Gloryoski! Has it really been over half a year since I interviewed Dr. Robert of The Blow Monkeys? It’s been a hectic year so far and it almost slipped by me with all the work and travel we’ve been doing that the “new album” that he spoke of then is almost upon us. Their label Last Night From Glasgow, will be releasing the new opus this Friday, May 31, 2024. Let’s take a look at what awaits us.

The Blow Monkeys: Together/Alone – UK – LP/CD/DL [2024]

1. Stranger To Me Now
2. Waking Up Is Hard To Do
3. Rope-A-Dope
4. Not The Only Game In Town
5. Don’t Wish Away The Days
6. Cards On The Table
7. Cool Summer Hideaway
8. King Of Everything
9. Togetheralone
10. I Just Had To Let It Go
11. Buried In The Backyard
12. The Blue And Gold [bonus track]

There are a few sample tracks available out there and “Stranger To Me Now” featured a swell of strings and wah wah guitar, as well as some of the loveliest singing I’ve ever heard from Dr. Robert, who invests his vocals with a low vibrato that contrasted beautifully with the French horn. The insouciant Soul vibe was immediately gratifying and it seems like the band were still investigating the songwriting and playing strengths that distinguished their eclectic last album, “Journey To You.”

Mick Anker deftly syncopated his bass lines into the open spaces that Dr. Robert’s rhythm guitar was leaving in the frisky, funky, “Not The Only Game In Town.” The song was cooking righteously, with Crispin Taylor’s crisp drum fills pulling us out of the bass solo in the middle eight as the saxes of Neville Henry rose to the occasion and carried the melody aloft.

The third song sampled laughed at our expectations by now as the “King Of Everything,” proffered a JazzFunk message from outer space, colored exotically with synth bleeps and bloops as a resolute guitar power chord kept the time. The flute of Jacko Peake was happily in evidence here as an eerie contrapuntal voice in the distance. But the strangest factor of all was Dr. Robert’s debut of his deep, dark baritone. It was the closest he’s come to walking on Barry White’s turf, but the Baron of the Bedroom never spun a tale as darkly political as this one!

Color me “can’t wait” for the release. Last Night From Glasgow have the album happily available in the three major formats [CD/LP/DL] at $17/$34/$11 price points with the CD and DL versions having what’s being called a bonus track in “The Blue & Gold.” There are two LP colors available – marbled yellow or marbled gray. Since Last Night From Glasgow offers subscriptions, some lucky punters already have theirs. The LPs can go quickly, due to the subscription program, so act sooner than later if you need to hear this analog. I hope to be placing my order this week along with the CD of their “Time Storm, Greatest Hits vol. 2” CD which we still need a hard copy of. So D.J. hit that button!

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