I don’t know about you, but I feel better knowing that the world has ROBYN HITCHCOCK in it. The U.K. troubadour’s consistently smart, melodic and eccentric (and I do mean eccentric, not quirky) style has remained at the very least solid, often brilliant, over the course of a 30-year (!) career. The fifty-something singer/songwriter has enjoyed something of a creative renaissance of late, with a pair of acoustic-oriented albums (_Luxor_ and Spooked) that are as good as anything in his more celebrated 80s period. I’d made the mistake of assuming that he’d never go back to making interesting electric music, and the decent but hardly spectacular Ole Tarantula, his previous album with the all-star VENUS 3, seemed to bear that notion out.
Which just goes to show: what do I know? Goodnight Oslo, his latest platter with the now-seasoned backing trio of *R.E.M.*’s PETER BUCK, SCOTT MCCAUGHEY and BILL RIEFLIN, is Hitchcock’s best “band” effort since Respect, his final album with the EGYPTIANS. Fusing the folky aspects of his last decade with the psych-tinged power pop of his days infecting college radio, the Cambridge native effortlessly shows off his sharp, shimmering songcraft. “What You Is” and “Your Head Here” open the record with a friendly pair of upbeat blasts. “Hurry For the Sky” and “Sixteen Years” ingeniously explore Hitchcock’s penchant for paradoxically grounded acid folk. “TLC” (which does not stand for “tender loving care,” by the way) is almost jazzy in its smoky saloon ambience. The loudest tune he’s cut in years, “Saturday Groovers” conjures up a rowdy rock club in service of a spirited singalong. “Up to Our Nex,” which benefits from horns and a pair of Indian musicians, and the soaring, spectacular “I’m Falling” are reminders of Hitchcock’s mastery of marvelously memorable pop. The record ends appropriately with the mini-epic title track.
The lyrics remain enigmatic, but they aren’t the dizzying spirals of surrealist wordplay they once were; Hitchcock has made a huge effort towards direct (well, almost) communication in recent years. The cuts also include some guest harmony singers, including COLIN MELOY of the DECEMBERISTS, SEAN NELSON of HARVEY DANGER and Hitchcock’s old Egyptians mate MORRIS WINDSOR, but their presence is muted. The spotlight is quite rightly on Hitchcock, his band and one of the greatest sets of songs in his long career. Deliberately accessible while remaining true to Hitchcock’s essentially eccentric spirit, Goodnight Oslo is a pure joy to hear.
http://www.robynhitchcock.com
http://www.yeproc.com
