We might be music sluts here, but we are not music snobs. You are just as likely to find me listening to the new Joanna Newsom as you are to see me driving along, singing at the top of my lungs to S Club 7 . That being said, prepare yourselves for my review of Robbie Williams’s new(ish) album- Rudebox.
I have been a Robbie Williams fan since 1999, ever since his video for ‘Millennium’ first hit America’s shores. His music had that perfect cheeky, Brit pop flavour that I loved- and I still do. Now-a-days, Robbie’s sound might have changed somewhat but his sometimes silly, sometimes clever, musical rantings still ring with a pop perfection that screams “I know what I am doing!”
No matter if you love him, or you hate him, I think you’ll find yourself hardpressed to deny the dance power of ‘Rock DJ’ or ‘Kids.’ This same rule applies to not only the title single from Rudebox, but also to about a half a dozen of the other tracks. Robbie wanted to make a dance album and with the help of The Pet Shop Boys, Mark Ronson, Soul Mekanik, William Orbit and Steven Duffy, accomplished just that…for the most part.
Unlike Robbie’s other albums, with the the sole exception of Swing When Your Winning, Rudebox consists of an overwhelming amount of songs Williams did not actually write himself. ‘Kiss me’ is by Steven Duffy, We’re the Pet Shop Boys’ by My Robot Friend, ‘Louise’ by Human League, ‘Never touch that switch’ by Andrews and Spencer, ‘King of the bongo’ by Manu Chau and ‘Lovelight’ by Lewis Taylor. This is surprising. Robbie dropped Guy Chambers as his writing partner after the album Escapology and with the relatively unsuccessful Intensive Care, written on his own with Steven Duffy, perhaps the Prince of pop is a bit gun shy. That or a spoiled pop star just wanted to make a danceable Streets album and simply employed the best in the biz to help him accomplish that. Irregardless, Rudebox is an album filled with some perfect, nonesenseical, pop gems- even if he does rhym “Five star” with “PropAR.”
The first single, first heard back in July on British radio, is ‘Rudebox.’ If there was a song to define “booty shaking”, this might be it. It is an 80′s hip-hop, soul, dance track that includes the brilliant lines “Are we gonna have sex? Yes! Will you wear your knee socks? ohh!” The video is certainly nothing to write home about though, and features a rather bloating looking Robbie but search YouTube for ‘Rudebox’ and you’ll find some pretty damn funny home movies with some real winners interpretive dancing to the song.
The second single is ‘Lovelight’ and is another dark dance track which features some very beautiful vocals. The third single, the soon to be released ‘She’s Madonna’, is a dark moody piece as well, with deep drum beats juxtaposed against its silly subject matter: Madonna. It features the honestly humourous lyric, “I love you baby, but face it she’s Madonna.” Of the song Robbie says, “In case anyone asks…There is nothing tongue in cheek about this song at all, I have always fancied Madonna. I’d have hoped for it to be this good, but you can never tell before venturing into the studio. It is just a bonus that it worked out so well.” Well, it turned out alright mate. The song is a bit of a slower burner. Eventually it gets there but with the line “you’re frozen now I’ve done the freezing,” it is a bit of a tough hurdle.
Other songs to watch out for is the riduculously fun ‘Good Doctor’ featuring the “star, propAR” rhym, the silly, yet brilliant, ‘Bongo Bong,’ on which The Guardian says, “There are certainly moments when you wonder what on earth Williams thinks he’s up to – not least a cover of world music star Manu Chao’s novelty track Bongo Bong/Je Ne T’aime Plus that concludes with Williams doing a terrible impersonation of the French legend he recently namechecked in an interview as Serge Gainsborough – yet, for the most part, it turns out not to be bizarre, baffling or downright strange, but somehow inevitable.”- ouch.
The track ‘The Actor’ I find nearly impossible to listen to while the final tune, ‘Summertime’ is a stunningly beautiful song with soaring, inspiring music. It is one of the first songs Williams wrote after leaving Take That and I think stands as testament that Robbie truly can be a great song writer. It harkens back to his ‘Angels’ days and perhaps a time when depression and drugs really inspired some great music, unfortunately.
Though the days of ‘Win some, lose some’ and ‘No regrets’ may be long gone, Robbie is still trying to find his musical niche and even though his new affected London, Mike Skinner accent might wear you thin, Rudebox is certainly not an album to be tossed aside with a snarky remark. Have a listen and groove a little- I know you want to.
