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'LOVE', Dexys Midnight Runners latest, possibly last ever album, is a luminous collection of scenes and reckonings. Stories of family and friends, tales from past and present. All drawn from Kevin Rowland’s life, each an individual jewel, threaded together with love. Songs begun three decades ago sit alongside those written in the last year. A vivid depiction of Rowland's Irish immigrant childhood (‘My Life in England Pt 1’); a moving letter to his grandchildren (‘You’re Alright’); a wistful moment at the start of a love affair (‘I Want To Be Holding You Next Christmas’); a pin-perfect portrait of time spent with a dying parent (‘Once A Man, Twice A Child’); the difficulties of relationships when you're older (‘Old Love’). All deeply personal, all true, all here; the full human span of relationships, family and intimate emotion. The theme of this album - Kevin's ninth, Dexys' seventh - gradually emerged as the songs progressed. "I don’t remember when it happened, but I just thought, 'Hang on, these are all love songs, of different kinds',” he says. "I knew then: Call it 'LOVE'." These are love songs, but not of the usual pop style. Not will-she-won't-she romance, but something more emotional and all-encompassing. Those small moments that illustrate a rollercoaster sweep. "Everyone came at this project with love," he says. To tell a lifetime of different loves. A love life.
'LOVE', Dexys Midnight Runners latest, possibly last ever album, is a luminous collection of scenes and reckonings. Stories of family and friends, tales from past and present. All drawn from Kevin Rowland’s life, each an individual jewel, threaded together with love. Songs begun three decades ago sit alongside those written in the last year. A vivid depiction of Rowland's Irish immigrant childhood (‘My Life in England Pt 1’); a moving letter to his grandchildren (‘You’re Alright’); a wistful moment at the start of a love affair (‘I Want To Be Holding You Next Christmas’); a pin-perfect portrait of time spent with a dying parent (‘Once A Man, Twice A Child’); the difficulties of relationships when you're older (‘Old Love’). All deeply personal, all true, all here; the full human span of relationships, family and intimate emotion. The theme of this album - Kevin's ninth, Dexys' seventh - gradually emerged as the songs progressed. "I don’t remember when it happened, but I just thought, 'Hang on, these are all love songs, of different kinds',” he says. "I knew then: Call it 'LOVE'." These are love songs, but not of the usual pop style. Not will-she-won't-she romance, but something more emotional and all-encompassing. Those small moments that illustrate a rollercoaster sweep. "Everyone came at this project with love," he says. To tell a lifetime of different loves. A love life.