Scissor Sisters continue to mix club euphoria and moments of introspection on this fine fourth album. Ana Matronic plays transgressive dance floor diva to Jake Shears more considered song writerly instincts and it’s his well-measured melancholia which proves much more likeable. With hit-making producers Calvin Harris, Pharrell Williams and German electronica whizz kid Alex Ridha on board, there’s a concerted effort recapture the flashy fun of their debut. Harris loads recent single Only The Horses with enough beats and overpowering synth crescendos to make it near indistinguishable from his work with Rihanna and that may be the whole point. Much better are Shears’ Year of Living Dangerously and Inevitable, a great song worthy of The Bee Gees at the height of their powers. The act Bono once described as the best pop band in the world may not serve up anything as memorable as Take Your Mama Out Tonight or Laura but going by their last albums, Gaga and Madonna would give their diamond-encrusted Louboutins for pop songs as good as this.
Alan Corr
