MUSIC REVIEWS
Rick Astley rick-rolled the world two years ago when he resurfaced with a very good album, his first new music in 23 years. The man who had become a jokey internet meme proved a master crafter of pop songs. Now he’s proved that wasn’t a fluke.
The soulful Englishman with the bouffant hair who sang “Never Gonna Give You Up” in the 1980s delivers again on another dozen tracks of his up-tempo, easygoing-down mix of blue-eyed soul, gospel and dance.
Like “50” in 2016, Astley wrote and produced “Beautiful Life” all alone and performs all the instruments. There’s only one other person who is all over the new album: That would be Lene Bausager, Astley’s wife. Virtually every song celebrates their love. (If that’s not who he’s singing about, he’s in some serious trouble at home.)
Astley just wants to boogie on “Chance to Dance” and wants to be kissed hard on “Last Night on Earth.” His lover gives him a “fear of wanting you too much” on “Every Corner,” ”gives me light” on “She Makes Me” and prompts him to “want to run down to the edge of the river singing” on “Shivers,” which has an Imagine Dragons feel.
Astley does eventually step outside his love nest on “I Need the Light,” which nods approvingly at the new generation. “I believe this storm will break/The youth will triumph/ Yes they’ll make mistakes/But I know they’ll win.”
It’s back to love songs with the soul-disco “Better Together,” the faux-country ballad “Empty Heart” and the subdued “Rise Up.” On “Try,” Astley offers a torch song for all the middle-aged strivers out there: “I don’t know if I can make it/But just watch me try, watch me try.”
“Someone saved my life every single night/When the words and the music played/ When the records took me away,” he sings. It’s a fitting song for this 52-year-old pop survivor to conclude with, namely, a clever valentine to music itself.—Mark Kennedy, The Associated Press
Front and center for a change, Jonathan McEuen immediately plays to his strength on “Through the Sun Gate.” ”Sunshine … sun shining in my eyes,” he sings to kick things off, and his sunny tenor gives the album its distinctive stamp.
McEuen co-wrote two of the 11 tunes but mostly chooses covers, and the variety of the material gives the coastal country genre a fresh twist. “Fools Gold” has roots in Western swing, and “Nazareth, PA” gets bluesy, while the closing “Last Call” is hat-act honky-tonk. And McEuen overdubs harmonies as tight as the best bluegrass.
The pace is snappy, with several tunes clocking in at less than three minutes, and the biggest quibble would be that the album gives McEuen’s excellent guitar work short shrift. Pedal steel, organ, piano and fiddle also play supporting roles, but the arrangements are built around McEuen’s singing. No complaints there.—Steven Wine, The Associated Press
Ben Roberts comes from Arkansas, his wife Emily is from South Dakota, and they met in Memphis a decade ago. But Nashville was always their destiny.
The couple’s debut album, “Lay Your Head Down,” pulsates with achy, heartfelt sentiment, delivered in tender harmony against a warmly pastoral background.
For nearly 10 years, the duo said yes to every gig request, performing in nursing homes, churches and bars.
Still, talent this big is hard to keep down. Several odd jobs and two babies later, it landed them a record deal.
On the opening title cut, a mournful train whistle of a harmonica lays the groundwork for Ben’s plaintive tenor.
“Springtime came with a vengeance this year, the river rose high, the water ain’t clear,” he sings in words composed on the banks of the Cumberland River.
But it isn’t until Emily adds harmony on the second verse that the voltage of their voices joined together takes command.
It’s possible, maybe even probable, that these gentle songs won’t rise to the top of the country charts. But they will find their way onto many a mellow playlist. And if they had emerged under the names of, say, Tim McGraw and Faith Hill, surely Nashville would have dropped to its knees.
The thing is, this isn’t the kind of music that’s written with stardom in mind. These songs feel like they had to come out.—Scott Stroud, The Associated Press
Tom Bailey, “Science Fiction”
(Mikrokosmos/BFD)
At its peak, Thompson Twins created some great 1980s synth pop, songs with refined melodies, thoughtful lyrics and a wide range of keyboard sounds, enlivened by crystalline percussion landscaping overlapping rhythms.
Tom Bailey uses those same elements of the band’s identikit on “Science Fiction,” a sprightly musical collection with a glossy finish where feelings of unease and being adrift lurk beneath.
The opening title track narrates an obsession with a literary genre as a means of escapism and the frustration of those feeling left out.
“What Kind of World,” dressed up in Latin beats, stays in the thematic neighborhood—envisioning life on Mars where people inevitably take their problems along and wonder why they made the flight. Inspired by David Bowie and Elon Musk, it notes that for all of humanity’s strange fascination with technology, the real challenge is to save our souls.
“Feels Like Love to Me” is a strolling ballad in A-ha mode, “Ship of Fools” bolsters the sentiments of lacking direction and “Bring Back Yesterday” repeats Paul McCartney’s yearning for times which won’t return no matter what.
“Come So Far,” first released in 2016 as a charity track benefiting Doctors Without Borders, closes the album with an evocative melody clearly “inspired” by 1960s megahit “Love Is Blue.” It recounts the plight of a refugee who’s already made a long journey which is bound to continue even if the final destination is unknown.
It’s an enjoyable album full of catchy melodies and Bailey’s vocals are as expressive as ever, but some more organic sounds would have been welcomed to counter the limitations of a laptop as recording studio.—Pablo Gorondi, The Associated Press