The Charlatans release new album ahead of Wolverhampton show - album review
The Charlatans have seen Different Days indeed. This, record number 13, comes a full 27 years after their debut Some Friendly – early strands of which were recorded in Dudley with some of the band originating from this neck of the woods.
Imagine how much the music scene has evolved since then. They survived Madchester, they survived the collapse of music videos and they survived the switch to downloads. And they are still making records that speak to people.
Literally at times on this LP. They have brought a ton of friends to help them entertain us – including crime author Ian Rankin and Kurt Wagner offering spoken word segments to help the flow.
As for the musical side, well. Paul Weller, Stephen Morris, Johnny Marr and Pete Salisbury appear. And for fans of surprise Channel 4 comedy hit Catastrophe, Irish actress Sharon Horgan also provides some backing vocals.
The psychedelia runs high. But we are not just limited to one zone. We delve into disco, electro and a good bit of synth pop too.
The soft rock propelling us through Solutions is a perfect foot tapper, the rhythm of a train ride through the vast desert carrying us to the song’s conclusion.
This is just one of the sounds we can enjoy here. Different Days has a lullaby feel, a song for a past love perhaps? This is where Horgan lends her voice and adds another dimension to what is actually a pretty sweet number.
Plastic Machinery carries a lot of the kick of the record, and this is perhaps because it is one of Marr’s playthings. Regret flows through the guitars as they float effortlessly from verse to chorus and back again.
After the angry undertones though we head more towards the horizontal, flowing synths of Happy Mondays with Not Forgotten. You know the sound, an almost lazy feel like a hungover Sunday in the painful rays of the sun.
New Order strains come forward throughout Over Again with the robotic melodies that again show another side to the sound of vocalist Tim Burgess, bassist Martin Blunt, guitarist Mark Collins and keyboard player Tony Rogers.
The chopping and changing doesn’t disjoint the record, it feels like an emotionally charged progression from start to finish.
And it shows they aren’t done yet. We’re coming up to three decades now boys, and please keep it coming.
Rating: 4/5
The Charlatans play Lake Fest in Gloucester on August 12, before heading out on a winter tour that stops at Wolverhampton’s Civic Hall on December 1.
