Kaiser Chiefs
Kaiser Chiefs' Easy Eighth Album

The journey of the Kaiser Chiefs, with its ups, downs, and numerous changes, has been going on for twenty years now.

The quintet originating from Leeds arrives at this eighth album in good health, a good five years after the more than decent “Duck,” which had recalibrated the band's sound through a partial return to origins tinged with northern soul. This new “Kaiser Chiefs’ Easy Eighth Album” mixes things up a bit, with Wilson and company choosing a legend like Nile Rodgers for production, supported by the promising producer Amir Amor (Sam Smith, Maximo Park, and Ed Sheeran in his resume).

Given the names involved, a shift towards funky shores is easily predictable, confirmed by the single “Feeling Alright,” chosen by Rodgers himself from a pile of songs waiting to be polished; his guitar embellishes a good track, rich with all the melodic nuances that the British band has always been able to create with extreme effectiveness. Next is “Beautiful Girl,” which reassures the band’s long-time fans who were not fond of the “not so indie” turn of the latest works, before “How 2 Dance” brings us back to more danceable territories; chosen as the obvious first single, it’s an over two-minute bullet packed with a killer melody that is hard to get out of your head.

From this point on, the album loses cohesion and shows its schizophrenic side: in the remaining minutes, anything can happen, taking us from the Hard-Fi (also active again this year) drowned in the brass and pulsing bass of “The Job Centre Shuffle” to the glam rock of “Reasons To Stay Alive,” then continuing with the quintessential 80s dive of “Sentimental Love Songs,” up to the epic pop rock in the vein of Simple Minds with the fourth single “Burning In Flames.”

The second release “Jealousy,” a ready-to-use pop bomb that adds little to the album’s economy, anticipates an ending in which Ricky Wilson and company suddenly make a U-turn and with “Noel Groove” and the closing “The Lads” land a pair of brit rock tracks that couldn't be more classic.

In short, the Kaiser Chiefs are still alive and still among us, but they seem undecided between a sharp turn towards other territories (perhaps the flop of “Stay Together” in 2016 is still an open wound) and maintaining a status quo as indie rock flag bearers, which is now perhaps a bit stale history.

“Kaiser Chiefs’ Easy Eighth Album” is still a more than good album, with truly excellent quality tracks, although the aforementioned lack of cohesion perhaps does not quite allow them to be appreciated as they deserve.

Best track: The Job Centre Shuffle