WORTH A LOOK?: ****

OUT: Friday 16 April 2021

Think classic Blow Monkeys and there’s probably a funky saxophone bossing the groove and coincidentally there’s 1 at the heart of More Than A Miracle, the 2nd single from the band’s new album Journey To You.

• Read on for reasons including where The Blow Monkeys will tour in the UK in October

There’s also 70s disco strings and bells, a choppy bass and lead singer Dr Robert crooning: ‘Forgive me, forgive me, forgive me for the fool I’ve been.’ The video’s (see below) fan footage of abandon from New York’s Studio 54 nightclub fits perfectly with the song’s vibe.

We interviewed Dr Robert last month and it was with tongue we suspect in cheek that he told us what he needed forgiveness for: ‘‘The guilt! I tried not to edit myself lyrically this time at all. During the Tim’s Listening Parties (Tim Burgess, of The Charlatans on Twitter involving live plays of the Blow Monkeys’ biggest albums Animal Magic and She Was Only A Grocer’s Daughter) I explained that I really didn’t have a clue what I was writing about. A lot of the time it was done quickly and if it felt right rather than about specific subjects.’

We’ve heard the new 10-track album Journey To You out in September and it’s some of the best music the band has ever made, fitting seamlessly with some of their most beloved singles of the past but providing dance floor-fuelled joys of the future not least the anthemic, orchestral and beautiful next single Dust At Her Feet.

Tickets for the band’s 40th anniversary UK tour in October have just gone on sale and it would be a great time to see the group given the strength of the new material if you haven’t done so for a while.

We saw them at the height of their fame at the old Hammersmith Odeon, now the Eventim Apollo, in 1987 when they were Smash Hits pin-ups and later twice in Kilburn for more freewheeling performances around the launches of the much under-rated albums Whoops! There Goes The Neighbourhood and Springtime For The World.

It’s only now listening to the next album that the beauty of their T-Rex and Bacharach and David influences knitted into the classic Blow Monkeys sound have been so seamless. We can’t wait to catch up with them after going too long without enjoying their work.

• Picture via Facebook courtesy Blow Monkeys Tickets
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