Take That - Love Love

I'll admit, I had my initial worries with Love Love - and they were two-fold. Firstly, I was a little disappointed to see the brilliant Happy Now glossed over so quickly, instead of it receiving the full attention and exposure it deserves. But then again, in an increasingly digital world - single releases like that become ever more a reality.

Secondly, on first hearing, Love Love felt just that bit too similar to previous single Kidz. That same marching-band stomp, that same threatening buzz of electronics. But on seeing the track accompanied by its video - all eerie neon glow and the band standing around what looks like a mis-shapen heap of metal off-cuts - the glorious sci-fi swagger of the track hit me.

In a way, the Kidz comparisons aren't a bad thing, chiefly because Kidz was an amazing record. And whereas it was cold, menacing and affected with a dictatorial chill; Love Love is very much the flip side - the same sounds, but this time channelled into a force for positivity and good. The chorus of 'why don't you teach your heart to talk' captures that essence Take That have always managed to strike so sweetly - singing about love with real passion, but never tipping over into that pit of overly-sentimental guff.

It's all suitably epic fare, of the sort Take That always do so well. There's even a hint of Pet Shop Boys Go West anthemic-ness to it all, the kind of rousing tune that is simply made for stadiums. Fitting then that it's this month that sees the TT boys taking to their mind-bogglingly immense UK tour, with those very same Pet Shop Boys in tow.

X Men - First Class is the movie this track accompanies (and a bloody good one it is too - I saw the film earlier this week and had a thoroughly enjoyable time watching it - a real classic bit of big-budget Hollywood action) - and while it didn't seem so at first, this is most definitely another first class track for Take That.

TD Lind - The Outskirts Of Prosper

The Outskirts Of Prosper marks that all important third album for English singer-songwriter TD Lind, and while it might sound like a saloon from an old Western movie, it’s in fact a collection of very tastefully done tunes. Chilled out to the extreme and sublimely natural, the twelve tracks here see Lind singing strait from the soul, a man who’s experiences are there to share with everyone.

The line ‘some bathe in gold’ from Goodnight From Hollywood sets up some of the themes the album seeks out to explore, rooting through the gloss and shine of Los Angeles to uncover the beating heart that lies beneath that flawless veneer. There’s strong overtones of Bob Dylan throughout, providing a good solid grounding for the record. This is contemporary rock, but it bears the legacy of those who came before Lind proudly.

Now, English Lind might be, but this is an album that speaks with the sound of the world at wide. Pushover Boy Blues has a cheery Parisian vigour to it – you can almost imagine yourself sitting in a breezy French cafe sipping a coffee while flicking through the newspaper.

Meanwhile, It’s Lovely brings to mind Paolo Nutini recent material – it’s not quite the out and out rollick that Pencil Full of Lead was, but it’s getting on for that. Lind’s skill is he can adapt his voice, one moment he’s the strong man of rock, the next a playful, sauvé crooner – and tracks like It’s Lovely stand at the forefront of that versatility.

When Lind steps back from the mic and lets the guitar take centre stage, there are some glorious 50s riffs here too. Suddenly you’re back in some chrome edged American diner, Lind’s music trickling through on the radio while pretty girls drink coke and cheeky lads drive past in their new cars.

Oh, and did I mention that Stephen Fry is a fan? Speaking about Lind, he had this praise to share “Simply in awe. It was as if Van Morrison, Bob Dylan, Johnny Lee Hooker, Chuck Berry, Mark Knopfler, Ry Cooder and God all got together …. wonderful”

Now, we don’t know what God sounds like, but we imagine he’s Rather Good. So the fact TD Lind sounds like God bodes very well indeed.

The Outskirts of Prosper is available to download now.