Blondie

Pollinator BMG. CD/DL/LP

Follow-up to 2014’s Ghosts Of Download teams band and their fave modern artists.

Blondie always took a conceptualist’s view of pop, from their glossy but sable take on new wave to pioneering cross-pollinations with the city’s black disco and rap scenes. So it’s not entirely unnatural for their eleventh studio album to deconstruct the very essence of what Blondie is, and call upon likeminded souls to write their record for them. Some choices have an obvious logic, such as Johnny Marr, with his exuberant My Monster, and Dev Hynes’ Heart Of Glass homage Long Time; others reflect Debbie Harry and Chris Stein’s fascination with US web culture, like satirical YouTubers The Gregory Brothers’ perfectly poppy When I Gave Up On You. David Sitek, Charlie XCX and Sia also appear, as do a couple of Harry/Stein originals including the magnificent Doom Or Destiny. Miraculously, the whole thing is given a neat completeness by John Congleton’s slick, electro-rock production.