Sing When You're Winning

Album number three for the man who would be pop king finds Robbie Williams in increasingly contemplative mood. Which isn’t all that surprising, as anyone who has been observing him of late would agree.

On a purely musical level Sing… isn’t all that different from Williams’ previous two outings Life Thru’ A Lens and I’ve Been Expecting You – a mix of noisy guitar pop/rock sub-anthems, string-drenched ballads and the occasional oddity like the current single ‘Rock DJ’ which shadow-boxes with Wham’s ‘Wham Rap’, itself a parody of 80’s disco culture. His all-important collaborator Guy Chambers once again pulls most of the musical strings to provide the backdrop.

Having confessed in his recent hotpress interview to being at times self-obsessed, egotistical and insecure, the dominant theme here is one of self-pity, hurt and regret. And while it’s probably going too far to suggest that this could have been called Sing When You’re Whining, there’s more than enough soul-baring and confessional offloading to make you wonder about his state of mind.

"I’m so sick of people’s expectations," he bemoans on the otherwise charming slow burner ‘Singing For The Lonely’. "Don’t hate me because I’m handsome," he pleads on the funky, ska’d up ‘Knutsford City Limits’, a sure-fire hit if ever there was one.

On the plus side, his voice has rarely sounded as good as on ‘Better Man’, an acoustic ballad and another certain chart-winner, where he declares: "As my soul heals the shame/I will grow through this pain/I’m doing all I can to be a better man."

The album’s opener, the most guitar-heavy track on the album, ‘Let Love Be Your Energy’, has snatches of The Beatles’ ‘Dear Prudence’ and ‘Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds’, while the aforementioned ‘Better Man’ is a cut and paste of The Verve’s ‘Lucky Man’.

He even nicks from himself on ‘Kids’, a so-so duet with Kylie Minogue which is a close relation of ‘Let Me Entertain You’.

Despite Williams’ self-obsessions (or maybe even because of them), Sing When You’re Winning is the sound of a man growing old gracefully and a great pop record.

But a mid-life crisis at 26?