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(STF) - Audio reviews include Nik Kershaw's comeback album, Mandy Moore's third release, MDO and Radiohead's Amnesiac.
HE really is a riddle. After more than a decade of hibernation, he makes a comeback with To Be Frank (released under PonyCanyon) during a time when many, from the younger set of listeners of course, would probably think he is from the East Coast.
For those in the dark, he was a fairly huge icon in the New Wave era of the 80s. His hit, Riddle, which I still memorise by heart, made him a superstar, albeit with a lot of help from his strongly- nasal vocals.
Expect changes, and not only in hairstyle (he no longer sports that awful moose-held jinjang style but now joins the likes of Phil Collins in the hair department) from him.
You get Latino-influenced stuff, like the very listenable and danceable Wounded. Extremely rich but enchantingly light, it conjures images of a full-flowing party with the assistance of a pompous horn section.
He applies basic economics by diversifying into other genres. Get Up is pop ballad that is both haunting and sad.
It prods one not to let life get one down, as the lyrics go `get up on your feet, get up don't go to sleep, get up life is bitter sweet, and it's all going on without you'.
Die Laughing is guitar-based and spells Beatnik and retro all the way. Nice break. Jane Doe skates on grunge ice, just like the mellow How Sad.
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