Blondie

Pollinator BMG

Blondie updates its sound of recent years on Pollinator by returning to some familiar and successful foundations.

Joan Jett joins the band on opener Doom or Destiny, one of the few tracks written by Debbie Harry and guitarist Chris Stein, but its thump sets the right tone.

Long Time, written by Harry and Devonte Hynes

(Blood Orange), is a Heart of Glass offshoot and mentions the Bowery, the home of club CBGB where Blondie was an early performer. The nostalgia is justified, “running circles round a night that never ends.”

Fragments starts and ends in a cloud of gloom but the band, propelled by drummer Clem Burke and Harry’s passionate vocals, pulls out the stops during a vigorous middle section. At nearly seven minutes long, there’s plenty of time for the mood changes and it should be a highlight of their shows.