The Irish Mail on Sunday

ALBUM OF THE WEEK

- Tim de Lisle

Encore The Specials Island, out now ★★★★★

Though The Specials reunited a decade ago, minus main songwriter Jerry Dammers, they are only now in sufficient­ly rude health to tackle a new album, 38 years after the last.

The result is a spirited but disjointed mix of originals and covers, traversing jazz, funk, dub, ska, spoken word and polka. Vote For Me revisits the queasy dread of Ghost Town but, like much of Encore, lacks bite. While Terry Hall’s voice remains gloriously dyspeptic, few tracks are likely to displace old favourites when The Specials hit the festival circuit.

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