Katy Perry

Smile

In the two years she’s been making Smile, Katy Perry has experienced enough major life events to pick and choose from an array of rich lyrical content she’s amassed, such as a spell of depression, her break-up and reconciliation with fiance Orlando Bloom, and now pregnancy.

All have a strong hold over the upbeat, poppy tracks that in different circumstances would have been certified dancefloor classics.

Certainly Perry doesn’t shy away from being honest, with lyrics such as ’I’ll cry about it later, tonight I’m having fun’, and ’Just keep on dancing with those teary eyes’, flowing over disco beats and electronic sounds.

But there’s a triumphant edge to the album, and Perry brings her lighthearted trademark sound to the proceedings.

’I’m faithful, baby’ is an uplifting lyric that will compel you to sing along at the top of your voice, and ’I’ll regrow right through the cracks’ is the audio equivalent of a joyful plateau after rising out of a depressive episode.

While Smile isn’t 100% cohesive as an album, it’s a collection of singles that were made to be sure-fire number ones, and if they can’t pack a dance floor thanks to social distancing, they’ll have you singing along, revelling in their powerful message.

Metallica

S&M2

The trend for artists reinventing their songs with the help of an orchestra has produced a mixed bag.

Yet thrash metal titans Metallica’s 1999 concert with the San Francisco Symphony at The Berkeley Community Theatre stands as a benchmark in vibrant, madcap quality.

Two decades on, the proud San Francisco natives reunited with the Symphony for another performance, this time to mark the grand opening of the city’s Chase Centre.

James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich’s band of merry men remain total strangers to subtlety.

Their music worships at the altar of maximalism and this is perhaps why their never-ending riffs and pattering, machine gun drums fit so well with the bombast of the San Francisco Symphony.

Opening with The Ecstasy Of Gold, the simmering energy of the room is almost audible.

And from The Call Of Ktulu, which takes on the pomp of a James Bond theme, it is full pelt, with the band working their way through their heaving back catalogue, ending with Enter Sandman, of course.

by Sophie Goodall and Alex Green