Swings Both Ways

Author: Jernej Vene

Artist: Williams, Robbie
Label: Island Records
Release: 2013
Running time: 45:10
Rating: 3.5/5

I know quite a few seasoned observers and critics of the music scene, at home and abroad, who are skeptical right out of the gate about covers of popular music classics. You have to handle the term “popular” with care, since everybody uses it their own way. You could throw in classics of rock ‘n’ roll, hard rock, pop songs….

Robbie Williams likes to dip into the jazzy big band archives. As usual, there’s more than enough chatter about whether it’s okay to rework familiar material, and this time is no different.  Some people hear musical performances in a totally different way and argue over which one has balls and which one doesn’t. But the fact is that everybody hears and judges differently, so the yardstick for “ball success” is debatable, or downright subjective. People project their own understanding of music onto something that’s supposed to hold true for everyone. But art, and music as an extremely important part of it, is hard to understand. And so we’re back at the start, aren’t we? It’s right that everyone finds something that relaxes, inspires and calms them, and it doesn’t matter what genre that music belongs to.

Robbie Wiiliams is the man, as we like to say around here. As far as I’m concerned, he can be an emperor, a duke, a king, a count, a viscount, a marquis or whatever else. Maybe the head of some agricultural co-op. Doesn’t matter. What counts is that his career achievements have bought him the freedom to record whatever he wants. So he’s simply a master of his craft. And every so often those achievements reach a younger crowd. How much real love Robbie has for classic or swing hits is, of course, questionable.  So is whether Robbie has a genuine artistic intention here or whether it’s all just chasing riches. I still think he’s honest enough. That said, it has to be said honestly that not all the covers measure up to the originals once sung by greats like Louis Prima, Fred Astaire, Roger Miller, Bette Davis or the heaps of people who have recorded the ballad Dream A Little Dream Of Me to this day. But Robbie Williams still gave it his all and squeezed out everything he could. On top of that, almost half the songs are originals, written in a mild retro style that’s been popular for a good decade now. Let’s remember the late Amy Winehouse, who did a lot with her original neo-jazzy swing, and could have done plenty more had she not left us too soon. Robbie, unlike Amy, despite all his rock’n’roll excesses and mischief, has finally found stability and peace. Apparently that comes with age and family. Swings Both Ways is his second album of this kind. Back in 2001 he’d already shown this fondness with Swing When You’re Winning, which topped the chart in his home country, just like all his other albums except Reality Killed The Video Star from 2009. The new Swings Both Ways was also at number one in its first week out in November, and it stayed there until the end of 2013. But the US is a different story. There Robbie Williams means next to nothing, as none of his albums has climbed higher than number 43. I’m sure he doesn’t lose sleep over it. He’s also lucky in that Swings Both Ways is the 1000th album to hit number one on the UK chart. But enough trivia…

No need to say that the musical performance is excellent, especially where the symphony orchestra comes in. That’s thanks to a crop of battle-hardened studio musicians who are used to stepping into even the biggest shoes. Of course, with the producers’ considerable cunning, Robbie knows that familiar songs have to be served up differently, so he enriched many of the covers with duets. Lily Allen, Rufus Wainwright, Michael Buble and others make for a strong enough magnet. But the most impressive of them all is the new number No One Likes A Fat Popstar, a parody of the pettiness and transparency of the modern instant media world. A mighty choir helps it reach the necessary drama. Williams’ tenth album is a very solid piece of work. Swings Both Ways is definitely not everyone’s cup of tea, but Robbie still deserves thanks for reviving some classics, which he presented to a new generation of listeners after a good ten years. I hope that in another ten years he’ll tackle something similar again and introduce a new generation to a fresh batch of evergreens. If the kids will even still want to listen to him by then, because once he hits fifty, he’ll be an old fart to them.

Lineup

Robbie Williams – vocals

Lily Allen, Kelly Clarkson, Michael Buble, Olly Murs, Rufus Wainwright – vocal duets

Carl Verheyen – guitar

Guy Chambers – keyboards

Nathan East, Sam Burgess – bass guitar

Bernie Dressel  – drums

Eric Marienthal, Tom Scott, Iain Bellamy – saxophone

Chuck Findley, Gary Grant – trumpet

Capital Voices – choir

The London Session Orchestra – symphonic orchestra

Production

Guy Chambers, Gary Barlow

Track list