Iain Hornal - Return To The Magic Kingdom

 

We are big fans of Iain Hornal. He seems to be on a four year cycle of album releases as his third arrives after 2017's The Game Begins With The Lights Out and 2021's Fly Away Home. Both of those albums featured high up in our Best Albums Of The Year. You can read our reviews here and here.

This is Pop Rock of the highest quality. At times there are comparisons to Hornal's sideman jobs in Jeff Lynne's ELO and 10CC, but it should be remembered that these are bands that celebrate their past, new material is a long time ago. Here you have the now, new songs that delight.

The centrepiece is The Magic Kingdom, the jauntiest of jaunty affairs, that even sideswipes the ELO vocoder and offers up a real wonderland listen. But throughout, the melody smashes through, massive choruses, beautifully sung.

There are surprise interventions and slight changes of direction, but these never detract from the song. There are also footprints into other genres. Just My Personality gets close to Psych Pop at times and Over And Out mixes Jangle Pop with Prime Time 70s Pop Rock.

There are nods to what has gone before. Already There is prime time Andrew Gold and the single, Positive People still sounds as wonderfully Glam as ever. But that song and many of the others makes you realise that this is not just about the singalong.

There is a lyrical adeptness throughout, unusual in Pop Rock when easier rhymes are lazily used. Return To The Magic Kingdom. however, is a tribute to the power of the Chorus and the album is chock with them. When you have finished singing along, you can head off and buy this bundle of joy.

You can listen to the album here. You can buy the CD and Download here. The CD is available at all good Record Shops.

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