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.
Ms Yang's top tips for parents new to the UAE
- Join parent networks
- Look beyond school fees
- Keep an open mind
2025 Fifa Club World Cup groups
Group A: Palmeiras, Porto, Al Ahly, Inter Miami.
Group B: Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid, Botafogo, Seattle.
Group C: Bayern Munich, Auckland City, Boca Juniors, Benfica.
Group D: Flamengo, ES Tunis, Chelsea, (Leon banned).
Group E: River Plate, Urawa, Monterrey, Inter Milan.
Group F: Fluminense, Borussia Dortmund, Ulsan, Mamelodi Sundowns.
Group G: Manchester City, Wydad, Al Ain, Juventus.
Group H: Real Madrid, Al Hilal, Pachuca, Salzburg.
3%20Body%20Problem
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The National in Davos
We are bringing you the inside story from the World Economic Forum's Annual Meeting in Davos, a gathering of hundreds of world leaders, top executives and billionaires.
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Specs
Engine: Dual-motor all-wheel-drive electric
Range: Up to 610km
Power: 905hp
Torque: 985Nm
Price: From Dh439,000
Available: Now
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
Full list of brands available for Instagram Checkout
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Karwaan
Producer: Ronnie Screwvala
Director: Akarsh Khurana
Starring: Irrfan Khan, Dulquer Salmaan, Mithila Palkar
Rating: 4/5
The%20specs
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A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
Our legal columnist
Name: Yousef Al Bahar
Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994
Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers
WHAT IS A BLACK HOLE?
1. Black holes are objects whose gravity is so strong not even light can escape their pull
2. They can be created when massive stars collapse under their own weight
3. Large black holes can also be formed when smaller ones collide and merge
4. The biggest black holes lurk at the centre of many galaxies, including our own
5. Astronomers believe that when the universe was very young, black holes affected how galaxies formed
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
'Doctor Strange in the Multiverse Of Madness'
Director: Sam Raimi
Cast: Benedict Cumberbatch, Elizabeth Olsen, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Benedict Wong, Xochitl Gomez, Michael Stuhlbarg and Rachel McAdams
Rating: 3/5
The rules on fostering in the UAE
A foster couple or family must:
- be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
- not be younger than 25 years old
- not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
- be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
- have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
- undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
- A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially
U19 WORLD CUP, WEST INDIES
UAE group fixtures (all in St Kitts)
Saturday 15 January: v Canada
Thursday 20 January: v England
Saturday 22 January: v Bangladesh
UAE squad
Alishan Sharafu (captain), Shival Bawa, Jash Giyanani, Sailles Jaishankar, Nilansh Keswani, Aayan Khan, Punya Mehra, Ali Naseer, Ronak Panoly, Dhruv Parashar, Vinayak Raghavan, Soorya Sathish, Aryansh Sharma, Adithya Shetty, Kai Smith
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
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.
Our legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Our legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants
