Stereophonics
Keep Calm And Carry On

The 2007-2010 period was truly intense for the Stereophonics.

The last collection of unreleased tracks, the decent "Pull The Pin," dates back to three years ago, while fourteen months ago, "Decade In The Sun: The Best Of Stereophonics," the band's first best-of (including two great new songs), was released.

This January, the new album "Keep Calm And Carry On" arrives in Italy, after its release in the UK last November 16th (their first album for Mercury). Inspired by a poster from World War II, the Welsh band's new work marks a shift from the past: whereas in their previous works, Jones and company have always paid close attention to maintaining a solid underlying homogeneity in the sound and songwriting of each song, this time they opted for a more eclectic approach, drawing from various sources and perhaps composing their least appreciable mosaic on the first listen ever. Likely crucial in this sense was the production contribution of the talented Jim Abbiss (previously with Arctic Monkeys and Kasabian).

Opened by the two tracks that anticipated its release (the tasting track "She's Alright," stripped-down electro-pop pleasantly dirtied by a vaguely "bluesy" guitar, and the first single "Innocent," a return to the sounds of "Just Enough Education To Perform" complete with a catchy chorus making it the perfect heir to the classic "Have A Nice Day"), "Keep Calm And Carry On" immediately slows down with a "Beerbottle," frankly a bit ugly and poorly calibrated. Fortunately, starting with the punkish "Trouble," things improve, and a fascinating journey of multiple and interesting facets begins. "Could You Be The One?" is the second scheduled single, and it is another (beautiful) ballad structured similarly to "Maybe Tomorrow" and "It Means Nothing".

"I Got Your Number" suffers (a lot) from truly childish lyrics (strange, for someone as attentive to lyrics as Kelly, but he had to show some signs of aging sooner or later) yet features another hit refrain in the Welsh careers. "Uppercut" is a pleasant and steady brit-rock track, whereas "Live'n'Love" heavily recalls the chunky chorus friends Oasis. "100 mph" winks at those dense, pathos-filled atmospheres found, for example, in the best of Coldplay's pre-Viva La Vida period; "Wonder" is one of the best pieces Jones has written in the last ten years, with its intimate and subdued atmosphere, while "Stuck In A Rut," with its slightly limping, vaguely glam vibe, precedes the closing "Show Me How," a sort of pretext to showcase Jones's always extraordinary vocal prowess.

In short, "Keep Calm And Carry On" is a decent album that compensates a pronounced underlying heterogeneity with a remarkable quality of writing and performance by the 'Phonics.

It's not a groundbreaking album or one that will change music history, but undoubtedly a good album to kick off this newborn 2010.

Key Tracks: "Innocent," "Live 'n' Love," "Wonder"