Shortly before his 80th birthday, the pop legend proves (one last time?) his knack for hits.
His offspring and The Strokes guitarist Albert Jr. may have been more present in the music newspapers of recent times, but the senior has been a constant in the pop world since his 1972 debut IT NEVER RAINS IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA. The fact that the now 79-year-old Albert Hammond dressed up as a bare-chested, jeans-jacketed professional teenager for the artwork for his first album with new songs in decades almost diminishes the inner quality of this work a little.
Like the 1988 Olympic anthem “One Moment In Time” intoned by Whitney Houston, all 17 songs were created with John Bettis as co-composer and shine with eighties (soft) rock arrangements, the soundtrack recommendation writing from family-compatible Road movie material such as “Thelma & Louise” should extend to Pixar productions.
The (co-)author of countless evergreens from “The Air That I Breathe” to “Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now” has not lost his good sense of song, such as stirring songs like “Both Ways”, “Somebody’s Child” or “Another Heart To Break”. ” prove. Even the critical, age-wise social observations, like in “The American Flag,” succeed without a stubborn Boomer aftertaste, but rather show that Hammond has retained his philanthropic spirit. And that, even if, as in the closing song “Goodbye LA”, a circle has come to a close and the singer, songwriter and US immigrant who grew up in Gibraltar now seems to be finally saying goodbye to his former Californian dream.
You can find out which albums will be released in March 2024 via our monthly release list.