Mark Ronson’s new album is excellent: 12½ tracks of inventive pop colour featuring a fantastic atelier of contributors and voices. It’s an extremely pleasing offering from the mid-Atlantic super-producer, who is back after four years and one divorce.
Another key element to its appeal is the presence of Lykke Li, who helms the standout title track—a funky disco shuffler with diaphanous melody writing and tight, resourceful arrangement. She also turns up on the low-slung ballad 2AM, which shows off her mournful incantations with distinction. Lykke’s previous album—produced by partner Jeff Bhasker—was a bit of a try-hard disappointment. Evidence here suggests things might have been different had she collaborated with Ronson.
Elsewhere, Ronson has succeeded where many have failed in penning a likeable hit for Miley Cyrus. Nothing Breaks Like a Heart is a modern classic; managing to combine contemporary songwriting with a throwback country arrangement that allows Cyrus’s shrill tones to recall Dolly Parton respectfully.
The video is great in that 1990s way where none of the *iconic* scenes really tie into each-other or make thematic sense. There is also the obligatory Ronson appearance; a visual feature that has not yet failed in making him look foolish.
It’s not all gold, though. Why Hide and Find U Again are serviceable pop tunes but lack the X factor. It’s a shame because Ronson is at pains to put little musical treats in his songs—a pre-chorus middle 8 here, a Picardy cadence there. Knock Knock Knock, on the other hand, is a track of this ilk that really works; a strange interlude that brings the rootsy rhythm production that made his name alongside freeform vocals from YEBBA.
Ultimately, the bar is set very high with Mark Ronson, so it’s impressive that this album remains so fresh and fun. During a recent TV interview he claimed that a global hit like Uptown Funk buys a producer ‘four years’ in the public eye before he has to deliver again. Based on this we’ll see him again in 2023, when he’ll be out to underline (again) that he’s one of the finest music producers of his generation
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