BangaSony ****

By this stage, they don’t come any more iconic and interesting than Patti Smith, an equal parts feral and fragile Noo Yawk singer/songwriter/poet/ performer who seems fearless when it comes to getting to the point. Banga is her first studio album of original material since 2004’s Trampin’, and sees her focus her attentions on life’s troubling dichotomies. If there’s a flaw in Smith’s output it is that she can occasionally come across as too overtly shamanic (and therefore pretentious) for her own good. But such a trifling concern pales in the face of material as forceful as April Fool (which features typically filigree guitar playing from

Tom Verlaine), This Is the Girl (a touching '60s-style tribute to Amy Winehouse) and Mosaic. Played for the most part in an understated manner, and mulling over stuff in the way only Smith can, Banga is assured, and quite often serene. pattismith.net

Download tracks: April Fool, This Ïs the Girl, Mosaic