After an absence of around 15 years from the pop charts, Dr Robert and co. have re-formed and cut an album that is a definite departure from the politically-charged funk of their mid-80s heyday. What does remain however is Robert's melifluous vocal and the band's tightly experienced cohesiveness - this album has clearly been a labour of love and the results are joyous to behold.
The album opens with the delightful 'The World can wait', which sees the band conjure up a lazy yet somehow vital confection of sun-soaked, world-weary experiences, with an orchestral chorus that would leave Tennant and Lowe green with envy. The remainder of the songs are tightly played gems, particularly the hypnotic 'Frontline' and 'Bullet Train' with its dramatic lyrics and urgent beat. Overall this is an album that showcases a top 80s band that has not only avoided the nostalgia circuit, but that clearly displays a hard-won maturity, and a leader singer/songwriter who has clearly shed his agit-pop youth and is at last at peace with the world. Sublime.
