Adam Ant

(Full album title: _Adam Ant Is the Blueblack Hussar in Marrying the Gunner’s Daughter_)

**After a hiatus lasting 17 years too long, Adam Ant swashbuckles his way back onto the scene with a new record of truly epic proportions. Epic, that is, in length, scope and vision, but perhaps not quite in execution.**

What is so striking about this record is that, for all its artifice, constructing the highly unbelievable persona of the BlueBlack Hussar, there are incredible moments of intimacy. Shrink starkly addresses Ant’s troubled psychiatric past, while ‘Vince Taylor’ and ‘Vivienne’s Tears’ nod affectionately to a host of rock ‘n’ roll and new wave legends. This might be a new, if unfocused, direction for Adam Ant, but even so, it is laden thickly with nostalgia and emotional honesty.

The raw, punky guitar riffs and heavy percussion in standout tracks ‘Shrink’ and ‘Bullshit’, juxtaposed with the bluesy drawl of ‘Cool Zombie’, effortlessly exuding cool, present moments of great clarity and brilliance on the record.

However, like its title, the album itself has the tendency to ramble. The thematic and tonal trajectory of the record lacks any real direction or consistency, offering a pastiche of styles and tones that leave you feeling curiously outsmarted.

There is no doubt that the record is an impressive, lengthy, effort, but its highlights (‘Bullshit’ / ‘Shrink’ / ‘Cool Zombie’ / Vivienne’s Tears) are threaded together loosely by some sadly forgettable tracks, whether that be the whiny, uneven texture of Darlin’ Boy (that mercifully only lasts 2 minutes, 34 seconds), or the frankly cringeworthy lyrics of ‘Hardmentoughblokes’: “Hard men, tough blokes/ You got to laugh when they tell you a joke, ha ha ha ha”.

It’s no _Prince Charming_, but on the whole, Adam Ant has returned with a pleasurable – if not entirely comfortable – listening experience.

**MP3:** ‘Cool Zombie, ‘Shrink’