “Bear Friends Furever Tour” to D.C. on Sunday, June 8 at 8 p.m. at Red Bear Brewing Co.
Among the songs he will perform will be “Bear Soup,” the fourth installment in his beloved bear song anthology series. Following fan favorites like “Bears,” “Round in All the Right Places,” and “Nerdy Bear,” this high-energy, bass-thumping banger celebrates body positivity, joyful indulgence, and the vibrant spirit of the bear subculture.
For more details, visit Tom Goss’s website.

Aussie pop icon Kylie Minogue brings her acclaimed “Tension” world tour to D.C. next Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. at the Capital One Arena. Tickets are still available at Ticketmaster.
The show features songs spanning her long career, from 1987 debut single, “The Loco-Motion,” to “Padam, Padam” from her album, “Tension.”
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