Baffling, brilliant, beguiling and a bit embarrassing all at once, Kevin Rowland and co make a surprise return and first LP in seven years, filled with an odd mix of catchy pop, great vocals, but also oddball, proto-feminist, self-analytical lyrics musing on Kevin’s adoration of women. Cringeworthy at times, especially some of the spoken-word / crooner sections such as on My Goddess, or the creepy video for the admittedly beautiful melody of My Submission, the dirty funk-pop of Dance With Me, the declamatory but old-school cheesy dubiously chivalric adoration of opener The One That Loves You (“you need my love”), all make you wonder whether the sleaze, the cross-dressing or the sexually submissive masochism (particularly on the spoken word Goddess Rules) are all meant to be humorous ironic, silly and sincere, or just expressing feelings of liberation. Maybe the uncomfortable ambiguity is the point. Yet it also contains some fabulous pop tunes with Rowland’s distinctive soaring voice on fine form, with added classic brass backing that all made them first so popular in the early 1980s. It’s Alright Kevin (Manhood 2023) is like a session on the psychologist’s couch turned into a confessional, catchy call-and response pop song, while I’m Coming Home, I’m Going To Get Free are real stompers. Swinging in all directions. Out on 100% Records.
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