After a three-year break that saw vocalist Jacqui Abbott leave the band and frontman
Paul Heaton embark on a low-key solo career, the '90s most successful MOR purveyors,
the Beautiful South, return with their eighth studio album,
Gaze. Anyone wondering whether the Hull-based outfit can strike it lucky a third time with its choice of female sparring partner should skip straight to the string-soaked campfire melodies of "Half of Him," the album's only solo piece from the newly recruited
Alison Wheeler, which reveals she possesses both the soulfulness of her predecessor and the slightly lilting sweet tones of their original chanteuse,
Briana Corrigan. Unfortunately, the follow-up to 2000's
Painting It Red doesn't quite match the talents of their new recruit. Pursuing the country-pop sound that dominated
Heaton's Biscuit Boy alias' debut, the gently shuffling opener "Pretty" and the jaunty lead single "Just a Few Things That I Ain't" are both perfectly serviceable examples of breezy Nashville-tinged pop. But far too often, its 11 tracks descend into unintentional parody territory, as on the corny honky tonk of "Let Go with the Flow" and the barroom balladry of "The Gates," which sees
Heaton unwisely adopt a dodgy U.S. twang and drunken drawl, respectively, and while their trademark kitchen-sink tales and everyday observational style remain firmly intact, the relentless barrage of lyrics make
Alanis' dictionary-swallowing antics seem like a preschool ABC singalong. The slightly grungy Brit-pop of "Life vs. the Lifeless" and the back-and-forth melancholy of "Get Here" offer hope that
the South are still capable of restoring their former glories. But rather than rejuvenating their career, their lengthiest gap between records appears to have resulted in a lack of creativity and a tiredness where the bandmembers often seem bored with their own output. The much-quoted statistic of "one in seven U.K. households own a
Beautiful South album" is extremely unlikely to increase anytime soon. ~ Jon O'Brien