Robbie WilliamsIt seems longer than three years between drinks for Robbie Williams. Reality Killed The Video Star, released in 2009, really flew under the radar and 2006's Rudebox failed to capture the pop zeitgeist like his earlier work, so there's a certain expectation of 'comeback album' with his latest effort, especially when he names it Take The Crown.
Be A Boy is an inauspicious opening for such a record. Shimmering electronica and muzak-horns shuffle in over quasi-anthemic chanting, but once Willaims starts singing, “They said it was leaving me… I don't think so”, the tone becomes obvious. Lyrically, there's no avoiding the 'I'm back!' message, it's just an odd opening gambit to not accompany this with punchier music. Candy is a well chosen lead single – for better and worse it sounds like a debut from someone half Williams' age; it's fun, silly and easily one of his grooviest songs since Rock DJ. Though a sense of 'what could be' haunts the record, the Jacknife Lee production constantly references the sounds he's known for; dreamy U2-reminiscent guitar and bold sing-along choruses pepper most of the record's tracks. It's all rather accomplished, but there isn't much fresh to it.
Penultimate song Not Like The Others is the energetic, cheeky dance rock song the album kept implying it had, while closer Losers, a Belle Brigade cover, is a stripped back lament over misplaced pride. It's lush, gorgeous and made only better with guest vocalist Jessie. It's a surprisingly earnest close to an album that won't win over any new converts to camp Williams, but for fans, it'll likely deliver on sounds they've wanted since 2005's Intensive Care.
