“It wasn’t till I was in a studio the other day listening to a few of the tracks back, I was with the Soul Mekanik boys and the thought hit me… Do songs like the ones you like, I’m eight albums in, so why didn’t I think of this before? Doh! I’ve just been scared to make this record before I think.” Well Robbie, you’ve at last convinced me. Now I’m no fan but there’s a lot about this album I like; its (very) rude rap, its diversity (he still hangs onto a few pop ballads that are as good as anything he’s recorded before), its humour, its exuberance. Robbie adds, “My solo career started when the Britpop explosion did, and I thought, try and make songs that sound like that, but this is now… I’m 32 years old, eight albums in, and this is the record I’ve always wanted to make. It’s the start for me. It’s reignited how I think about what I can do with music myself. I’ve always been scared to try out different things and with this album I think I’ve lost the fear of where I should be in my head as a populist; as a populist artist. It means I can just go and do wonky pop now, which is I really wanted to do anyway.

“It has become something on which I’ve found myself. This is the right direction for me personally, this is what it is. I saw the whole Robbie thing coming to a close: I couldn’t make another album like the ones I made before; and this has just opened up a thousand other doors. What I am excited about now is making more music. I love all the stuff on this album, I love Rudebox, it’s a favourite song of mine. I don’t know what’s gonna happen now, I’m excited about getting it out there, but I’m more excited about making more.”

There’s no less than 16 songs on RUDEBOX and at times it had me roaring with laughter. For example, Rudebox is a jigging song if I’ve heard one (you can image some very rude dancing to this beat-laden mutha), and his take on black rappers is achingly funny. Bongo Song with the lyric “I’m the king of bongo, hit me when I come…,” innocent female backing vocals and even the odd touch of brass, had my feet tapping and chest heaving. She’s Madonna sounds like a traditional Robbie ballad with its huge melody and expansive production. Keep On is a clever mix of ballad and rap while We’re The Pet Shop Boys is a great homage that includes samples and the boys helping things along. Good Doctor is rap with the funkiest of beats and Robbie doing the black rapper helped by other (real) rappers. Never Touch The Switch opens with some quite unique sounds and I can imagine this making USA inroads. Louise is a top quality pop ballad with a lower register voice floating over a top William Orbit production and mix. It’s a highlight of this interesting album. My other great favourite is the haunting Burslem Normals which sounds like another Orbit effort but is actually produced by Soul Mekanik and mixed by Jeremy Wheatley. Perhaps RUDEBOX is not a great album but it is a very good one, and I think I’m listening to the real Robbie Williams for the first time. It’s almost like a concept pop album with many high points and very little to dislike; it’s also diverse in both mood and pace. Ultimately it’s Robbie taking a few risks, and in a way I could almost get to like him. Well done fella…

3.5/5