Soft Soul Sophisticat

Publié le par olivier

Soft Soul Sophisticat

When he gets up in the morning his muscles ache and his emotions are strange, far off, unrecognisable things, but the fine jets of water from the shower, the fresh sweet smell of the soap brings the automatic sophisticat man back to life.

He slips into his elegant, casual clothes and he feels good, feels right. He moves through his day of empty leisure and unrequited glances, he feels at home in a world of faceless glamour, amateur hour dalliances. And if it all gets a little facile, he looks around and says "Well that is life... that is the way it is. It is rich and it is fine. Who am I to try and change it?"

So he goes into his smooth, flash surrounds, glides through them in sports cars, through cocktail bars and late night restaurants and always there are girls; girls with wicked come ons, girls with warm smiles, girls with strange habits, deceitful girls, elusive girls. They tear him apart, they wrack his thought, they are his downfall and they are his saving grace.

Welcome to the new Robert Palmer album. For a guy who cut his teeth on the sweat and gristle of post-boom Brit blues, for a guy who was born in Batley f'rchrissakes, Palmer's role model as Nassau dilletante playboy has more than a fair whiff of nouveau riche about it. He also approaches his records in a very leisurely fashion, you don't get the feeling that his work in the studio is allowed to put too much of a strain on his lifestyle. This has advantages but it also has disadvantages - the most galling being the infuriating inconsistency of every album since Sneakin' Sally Through The Alley.

But for all that he can't be easily written off - on the occasions that he cuts through the bluff and gloss Palmer can produce a gleaming pearl of maverick blue-eyed soul.

In the main Pride is a movement in the right direction, there is an all round toughening up in the sound. There's a more positive sense of direction than the confused perspectives of the last two albums, and Palmer has carved himself a much more satisfactory niche with Pride. Having worn out his electro romance with the irascible Gary Numan on Maybe It's Live that side of things is subsumed more into the full sound - and at its best the music on here is very rich, finding time to accomadate all manner of tropical rhythms and the customary soul references with a strong sinewy funk.

Soft Soul Sophisticat

With everything ship shape, and cushioned more comfortably than he has been before, Palmer launches off with Pride, which isn't quite the masterstroke of humour and ingenuity I guess he imagined it to be. It's a lament for a lover lost to the strange attraction of aerobics, and it's a bit of a yawn of a song, very effete, very to hum.

Deadline is Palmer at his best, a sharp attractive pop piece finely crafted, it flatters his image in the nicest way - the leisurely lecher falling for women "from behind", it's got a nice hookline and is an obvious choice for a single. I could take a whole LP of songs like that; I mean, he's not gonna change dammit, we may as well have him dissecting his ego with style and wit.

But artists have pretensions and elsewhere it's a very hit and miss affair. Want You More is turgid, an interesting idea with a slinky spiralling melody counterpointed by a cauldron of steel drums - but ultimately it falls flat. Silver Gun is an atrocity, Palmer wrapping his larynx around a refrain sung in Spanish, in a hideous electro-flamenco melange, while It's Not Difficult is a typical lads chant about the type of model girl who is always ready and waiting.

At the opposite end of the spectrum you get two excellent cover versions of The System's You Are In My System - blistering knuckle funk - and Kool And The Gang's You Can Have It (Take My Heart) - warm, juicy soul with Palmer's earthy rasp particularly suited to the song.

Robert Palmer during the filming of the Pride and You Are In My System music videos

Robert Palmer during the filming of the Pride and You Are In My System music videos

Pride then is a typical Palmer LP - one part pop-soul brilliance, two parts under-achievement and one part embarassment. The sophisticatman will continue to rove but perharps he has discovered a solid enough base here for him to soon produce the album he is really capable of.

Gavin Martin (NME - April 1983)

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