Released: October 13
Back after five years with a new album and a new sound, Rick Astley returns refreshed and revitalised on ‘Are We There Yet?’.
The ‘80s icon, who found success globally 35 years ago with hits like Never Gonna Give You Up, Together Forever and She Wants To Dance With Me, returns the favour with an internationally-infused set, inspired by a massive tour of the States.
Look no further than lead single, Dippin My Feet – a guitar led tune oozing Southern soul – of which he says: “It’s not Americana, but the tag-line at the start of the chorus is: ‘Dipping my feet in the Mississippi River…’
“It’s definitely not country, but I’ve never twanged a guitar as much as I have in the past couple of months. And there’s a bit more emotion with those guitar parts. I just think spending five months in America has re-tuned my ear a little bit.”
It’s a direction that perfectly compliments Astley’s distinctive vocals, be it on mid tempo guitar-led numbers like Letting Go and Golden Hour, or more R&B-leaning tunes in the vein of Never Gonna Stop and Waterfall.
Those US influences are particularly pronounced on moments such as Forever And More, Maria Love and Take Me Back To Your Place, all of which nod towards the classic Motown era, with neat horn arrangements and layered backing vocals adding to that classic feeling.
For a singer who himself scored a hit with his take on The Temptations’ Ain’t Too Proud To Beg back in the day and crafted his own sound inspired by the classic era, it’s an influence that feels wholly authentic and, given his clear love for the sounds that backdrop the LP, results in some of the finest songwriting and most impressive vocal performances of his career.
For a singer so renowned for classic pop moments, ‘Are We There Yet?’ sees Astley steer his own ship and take his career down an avenue that’s most fulfilling to him; an ethos he’s adopted for the past decade and one that’s already seen him return to the top of the charts and reclaim his status as a British pop legend.
In recent years, he’s earned new fans by dipping his feet into rock territory, working with Blossoms on their tribute show to The Smiths and performing with Foo Fighters, projects that on paper seem worlds away from classic Rick Astley but that, in reality, have all led to this point and the release of, what is without question, some of his finest work since the 1980s.
