The Hipsters : Deacon Blue
Music News.com 4th September 2012
In the late eighties and early nineties, it was impossible to escape the
sound of Deacon Blue across radio as they turned out hits with ease. But like
many successful radio artists, much of their material has not aged terribly
well. The likes of Dignity and Chocolate Girl stand aside as classic pop songs,
but there is no great desire to hear the likes of Wages Day or Twist And Shout
again.
Their first album for 11 years comes after several years of lead man Ricky Ross
having a relatively successful solo career, with critical acclaim but no sales.
Lacking the excitement of a Stone Roses reunion, this is actually the second
time that Deacon Blue have got back together after a break in the nineties. And
their reformation is intriguing. Why now and how much has their sound moved on?
The answer to the latter is not greatly, but that is not a great surprise. After
all Deacon Blue were never groundbreaking, they just knew how to make a good pop
song. And Ross still has it, if the likes of Turn are anything to go by. The
delicate ballad is one of the highlights of the album, with a whimsical feel and
a great hook. Likewise the tender She’ll Understand, where Ross’s and Lorrain
McIntosh’s vocals intertwine delightfully.
Whether intentional or not, titles like The Hipsters and The Outsiders seem
pertinent to a band that have never been considered ‘cool’. But as Maroon 5 have
proved recently, not being cool is not a problem if your sales enter the
millions. While those days are long gone for Deacon Blue, The Hipsters does
contain other impressive moments, like the piano pounding of That’s What We Can
Do and Laura From Memory.
As for the timing, and the reasons for this album now, it is 25 years since
their debut album Raintown was released. While in that time pop music has
changed dramatically, there is something re-assuring in the fact that age has
not withered Deacon Blue’s pop spark or made them more cynical. It’s more
pleasing to have them back than expected. David Spencer