Album review: DEXYS MIDNIGHT RUNNERS - One Day I'm Going To Soar

Highlights: Now, Lost, She Got A Wiggle, You

It would be true to say that for me One Day I’m Going To Soar is the most wildly anticipated album of 2012. I rate the Dexys’ three 80’s albums as some of that decade’s absolute best, so I approached this fourth one with that unforgettable, slightly dizzying feeling... And no, it isn’t quite Searching For The Young Soul Rebels, and yes, it is gloriously out of time, but even if we forget all about that cheap nostalgia thing for a while – the songs are still fantastic. Soulful, crazy, romantic, and absolutely addictive.

“Now”, which opens this album, is a perfect introduction. It starts like a fairly old-fashioned, romantic piano ballad before splashing all over your speakers with its intense soulful groove, effective brass and Kevin Rowland’s passionate, charismatic voice. Brilliant, the band so effortlessly meeting our loftiest expectations. But then “Lost” is almost as good, a string-drenched, exquisite beauty. It’s only 3 minutes long, though (the shortest song here), and then things look a lot more settled and low-key on “Me” (which has a bit of that Dexys talking/bantering I actually find quite engaging). “She Got A Wiggle” and the joyful, feel-good “You” are other highlights – classic Dexys material.

The second side is the more adventurous, improvisational (I’m using the term loosely), Don’t Stand Me Down-styled territory (with slightly weaker songs). Here the Dexys rely more on terrific lengthy grooves and quite a bit of that old-school bantering (on “Incapable Of Love”, as well as the elegiac “It’s O.K. John Doe” that closes the record). I see how it can annoy some, but that wouldn’t be me: they use it with so much intelligence, imagination and taste. Instrumentally, too, this stuff is top-notch.

Make no mistake about it, One Day I’m Going To Soar is a record taken straight out of the 80’s. You won’t find any traces of 2012 here, but isn’t that the way we all wanted it to be?.. The album is actually as addictive as 2012 can ever hope to be.

9/10