Short Reviews [Kevin Godley - 2020 - "Muscle Memory"]

Kevin Godley has made his name in so many different fields over the years, but for me he will always be the bush-haired singing drummer I saw on TOTP in 1973 with 10CC as they mimed to “Rubber Bullets”. It was my first introduction to the band and to this day is still one of my favourite singles. Since then, he has had commercial success in music, video, and other areas with Lol Creme and separately, and I am surprised to see that this is his first ever solo album. This has a somewhat unusual background, as at one point he was sent a couple of instrumentals and was sked if he would like to write melodies and lyrics and turn them into songs. This idea so excited him that he posted an invitation on PledgeMusic asking people if they wanted to write and record with him. From that he received nearly 300 instrumentals, which he then worked through (hiding the names of who had sent them so he concentrated on the music and not who the composer may have been), coming up with the 11 songs which have made it to the final release. The first thing one notices when playing this album is that even though Godley is now 75 years old, his voice is as strong, emotional, and clear has it has always been. He has also lost none of his knack for creating perfect pop melodies, although here he often strays from the expected lyrical style and at times discusses gun control, societal unrest, racism, as well as raising questions regarding political correctness. The first few times I played this I was concerned by the sheer variety of musical styles, which is not surprising given how the album was conceived, yet the more one listens to this the more it becomes a cohesive whole, anchored by his vocals and melodies. The music is often more electronic than I would normally listen to, but somehow, he has managed to win me over. Anyone who remembers the classic “Cry” will probably get a great deal from this album, more so than anyone looking for classic 10CC, and is one I thoroughly enjoyed.