Rating: **
Take That star Gary Barlow’s latest album is determined to make you have a good time.
Ahead of the release of his fifth LP, Music Played By Humans, the singer-songwriter and musician set out his goal to create “something really bright” and “a celebration of music,” with work on the LP completed 10 weeks before the first lockdown.
The record features an 80-piece orchestra and an all-star line-up of collaborators, including Michael Bublé, Sebastián Yatra, Barry Manilow, Alesha Dixon, Beverley Knight and James Cordon. But while the ensemble is impressive, the end result somehow falls short of its promise.
Kicking off with the Who’s Driving This Thing, Barlow delivers a plethora of cliches under the guise of his best Frank Sinatra impersonation, carrying just enough charm to keep us tuned in. It’s a fun opener with a countdown ending that seems to tease something big…
But, segueing into Argos 2020 Christmas soundtrack Incredible and lead single Elita, featuring Bublé and Yatra, it soon becomes apparent that risk-taking isn’t on the agenda here.
Instead, Music Played By Humans meanders with tunes that fail to hit hard like Barlow’s songwriting can and so often does. It’s less subtle, more obvious – and notably more strained.
Whether it’s the forced playfulness of tracks like The Big Bass Drum or the over-sentimentality of If Love can Kill You and I Didn’t See That Coming, Music Played By Humans comes over more as a collection of musical theatre outtakes than a conceptual album from one of Britain’s top singer-songwriters.
The problems come to a head on the Barlow-Corden duet The Kind of Friend I Need – packed with tongue-in-cheek, spoken asides that come across more contrived and less like the off-the-cuff, onstage banter the pair no-doubt intended.
Music Played By Humans plays like a lounge singer’s cocktail hour set; the vocals and musicianship are there, but nothing pulls focus quite like it should…
Barlow’s aim to uplift is commendable, but it, unfortunately, results in a record that’s more formulaic than fun, making the whole affair seem pretty forced.
Music Played By Humans is available on download, CD and vinyl.
