The Beat Surrender

So Gomez are back with their first album since the more up-beat ‘Spot the Difference.’

This appears to be a return to their roots of soothing tunes, with sparkling and resplendent vocals, and it quickly hits the spot. The reasons why Gomez haven’t been more successful than they are seems slightly baffling as they continue to make seductive and smooth music. And they are kind of captivating in a Badly Drawn Boy way. What the hell, their music has a kind of sex appeal. Enough already.

However, a few people have said, ‘I quite like Gomez but I’d like them more if this track didn’t go off and do this’. It’s true, the band can meander from the sublime to the ‘not miles away from ridiculous’ in the same track. A classic example of this is ‘Charley Patton Songs’ from this album, which starts of serenely, reminiscent of the best track from ‘Spot the Difference’, ‘Sweet Virginia’, and then degenerates into name-checking as many US cities as possible. Could this be a sop to the American market? The album was released in the US before the UK so maybe.

The standout track on the album is ‘Girlshapedlovedrug’, which is resounding and uplifting and gets you the very first time to hear it. Elsewhere the title track features strong vocals and is eminently presentable, and the enchanting ‘Woman!Man!’ also stands out as being a potential single.

The whole album ends strongly with ‘Cry on Demand,’ a quirky and lively number, followed by Gomez usual penchant for ending their albums on a good ‘un, which you can sing along to, ‘Don’t make me Laugh.’

On the whole, more of the same from Gomez. If you like them, go buy it, you’ll love it. If not, this one probably won’t win you over. It’s how they operate you see.