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Where the Action Is
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Where the Action Is
Current price: $17.99
Barnes and Noble
Where the Action Is
Current price: $17.99
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Like a briefer, though similarly eclectic sequel to 2017's ambitious double-album
,
' 13th outing,
, sees
continuing his unexpected dalliance with dance and hip-hop-influenced rhythms, while also delivering the more straightforward rock bangers and folk-infused introspections that are his bread and butter. It also maintains the prolific run of material that started with 2015's
, marking a surprisingly fertile period which also saw the band's return to the higher reaches of the U.K. album charts. In spite of some of its more contemporary sonic experiments,
has a rich thread of nostalgia running through its veins in the form of various tributes, personal ruminations, and revisitations. With its snappy
samples and chirping organs, the title cut is a boisterous update of
's 1966 hit "Let's Go Baby," from which it borrows its tone and name. The equally raucous "London Mick" honors
guitarist
, while mid-album highlight "Ladbroke Grove Symphony" recounts in loving detail
's early days as a young romantic rocker in West London's then-Bohemian center. In another corner of the classic
spectrum is a pair of tracks rooted in
's life-long affection for literature; the springy electro-folk of "Then She Made the Lasses-O" is a modern outgrowth of poet
' Green Grow the Rashes-O, while the elegant chamber-folk closer "Piper at the Gates of Dawn" is built around an impassioned reading of a passage from
's immortal Wind in the Willows. Even if some of the quirkier dance-addled cuts like the beat poet-rap of "Take Me There I Will Follow," miss their mark somewhat,
deserves credit for continuing to add new layers to
' ever-growing musical patina, and as goofy as parts of it are, the song's refrain is still pretty catchy. Overall,
is another reliably interesting and well-written addition to the band's latter-day renewal. ~ Timothy Monger