Scritti Politti - anomie and bonhomie

In the mid to late 1980s Green Garside's Scritti Politti more or less perfected the classic 80s pop sound with their albums Cupid & Psyche 85 and Provision. Then in the 90s it all went quiet... until 1999 when this album was finally released.

I went into this album with 2 minds, part of me wanted that amazingly smooth white funk 80s groove with dub and reggae flourishes to continue as if there had been no gap between records but part of me was also hoping Scritti would develop its sound and take on something new. Well we get a bit of both here. On "Anomie and bonhomie" Scritti embrace hiphop especially on tracks like "Tinseltown to the boogiedown" and "Prince among men". The songs are fine though to be honest the rapping by guest artists Mos Def & Lee Majors do jar a bit with Green Garside's typically mellow vocals.

I prefer the more straight pop songs, though the 80s pop has gone replaced by a harder 90s sound with a rockier edge. Garside's vocals are as perfect as always though and give the songs some true soul. Stand outs include "Brushed with oil, dusted with powder" which is nothing short of beauty. "Here comes July" is also an excellent track, a rollicking slab of rock-pop, as different as you could possibly get from Scritti's mid-80s stuff but no less essential.