It is well documented that Merseyside has produced many great musical artists over the years. From The Beatles to Cast, Echo & The Bunnymen to Ken Dodd, the music scene would look very different today without their influences. We would never have seen the joyous phenomenon that is Rickrolling either!
One more from the Mersey production line is The Zutons. Although it may have been sixteen years since their last album, you will likely have heard their song ‘Valerie’ being butchered to death in numerous karaoke bars by wailing harpies who have imbibed a few too many gin & tonics and suddenly think they can sing like Amy Winehouse. I’m all for people enjoying themselves, but sometimes you just have to call the authorities.
Although the band did a successful mini-tour in 2019 to celebrate 15 years since Who Killed….. The Zutons?, the small matter of a global pandemic delayed the creation and eventual release of their latest effort, The Big Decider. It hasn’t been an easy ride, as lead singer, Dave McCabe, elucidates, “I got sober while making this record, my dad died and I became a father, all in the space of a year. I had all that to deal with – but then everyone else had to deal with me whilst I was going through it. All of that went into the record, and that’s obviously one of the reasons why it took as long as it did.”
As lockdown loomed, saxophonist and vocalist Abi Harding moved in with McCabe and drummer Sean Payne, buying an inflatable bed as she “didn’t want to be alone”. Utilising a domestic studio set-up, the trio began to form the framework of their fourth studio album. Sometimes greatness comes from adversity. Is this the case with The Big Decider?
This nine-track album opens with ‘Creeping on The Dancefloor’, a thumping rock song to set the tone and emphatically announce their return. On offer is an infectious beat and an earworm chorus for your delectation. “Do you wanna stay out all night?/Are we gonna hang till its light?/If you wanna get out your mind/There’s a chemistry when combined”, snarls McCabe. A call to someone to join forces as they can be better together than apart, mixed with the fear of asking due to feelings of inferiority, is a cracking opening to the album.
‘Pauline’ dispenses a good smearing of chugging funk that will slap you across the chops like a wet fish. I have a feeling this one will sound tremendous live. McCabe’s vocals get a decent workout here and they do not disappoint. The backing vocals provided by Harding and Payne lift the track up a notch.
If the previous track was chugging funk, ‘Water’ gives funk a crack with a bullwhip and sends it off on a wild gallop. Written during lockdown, the track chooses to look at life with hope and promise, despite the doom and gloom on offer at the time. There’s a lovely duet by Harding and McCabe in the chorus and gives that feeling of optimism and positivity. The fourth track, ‘In Your Arms’, sounds like classic Zutons blended with a nutritious portion of Cast to give it extra umami. A decent pop-rock ballad all about that sensation of love and safety where the challenges of the world seem to melt away just by being in the arms of someone you love.
You can certainly feel the fingerprints of Nile Rogers and Ian Broudie all over this album. As a result, the funk and soul aspects sound passionate and immense. The pop facets are polished and punchy. Regarding producers, The Zutons have worked with two class acts on The Big Decider, and it shows.
Proudly sitting in the centre of the album is their longest offering, ‘Disappear’. At just over five minutes, this is a three-part song, each spinning you off in different directions. A wiggy-cum-psych interlude, it sits perfectly in the running order. The track ends with Nile Rogers narrating a spoken word piece written by McCabe. Oozing cool like a Slushie machine in overdrive, Rogers ends by asking the listener the ultimate question – “Why?”
School day moment – The Zutons take their name from Captain Beefheart’s Magic Band guitarist, Zoot Horn Rollo. Oh, you knew that already? Well, don’t brag about it, Nobody likes a smartarse. ‘Company’ pops up next. A pounding, lumbering ballad, it allows Harding to demonstrate her prowess with the saxophone, bringing an emotional sensitivity to the track.
“You know those yesterday’s always creep up on me/Until we find the way, we’ll always end up in tears”, croons McCabe in the album’s title track. With its lush production, the song gently washes over you and then becomes a tidal surge without you realising it. Broudie was sold on signing up to produce on this album after hearing the demo of ‘The Big Decider’, which he says brought a tear to his eye. McCabe stated, “Getting that reaction from Ian (Broudie) made me feel like we were doing something right – that the song spoke for itself”. It is a big bright pop song with a soupçon of disco and soul daubed across the surface for good measure.
The album’s penultimate track ‘Rise’ is a slow, melodic ballad with a gentle, guiding rhythm from Payne throughout. “We’re in the same boat, walk the same roads/If we disagree you’ve got to take off your armour/’cos you’re the same as me”, McCabe sings with a mix of hope and belief for a better future.
The Big Decider concludes with ‘Best Of Me’; an honest and open feel-good song written by McCabe whilst he was in rehab for his drink and drug addiction. He asserts, “I suppose it is about feeling good and healing yourself after you’ve taken some long-standing damage. Like all the songs on this record, it’s meant to be uplifting.”
“I wanna walk where you walk/Breathe the air that you breathe/Oh darling, you bring the best out of me”, proclaims McCabe, as if he is freeing these feelings from the depths of his soul. As the song builds, you slowly feel the clouds parting and rays of sunshine breaking through. Once again, Harding’s backing vocals blend beautifully with McCabe’s, creating a lush, buttery sound. It is a good choice for the album’s final track. For reasons I can’t explain with any rationality, I was expecting Ladysmith Black Mambazo to suddenly appear towards the end of the track for the final renditions of the chorus.
So can the combined experiences of love, loss and lockdown coalesce and create something positive and beautiful from its union? It appears it can. I wasn’t sure what to expect from this album, but it has certainly delivered. The new songwriting practices lockdown largely enforced has unlocked an inspired flow of musical magma.
Bringing Nile Rogers and Ian Broudie on board was an excellent choice. They have allowed the band to explore their potential and untapped new and exciting dimensions in their sound. “We had a genuine feeling of a shared vision. In the past, we haven’t really said how we feel, or we’ve taken each other the wrong way. But this album was different. We really didn’t feel good until it was just how we wanted it.”, reveals Payne. And that’s what stands out with The Big Decider – whilst it is unmistakably The Zutons, it has a different vibe and energy about it that creates a new, fresh sonic experience.
It is always a risk for a band to release new material after a long period away. Ideally, it must satisfy the existing fan base whilst also drawing in a new audience. I feel The Zutons can achieve that with this album. I am now off to the pub to give what I consider to be an outstanding performance of ‘Remember Me’ on the karaoke. What do you mean I sound like a seagull with haemorrhoids?
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