Jeff Beck and Johnny Depp: 18 (rhinoceros)
Verdict: unlikely duo, uneven results
Rating: 
Mabel: About last night… (Polydor)
Verdict: Swirls the sophomore slump
Rating: 
Johnny Depp’s first major career move since winning his defamation case against ex-wife Amber Heard is not the blockbuster many expected.
Instead, the controversial Hollywood star indulges his passion for music by collaborating with legendary British rocker Jeff Beck on a duet album dominated by covers.
Three years in the making—and set in motion long before this year’s brutal courtroom drama—it’s not Depp’s first foray into music. Since 2012, he has been a member of the LA supergroup The Hollywood Vampires, along with Alice Cooper and Aerosmith guitarist Joe Perry. That band’s 2019 album, Rise, featured a guitar-playing cameo from Beck.
The unlikely couple also seem to take this project seriously. They met in 2016 and formed a bond thanks to their mutual love for cars and guitars. This collaboration was first teased when they released a lockdown-inspired cover of John Lennon’s Isolation in 2020.
“When Johnny and I started playing together, it fueled our youthful spirit and creativity,” says Beck, 78.
“We joked about how we felt 18 again, so that became the album title. I just hope people will take him seriously as a musician because it’s hard for some people to accept that Johnny Depp can sing rock ‘n’ roll.’ It may be even harder for some to accept him in any guise in the wake of his unworthy battle with Heard. Fans will enjoy this unexpected return and may even create a new audience for Beck. Others, shocked by the ugly consequences of the process, will give it a wide berth.
Johnny Depp (right) at the Royal Albert Hall, London, with Jeff Beck (left) in May
Jeff Beck and Johnny Depp’s cover for their LP ’18’
Taken purely on its artistic merits, it’s a mixed bag. Beck’s playing is as expressive and adaptable as you’d expect from a guitar hero who redefined the role of his chosen instrument – and pioneered the classic British rock star haircut – after succeeding Eric Clapton in The Yardbirds in 1965.
He uses plenty of atmospheric effects and shines majestically on the album’s three instrumental tracks, including two tracks from the Beach Boys’ Pet Sounds. As for Depp, 59, a capable vocalist and rhythm guitarist, the focus will be on his two original songs.
The first, This Is A Song For Miss Hedy Lamarr, is a ballad about the Vienna-born American screen goddess who, in an unusual double life, was also an inventor who helped develop a radio guidance system that paved the way for Bluetooth and GPS.
This cover image released by Capitol Records shows ‘About Last Night…’ by Mabel
The second song written by Depp, Sad Motherf***in’ Parade, is a thoroughly unpleasant diatribe about a toxic relationship that has raised suspicions that it is directed against Heard. A meandering funk-rock jam, whose lyrics largely consist of the title repeated ad infinitum, with Depp muttering dark, barely intelligible asides, “If I had a dime, it wouldn’t reach your hand,” sneezes he. “You sit there like a dog with a seven-year itch.”
Nowhere else is there anything so irritable or distasteful. Despite Beck’s best efforts, the duo’s cover of Marvin Gaye’s What’s Going On falls flat, though Depp pairs well with the guitarist on a tender version of former Beach Boy Dennis Wilson’s Time.
Singing in hushed tones, the actor is also self-conscious enough to confront his demons on Stars, a gut-wrenching 1974 Janis Ian song about how fame doesn’t always bring happiness.
Swedish singer Mabel Alabama-Pearl McVey released her new album on July 15, 2022
It’s one of the more insightful moments on a patchy affair. There are times when this feels like more than just a vanity project for a troubled Hollywood star living out his pop fantasies – but it’s the presence of the evergreen Beck that gives 18 his true rock and roll credentials.
- For British pop sensation Mabel, the difficult second album became even more challenging after her debut, High Expectations, reached the top three and landed her a BRIT award in 2020, three decades after her mother, Stockholm-born Neneh Cherry, won BRITs. recognition as the best international artist.
But Mabel struggled to cope with fame, her self-confidence tarnished by snide comments online and a feeling she couldn’t handle the job. The close of 2020, a month after her BRITs triumphed, came at an opportune time.
She moved back in with her parents (her father is All Saints producer Cameron McVey) and started sketching out ideas on the piano, making music “for myself again” rather than writing with one eye on the charts.
Mabel performs on stage at Capital’s Summertime Ball 2022 Capital’s Summertime Ball 2022
The result is a sure-fire sequel that complements her debut’s throwback R&B with tighter, more streamlined dance music. Unusual for a pop artist, About Last Night… is a concept album whose songs chart the course of an imaginary night out.
It starts with Mabel getting ready – ‘nails shine like Christmas, heels six inches’ – and goes through good times at a nightclub for a few tears. The storyline is a bit messy… and therefore all the more recognizable.
This isn’t the first record based on a night on the town. Bastille followed a similar path on the Doom Days of 2019. But Mabel, 26, is putting her own spin on the idea, and there’s a brassy confidence in the early numbers.
In the second half everything becomes more reflective. There is nightly remorse on When The Party’s Over, and heartbreak on Let Love Go and Good Luck, the latter seeing the singer give sisterly advice to an aggrieved friend.
However, the beats remain dance floor friendly the whole time. “I don’t need you and I think that’s great for me,” she sings on LOL, marking a spirited return in style.
Both albums are out today. Mabel plays Sunday at Somerset House, London (somersethouse.org.uk).