“We are Duran Duran and we were designed to make you party” said Duran Duran’s charismatic lead singer Simon Lebon as the band took their final bow on the stage at their concert in Port Chester (New York) on August 1. It was their first concert as part of the tour accompanying the release of their new album “Paper Gods” (scheduled for release on September 11, 2015). The “rock music for the dancefloor” manifesto lies at the heart of their becoming a band at the end of the punk era. Over 30 years into their illustrious career, the band’s members (now in their mid-50s) still want to make you party and have spent the last few years toiling away in the recording studio to create the latest soundtrack to that party. To that end, they are reasonably successful on “Paper Gods“. But is “Paper Gods” the career-defining album that the band and their legions of fans worldwide hope it will be? Not in the conventional sense of the term “career-defining”.
Before I delve into the details of the album, it is worth mentioning that in this world in which quite a few bands from the New Wave era are returning with new material, Duran Duran sets themselves apart through their sky-high aspirations. These aspirations force them to shelve a winning formula and innovate from scratch. They are not trying to work within the confines of what they are comfortable with. Their contemporaries, on the other hand, stay within the realms of comfort that they have thrived in both artistically and commercially. Duran Duran absolutely does not believe in playing it safe. This has the unfortunate consequence of them occasionally not being able to capitalize on momentum that they generated through a hit predecessor album because they did not believe in repeating the formula of that hit album on a subsequent musical offering. This is both a blessing and a curse. It is a curse in that it more often than not, leads to a “trough” in a commercial trajectory that has been almost sinusoidal for the last two and a half decades. A noteworthy example of this pattern is the 1990 album “Liberty“. To the music buying masses, “Liberty” was nothing more than a footnote in an ending era of glory for the New Wave gods – despite its moments of shimmering brilliance which manifested itself in the form of songs such as the criminally under-rated “Serious” and “My Antarctica“. But as the band’s keyboard player Nick Rhodes suggested in an interview with Larry King on CNN, “Liberty” became a necessary stepping stone to “The Wedding Album” (1993) – the album that was responsible for Duran Duran rising like a phoenix from the ashes and the foundation of the comeback against all odds. It broke Duran Duran to a new generation and extricated them from their commercially stifling “80s” label. The second example of this pattern is with “Red Carpet Massacre“. The band was riding high on the success of their first outing (i.e. the “Astronaut” album) with its original five members in almost two decades. At the time, they could work with any producer of their choice. They chose to go with Timbaland – a seasoned R&B producer that had never worked with a band before. One can only surmise that Timbaland probably struggled to understand the band dynamic of Duran Duran and its critical role in the creation of a substantial album. It showed in the final treatment of songs that were actually very strong at their core. “Red Carpet Massacre” failed to impress but it provided a key lesson learned – one that undoubtedly translated to the recording sessions that yielded the brilliant “All you need is now” – an album that resulted from a “clear brief from Mark (Ronson)” (as Simon Lebon expressed in an interview with Fresh 102.7) to “reclaim the 80s for Duran Duran”. Lebon further emphasizes in the same interview that “you do that once but can’t go in and make a second album like that”.
“Pressure Off“, the lead single from “Paper Gods” is arguably one of the best pop singles of 2015 and just might be the greatest radio-fodder Duran Duran has created since songs like “Ordinary World” and “Come Undone” from the “Wedding Album“. It is the sonic sequel to the band’s hit single “Notorious” – a song in which producer Nile Rodgers found a way to make the band flaunt their inner funk – probably for the first time ever. With a sing-along chorus that sticks, and a Middle 8 (performed predominantly by Janelle Monae) that leaves the listener begging for more, “Pressure Off” does not by any stretch suggest that Duran Duran is on the verge of an artistic or commercial “trough”. Unfortunately, after one listen of the album, it becomes fairly obvious that “Pressure Off” is somewhat of a red herring – but only from the perspective of there being an obvious dearth of potential subsequent singles from “Paper Gods“.
While the album brims with a host of high-profile collaborations, only two of them yield songs with delectable and memorable melodic hooks. The first being “Pressure Off“. The second being “What are the chances” – one of the very few down-tempo moments on the album. The wailing electric guitar of Red Hot Chilli Peppers’ John Frusciante is neatly deployed for maximal impact and makes a perfect complement to Simon Lebon’s heart-wrenching vocals. Lebon continues to demonstrate his prowess as a lyricist as indicated by the song’s second verse:
Playing with your life or is it destiny
Which sets you on a path?
Is it out of choice that you’re here next to me
Or just the aftermath
Of moments as they pass
While the song might not be as instant as hits such as “Come Undone” or “Save a Prayer“, it has the capacity to grow very quickly and entrench itself in the hearts of listeners in the way that lesser-known Duran Duran gems such as “A Matter of feeling” and “My Antarctica” did. Needless to say, it is the album’s obvious “second single” if there is to be a follow-up to “Pressure Off“. It is bound to be a crowd-pleaser at the next Duran Duran gig. More importantly, it would be great to see Duran Duran explore this creative partnership with John Frusciante on future offerings.
Lindsay Lohan’s appearance on “Danceophobia” adds virtually nothing to the song. Jonas Bjerre (from the Danish rock band Mew) seems almost under-utilized on “Change the skyline“. Canadian pop starlet Kiesza proves that she has the vocal chops to share the spotlight with lead singer Simon Lebon but her ability seems to be lost on a rather generic electronic dance pop track titled “Last night in the city“.
With the exception of the pleasant and catchy “Sunset Garage” (a song that flits between being modern and somewhat 60s-influenced), the rest of the album suffers from meandering melodies that seem to go nowhere. This issue is most prominent on the album’s title track. Meanwhile, “Change the skyline“feels like two different tracks stitched together.
For all the criticism that I have heaped on “Paper Gods“, it does have its merits. The production is fresh and vibrant and Simon Lebon’s vocals showcase a youthful exuberance through the entire length of the album. The songs might serve as a potent elixir to create an uptempo mood for a party. That being said, while the mood is more than likely to be memorable, most of the songs will not share that good fortune. There are elements of glittering promise scattered throughout but somehow they never come together on a majority of “Paper Gods“. What they do indicate is that band is on a journey in the right direction – a direction of modernity. In fact, no one can accuse the band of sounding dated. It would be great to see the band build on some of these promising moments and give fans and skeptics another goosebump-inducing Duran Duran album. “Paper Gods” demonstrates immense potential if not an all-out victory for the band. It is far from the pitfalls that albums like “Red Carpet Massacre” or “Thank You” were. But it is not a musical milestone of the type that “Rio“, “All you need is now“, and “The Wedding Album” are. I get the feeling a conscious decision was made for it to be none of these. If stepping stones are considered “career-defining” then indeed “Paper Gods” is career-defining as it is a forerunner to likely greatness in the next few years of the Duran Duran story.
STAR RATING: 3.5 out of 5 stars
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Interesting review. I have not had the chance to it yet. I realize a lot of DD fans hate Red Carpet Massacre, but I really love it! How would you compare this album to RCM?
I do tend to like more modern production though, although I know a lot of fans of these 80’s bands don’t. I’m buying it tomorrow and I will tell you more of my opinion then.
@Frannie: Thank you as always for the comment. Difficult to compare this one to RCM. Nothing on RCM offered the dizzying high that “Pressure off” does. At the same time, the closest thing on “Paper Gods” to “Falling Down” is “what are the chances”. I sense that this one is better than RCM. While this album has some issues, I think Mark Ronson, Josh Blair, and Nile Rodgers have a better sense of the bandy dynamic than Timbaland did. And yes, I too am a big fan of the modern production. Incidentally, are you aware of our request week event for The Corrs? I remember you mentioning liking them. Hence, I figured I would let you know.
I got the album. I think I probably like it more than you do. I would give it maybe 4 stars. To me, it has more of a classic DD sound than Red Carpet Massacre. It’s good, but it doesn’t really have any songs that scream big hit single. I still think RCM has catchier melodies.
I noticed some of the DD fans didn’t like it. They said it was too electronic and it didn’t have enough standard guitar, drum and bass. But I don’t really see DD as a typical rock band. They always used a lot of synths. I do tend to like some current dance stuff though. I actually liked Dancephobia and Last Night in the City. I liked the uptempo songs more than the ballad ones.
I noticed that some of their fans said that since they are in their late 50’s they shouldn’t do dance or disco based music since their older fans don’t like that. But that’s one of the things I liked about them is they don’t buy into the idea that because you are older you have to do all slower songs. I love Madonna for the same reason.
Some fans also said they DD was selling out on this record, but I don’t really see that. It has a classic DD sound to me with only slight modern elements. I guess I see DD as more of a fun commercial pop band so not sure how the selling out concept relates to them.
@Frannie: I think it is definitely a better album than Red Carpet Massacre.But still, even after multiple listens, I don’t find myself wanting to go back to it. I am hoping those Deluxe edition tracks are good. I have not heard those yet.I don’t see DD as a typical rock band either so I don’t find like the lack of drum and bass even remotely problematic. I don’t but the whole age thing being a factor around what genre artists can dabble in. I think Duran Duran should stick to their creative manifesto and not give a damn what people say about their age. If they can sound relevant, that is all that matters.They are definitely not selling out, in my humble opinion.
The Deluxe version of Paper Gods isn’t bad. The album itself has a unique quality about it. Some elements of the Spice Girls, Kansas, CSNY, Soft Cell, The Jacksons, and a touch of Andrew Lloyd Weber. It’s bizarre to say the least. Too many cooks in the kitchen? Maybe but it surprisingly works! RCM wasn’t bad too much BSB, and too little DD. Dirty Great Monster, The Valley, and the title song were good. But could have drawn from DM or INXS for inspiration instead of Timberlake and Tim-ba-land! One thing PGs could have used was Nick talking on a track like Medazzland. DD can’t please everyone. When they do good things like Medazzaland and try to experiment. People are critical because some fans want them to sound like they did in the 80’s. But they moved on in the 90’s and so on and so fourth. Depeche Mode still sounds like it’s 1995 and their fans love it! I still like DM’s sound. But I’ve always been a DD fan before DM. It doesn’t bother me that they change. If they want to go “authentic” for the next album and return to Grunge DD it’s fine with me. The one person they need is Warren, at least in the studio! Andy was ok in the 80s, but Warren was always more gifted. He can out do The Edge, and other over hyped guitarists. Paper Gods is a good album, even if it turns into a grotesque “thing” towards the end. People love horror stories, and if your a fan of Duran2 it defiantly will shock you!
@Titus: Thank you so much for your comment! My biggest issue with RCM was the production. Timbaland simply was not the right producer for them. He doesn’t typically produce bands and does not really get band dynamic at all – in the way that folks like Mark Ronson and Nile Rodgers do. I actually like “Out of my mind” from Medazzaland. And I too wish they would bring back Warren. I don’t like the way that his dismissal from the band was handled. I think he handled it with a lot of dignity though and I think he looks better for it. Just out of curiosity, how did you discover our radio station and blog?
Personally this whole “Duran is an act of 2 halves” one of the most boring and awesomely inaccurate and blatantly pointless statements made by so many. If you listen to most so-called fabs, they seem to live to simply spew rubbish about every single Duran album done outside the rose-tinted applauded New Wave box of the early 80s, when the kiddies all died inside when they split, and once back, shorn of 2 members, began an outdated and embarrassingly inconsistent war against them, which saw the fabs that remained grudgingly supporting every new and important record that followed. Meanwhile the nasty critics that hated them from the outset then patronisingly changed tack, pretending acceptance of their formative years, while gleefully ramming home their usual pointless bile over every new record and single, expecting them to fade, yet what most remained blind and deaf to (either conveniently or otherwise) was that for any group to grow, stay and move on and progressive, things needed to change. And unlike the naff likes of madonna the vile (who’s always been bad and a fake artist) and all those other critically beloved yet oddly middling 80s acts of slave reverence banging on long after their sell-by-date (Depeche Mode, Simple Minds, Pet Shop Boys all take a tiresome bow), Duran are never afraid to move with the times, while staying clear to the essence of good songs. In fact too many people bang on about them being peerless back in the so-called day, which I know to be utterly untrue, as not only do their 1st 3 albums, unlike most any other sound too much of their time (New Wave limitations struggle to sometimes make the lyrical and musical overall sound as contemporary and timeless as their far more pertinent pre-1985 more topical, progressive sounds. In fact every album since, especially their wildly differing experimental efforts (“Big Thing”, “Red Carpet Massacre” and “Pop Trash” (yes, take that world!) which deliberately owe little to their New Wave beginnings), yet a career-best mid-80s diamond in the “Notorious” album was an amazing strike, even knocking the previously forever heralded “Rio” LP of its perfect perch, and “Notorious” holds its place today. In fact it doesn’t hold it, it IS it. Only now it shares it with 2 other peerless DD albums, the astutely perfect “All You Need Is Now” (proving that the “sell-out/going back to the roots” accusation can actually produce gold now and again), but as producer Ronson said, “it’s not just the Duran of the early 80s being represented here, their later works are also referenced, like their wonderful 1986 album which I loved”, and also “Red Carpet Massacre”. Oh boy did you hear that right! Following the annoying safe, strained and sometimes embarrassing “Astronaut” album, where by far the best single was actually ‘Nice’-the least known-Duran got wildly exciting again with killer songs of a deeply heavy nature. Exciting angular tunes like ‘Zoom In’ and the pounding, brooding ‘The Valley’ mixed with creepy urban treads like ‘Dirty Great Monster’, ‘Tempted’ and ‘Skin Divers’ and elegant ballads like ‘She’s Too Much’ (about one of Simon’s daughters) and the elegant ‘Box Full O Honey’ joined the swaggering ‘Cry Baby Cry’ (rudely and dumbly only put on the Japanese CD but I always play over the needless instrumental as its clearly meant for the album) and snide bang of the title track all coincide to make what is actually the best (yes BEST) of all their highly underrated and wrongly bashed albums.
Speaking of such, “Liberty” and “Pop Trash” rate highly for me too. After the intriguingly blend of cool dance tunes interposed with elegant ballads of the rather delectably mixed 80s closer “Big Thing” album, Duran went all stadium rock which utterly suited them, as said already on here, they ARE a rock band, and it was simply bashed cos the decade changed and people who always hated them wouldn’t stop, yet look how the overrated Dep Mode, Pet Shop Boys, and Simple Minds got into the 90s and it wasn’t seamless! In fact, Depeche Mode rather risibly shed their 80s electronica sound and pretended to become a heavy metal band with utterly worthless results, which they remain doing to this dull day. I don’t see how anyone cosying on up to “The Wedding Album” (liars! they only really like the 2 big singles from the album) can have a problem with it, and it’s a damn sight more relevant to the changing world than a ‘Planet Earth’ or a ‘Union Of The Snake’. “Pop Trash” remains one of their most daring moments, and I avoided at first, but was shocked how good and uniquely them it was once I was listening to it, having dealt with the shock of John’s departure, thinking I would perhaps hate it, but I didn’t, the songs were just too out there, and, anyway, Duran always surprise me by refusing to take that easy route, yet STILL managing to come up with good songs, but I at least, don’t expect, nor require under order of death, a “Rio” album song with every new release!
The above RCB review of “Paper Gods” is spearheaded perfectly by your blazingly informative and accurate surmise of the band as being: “sky-high” innovators whose “constant aspirations force them to shelve a winning formula and innovate from scratch, unlike their contemporaries who stay within the realms of safe”. THAT is exactly the informed defensive and explanatory analysis of one of the best bands ever that everyone who gets it wrong (i.e. most people need to hear), thereby any review of a DD album by yourself will at least be couched in fair terms, with the differences being merely in song taste. Mind you, I don’t go for that whole trough thing anyway, as all of Duran’s co-called dips I find are among their strongest work. To date, in fact, their worst album for me, remains the utterly mixed-to death yet sonically lacking and lyrically inane “Seven And Ragged Tiger” album, an album even more marked in its shocking splat from cool as not only did it follow their revered “Rio” classic (not so likely realised at the time I’m sure), but it remains to date their only album where the best song of its era was NOT physically put on the album-the gorgeous carousel-song ‘Secret Oktober’-even more embarrassing as it was the B-side (B SIDE!!??) to one of their most blandest single offerings anywhere, and their worst 80s single of all! Yet never is this EVER said by people cos it was from their “most perfect era” (i.e. the 1985 shattered all the silly girls’ dreams of forever and charged the critics into hoping they’d fade away from then on. Ha! Not likely. I’d ALSO state that, amazingly, I’ve yet to hear a song as astoundingly tunelessly and even vocally (from Simon too! one of THE best vocalists ever) abhorrent as the waste of studio space B-side ‘Like An Angel’ wit has NOTHING of the angel about it, UNLIKE the ‘Falling Angel’ of 1993 which wasn’t even issued on any album, and most ironically of all, if 1982 was Duran at their most perfectly peerless, as all the boring shape robotically state. this song CAME from it!!
And history affirms my point. After a non-stop run of brill to fine albums beginning with the DD album in all but name “So Red The Rose” (if it’s not a DD album, than WHAT is it?!, then dipping somewhat for a brief 1995-1997) and returning with another criminally hated corker (“Pop Trash”), they reformed with the original line-up which resulted in a bleach-job of almost old-man safety. “Astronaut” was so pension friendly you could almost feel the pipe and slippers (and A-ha had the same accident with their following years “Analogue”-beware one worded albums beginning with ‘A’ clearly!). ‘Sunrise’ was their blandest original single since ‘Union Of The Snake’-ironically the last time all 5 were together, and its cheesy-like optimism even bled into ‘What Happens Tomorrow’-itself way too meek; both these made uninspired, if entirely expected single choices, so thank God for ‘Nice’ as the best choice of the trio. Equally the daffy title track and the so-so ‘Taste The Summer’ made you think this all they bothered coming back for. ‘Bedroom Toys’ showed a bit of nonsense, but was fun, but ‘Want You More!’ should CLEARLY have been the single, the fools. But side 2 was very strong with a pleasing bunch of thoughtful down-tempos that aimed towards the latter 80s ballad style. And to sadly put a lid on it, Simon’s voice sounded struggling and strained in a way it never has, and hasn’t ever since. He sounded a bit like an old man ready for songs even older. Not great. A less than exciting album that did the biz simply cos it was (a) safe and (b) returned fans briefly to their long-lost youth of dream 5some, but thankfully it wasn’t meant to be. Shorn of Andy, Duran became radical again, and the songs ramped up, and Simon became vocally strong again, in a way that persists to this day. And that’s another way he shows up his dodgy voiced contemporaries-the drug-addled street-thug bawling of Gahan, the one-note numbing barely heard snide of Tennant and the illiterate yelling of Kerr of Simple Minds. So Timbaland produced it, big deal, didn’t change the fact it was one of the most exciting things by them I’ve ever heard, and the comments on the emptiness of celebrity and the evils of mankind (‘Tempted’ about a potential bomber perhaps? and ‘Last Man Standing’0 just marked this album out as an all by itself-in a great way, Please, boy barbie Twitberlake was only here as a fawning fan, and as necessarily forgettable as the equally pointless Sheryl Crow on a Stevie Nicks song, and the brat probably insisted. I think it was a case of having to as opposed of wanting to. As I only hear Timbaland’s vocals on 2 tracks (and don’t mind them at all) his presence bothered me none, and while his hip-hop style in production lends itself in layers to other tracks there, it’s a lie to pretend this is his idea as a more legendary producer and mixer-one Jimmy Douglas, who’s mass raft of indebted names from the 70s onwards included Aretha Franklin, Led Zeppelin, Hall & Oates, Roxy Music, Elkie Brooks, Foreigner, Genseis. even The Rolling Stones! He just got to Duran late, and Timbaland would be shadowed by him! Either way, with DD, it expounded a great raft of amazing songs that simply prove progression is exciting for a real fan; anyway the utterly gorgeous “All You Need Is Now” followed, but merely equalled it for brilliance as I loved the distinction, but above all, it’s a full album of songs that get me, not a simple approach, and just like “Notorious” (yes, NOT “Rio”), it showcased perfect songs, ALL of which were correct for me, as important individually as they were altogether, and this elevated them both beside it, as, while all their other albums are ownable with differing levels of acceptance and reverence, not of them quite get the all-round thing on EVERY song that these 3 albums do for me, and still do. (And I add ‘Cry Baby Cry’ to the running time of “Red Carpet Massacre’-this is not a cheat. Since “Astronaut, every DD album has had 12 songs, not one instrumental-well “RCM” did, so why? Clearly a song should have been there, then I found out ‘Cry Baby Cry’ turned up on only the Japanese edition. A stupid oversight, and not adding a bonus to change things or improve things, as unlike all the other albums, bar their 1983 low-point (which I still own of course being a true fan), this is so not a bonus in that it’s clearly meant for this album in every way.
But now to “Paper Gods” which came out virtually the week of A-ha’s wonderful return from pretended retirement, and your review is a shock. So you love ‘Pressure Off’, but I couldn’t agree less about it’s ‘red herring’ impression, as I found it a rather bit staid, sluggish even and a bit over-funked up, while delivering nothing of the layered, swooning beauty of ‘American Science’, nor the punchy brass-sectioned class and the memorable hooks and swooping choruses of ‘Hold Me’, ‘Skin Trade’, ‘Proposition’ or the title track, never mind any hint of the spooky march of the pulsing ‘Vertigo (Do The Demoiltion)’ from 1986 perfection album “Notorious”. ‘Pressure Off’ is red herring only in that the rough-cut intro hinted at a banging verse of full meaning and then to a chorus that grabbed. Neither happened, though the fact the UK got the even more sluggish title track is more annoying proof of a return to the weak choice of singles from the “Astronaut” era, and of course the equally unimpressive 1983 lot, though in that case, almost anything wouldn’t have worked! As for Monae, never have I heard a girl struggle so much to leave such little impression. Song could have done without her easily, or even better, simply use that girl from the belting ‘Butterfly Girl’ and I remain shocked you didn’t even mention this killer tune which has ‘single’ and ‘radio play’ written all over it, as exemplified by an episode of Grey’s Anatomy featuring it. And that Red Hot Chili Pepper bloke is strumming on it!
Duran, I noticed early on, pervaded a knack for killer ballads, something showcased on every album, and despite my love for upbeat numbers, Duran are likely the act I’ve identified as putting more favs as ballads on albums than most anyone. It began with ‘Anyone Out There’ from the debut, ramped up further with ‘Lonely In Your Nightmare’-NOT ‘Save A Prayer’ from their apparently only “great” album ever according to God’s little whelpers, ‘Secret Oktober itself by far the best thing from an album it wasn’t even put on (!) then reached all round peerless perfection with ‘A Matter Of Feeling’-one of THE killer ballads of all time, from an album where SOOO much more than 3 should have been a single, not least this! Then ‘My Antarctica’ and ‘Ordinary World’ carried it on, plus there’s ‘She’s Too Much” from their stupidly vilified 2007 genius album, and then there’s ‘Someone Else Not Me’ from the equally “best ignored” bile spewed “Pop Trash”. ‘Chains’ became the best offering of 2004…and then here. ‘What Are The Chances’ struck me from the offset; your apologetic coax that it “may not be as instant as hits ‘Come Undone’ and ‘Save A Prayer’ may be understandable but I’ve no patience of baby-talk for those who refuse to leave an entrenched past in a singles market that doesn’t exist any more, for not only is ‘What Are The Chances’ even BETTER than those 2 you name-AND actually more instant, it aptly and eerily (we are so often on the same page with Duran pieces of wow) sits beside 2 perfect ballads you yourself name in the same paragraph-‘A Matter Of Feeling’ and ‘My Antarctica’-2 of their best ever ballads!
It actually WAS released as a single. It was the 3rd and final off the album. While the title track was sneaked out by way of a retro magazine in the “single releases” page (weird I know), ‘What Are The Chances’ was unveiled on Graham Norton in the UK, and introduced as such! Yay! One killer, but I disagree with you heavily on there being only this and the workmanlike ‘Pressure Off’ are the main charmers on this album, not least when you admit it after only one listen! Admittedly the lyrically worthy title track is ponderous (and so not a single over the dynamite choice the lucky US got in ‘Last Night In The City’-with a much better female vocal than Monae), ‘Danceophobia’ is as dippy as the title track of 2004 (songs ABOUT dancing always are) though I’d say Lohan’s breathy approach helps ground the song in something more dirty and fun, until it becomes silly again, so even then, she’s useful-ironic, as I’d say she adds to a song what Monae failed too, though this song needed it), and both the ones at the album’s end are hard to recall as they do crawl. It’s also funny you call ‘Last Night In The City’ “generic”. To me that’s ‘Pressure Off’ all over, though I still like it, it just don’t sizzle. At all.
But that surely then makes the standout moments easier. ‘Last Night In The City’ rises like a billowing flame, creeping higher and higher, with that power and hook Duran are known for (should have been UK’s 2nd single), ‘You Killed Me With Silence’ is a creeping little squeezer, with a deliberately skewered and disjointed approach recalling something like ‘Lava Lamp’ from the delightfully off-kilter and ill-appreciated “Pop Trash” CD. And then a trio of fizzing, dream-like power jumpers nod up-the fizzing “Rio”-album era synths of exuberant ‘Face For Today; recall the ‘Last Chance On The Stairway’/’Hold Back The Rain’ majesty, with a gleeful chorus that beats the hell of ‘Pressure Off, which is clunkily rigid in comparison, while the dreamy ‘Change The Skyline’ seems to coast on clouds, and then pow comes ‘Butterfly Girl’-with its rumbling guitar-intro and instantly memorable verse, and Simon majors in detailing these suffering or hard-to-acquire or understand women, which puts in mind those intense blood-rushing hitters from 2011-‘Girl Panic!’, ‘Too Bad You’re So Beautiful’ and the wonderful and anguished ‘Runway Runaway’ (though the latter is more tragic), and then the sonically soaring chorus, and when he lets rip on the last one, it’s just wow! And the backing singer just adds to the power. Admittedly, of these 3 killers, you only mention ‘Skyline’ and in an “under-utilised way” that surely should be for the song, not the girly unknown male on it. Both ‘Face For Today’ (which could easily have been on “All You Need Is Now”) and ‘Butterfly Girl’ are awesome, and this is one of those albums once again the victim’ of poor or no single choices.
The bonus tracks stand out as they’re unusually good for album leftovers-most noticeably the elegant ‘Cinderella Ride’ and spooky ‘Northern Lights’ which are both excellent, but the album doesn’t need them in the sense an album of extras over several decades does!