Out of the Blue
finds
Mike + The Mechanics
-- which, in 2019, claims
Mike Rutherford
as its only original member -- revisiting their catalog with the assistance of their 2010s vocalists
Andrew Roachford
and
Tim Howar
. The party line behind
is that the group discovered new ways of playing old songs while on tour supporting 2017's
Let Me Fly
, so they decided to head into the studio to document these versions. They added three new songs to the mix -- "One Way," "What Would You Do," and "Out of the Blue" all gleaming and crisp adult contemporary pop, all bunched toward the beginning of the record -- and they function as proof that the group still exists in the living years. They're needed, since the new versions of the big hits -- "All I Need Is a Miracle," "Silent Running," and "The Living Years" chief among them -- are odd combinations of vintage synths, stiff modern electronics, and excessively soulful singing that don't quite gel into a convincing reinterpretation.
is hardly bad -- these guys are pros, they know how not to embarrass themselves -- but it feels superfluous, a curious footnote instead of a satisfying coda. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine