Imelda May - Tribal

Better earlier than later! Scheduled for a June release, the follow-up to Imelda May’s career-defining Mayhem has been rushed out earlier than planned.

Now a mother, and with her 40th birthday approaching, Imelda remains as fiesty as ever. If anything, Tribal is more ferocious and incendiary than its predecessor. With a revved-up sound that ignites from the get-go, and several great tunes, it raises the ante several notches.

For sure, those familiar reverb-drenched guitars, echo-laden drums, thumping bass and muted trumpet are all present and correct. But May’s powerful vocals sounds better than ever. Clocking in at just under three minutes, the title track – already a live staple – makes for a thrilling opener. Underpinned by jungle-boogie drumming and a searing riff, it comes across as an updating of Adam Ant (‘Ant Music’), with hints of the Johnny Kidd and The Pirates’ classic ‘Shakin’ All Over’. Even more frenetic, ‘Wild Woman’, with its urgent rhythms and spellbinding surf guitar lines, is strong enough to have served as the title track. And you don’t doubt May for a second when she wails that, “There’s a wild woman living inside of me - a wicked, wicked wild woman, dying to be free.”

A little local flavour is provided by ‘Hellfire Club’ which tells the story of a legendary place of decadence in the Dublin hills, high above Rathfarnham – as she describes it, “A house of sin and debauchery for many a year gone by, for women, drinking, gambling and anything you might try.”

Elsewhere, more traditional rockabilly rhythms return with ‘It’s Good To Be Alive’, while ‘Round The Bend’ is a terrific stomper – suggesting that May owes as much to glam (of the Alvin Stardust, Mud and The Sweet variety) as to ‘50s greaser culture.

Funereal and vaguely Eastern European ‘Gypsy In Me’ is slow burning and sensuous, with a vocal Doris Day would be proud of, while a B-movie, late night atmosphere is apparent on the jazzy ‘Wicked Way’, where she croons like Peggy Lee singing ‘Fever’.

Things wrap-up on a high note with a pair of rockers. ‘I Wanna Dance’ is punk-meets-power-pop and ‘Right Amount of Wrong’ suggests a defiant mix of Jerry Lee Lewis and Iggy Pop. All good – and a surefire hit too...