Kings & Queens

Glossier than Jamie T's debut, <i>Kings & Queens</i> is no less incisive about modern Britain. There are bad nights out (“Sticks and Stones”), illicit affairs (“Spider's Web”) and prescient condemnations of the surveillance state (“British Intelligence”) wedded to Treays' usual hotchpotch of music influences. “368” uses a milk bottle as percussion, and gives way to strange sampled vocals and chanting. “Emily's Heart” is a lilting murder ballad, while “Chaka Demus” and “Earth, Wind & Fire” nod to soul. <i>Kings & Queens</i> had a difficult gestation, but you wouldn't know it from this cocksure collection.