Album Review: Kaiser Chiefs - Stay Together

For rock bands chasing relevance, a dance album can be a good idea on paper and a disaster in practice.

Kaiser Chiefs' partnership with production team Xenomania (Girls Aloud, Sugababes) has paid dividends. The trademark larrikin spirit is present, but Stay Together draws deeply from the well of '80s and '90s pop for a sound that is both retro and utterly contemporary. Single Parachute offered the first glimpse of this new direction, which hits its apex on centrepiece Press Rewind, whose darkly funky instrumentals and "it feels like we went back in time" catchcry epitomise the way the band is looking back to move forward.