"From boy band heart-throb to being one of those venerable cheeky-chappy showbiz types."
And so, Sir Robbie (you know it's bound to happen...) continues his inevitable journey from boy band heart-throb to being one of those venerable cheeky-chappy showbiz types so beloved by UK talkshows.
Right now, he's still just having a bloody good time being a pop star, as Love My Life happily laments. The title track then samples Serge Gainsbourg, even if Williams is still mugging rather than Serge's dangled cigarette world-weariness. There's a slight glimpse behind the mask in the ironic cabaret of Hotel Crazy's duet with Rufus Wainwright. Maybe how you take this 'heavy' entertainment depends on how much you want to be in on the joke.