WORTH A LOOK: ****
OUT: now
TRACKLIST: Doom Or Destiny; Long Time; Already Naked; Fun; My Monster; Best Day Ever; Gravity; When I Gave Up On You; Love Level; Too Much; Fragments
Q: What do Joan Jett, Charli XCX, Sia, Nick Valensi (The Strokes), Dev Hynes and Johnny Marr all have in common?
- Read on for reasons including our highlights of Blondie’s 11th studio LP
A: They all contribute in some form to new Blondie album Pollinator out this month and one of our favourite LPs of 2017 so far.
The band explains their lack of writing credits on this album by saying that there’s so much good music out at the moment, that they wanted to reflect it.
And why not when second track Long Time, credited to Debbie Harry and Dev Hynes, has the rumble of Blondie classic Atomic about it?
Highlights include the Johnny Marr cover My Monster (below) which weds Harry’s distinctive pop rasp to a tune worthy of it.
Recent single Fun was criticised for sounding like the Scissor Sisters but its title is well deserved and it’s an uptempo party track that does indeed remind of Jake Shears and Ana Matronic at the peak of their popularity.
We last saw Blondie open Glastonbury in 2014 and this collection will only stoke demand for them to play live more – and not just their incredible back catalogue from way back when.
monstagigz 