[rating=7.00]
Here We Go Love, the first album in 36 years by Dave Wakeling and company (appropriately enough on their own Here We Go Records) isn’t all that dissimilar from the best of their early work, itself an oasis in the arguable musical drought that was the decade of the Eighties. As with the opener “How Can You Stand There,” the leader urges on both the band and the audience in their respective roles, his infectious enthusiasm as remarkable in its own way as the thorough continuity of this work with predecessors such as Wha’ppen?.
Yet the thirteen tracks total on the 2018 album offers more than just the familiar good-natured combination of personal introspection and topical observations enlivened by equally peppy rhythms. Dave Wakeling’s been sure to freshen his attitude and the collaborative output thereof in the interim since 1982 *?!), so Here We Go Love reflects his perception of the state of the world circa 2018. The motion underlying “The One And Only” then, is a clear and accurate reflection of the author’s wizened attitude and, as such, is a call to action including, but certainly not limited to, the dance floor.
Just Can’t Stop It indeed! The chirpy delivery remains irresistible on tunes such as the title song even as it belies a somewhat jaundiced view of the world. Yet true to the English Beat’s reggae roots, Wakeling and company is is an attitude grounded in patience and perseverance, an approach that’s kept the band together over the years—co-existing with Ranking Roger’s own ensemble—and eventually resulted in this record: so stylistically of a piece with the best of the group’s work, particularly those first two albums, the English Beat hasn’t dated one iota over the three decades plus since their last LP.
In keeping with the comprehensive posting on the band’s website, the lyrics of songs like “Redemption Time” are seamlessly interwoven into the material and, in turn, the arrangements thereof. So, for instance, the uplifting horns on “If Killing Worked” send a message as gently yet emphatic as Wakeling’s words. And the effect of the performance’s implicit invitation to sing along also carries a subliminal effect: the theme of anti-violence becomes progressively provocative as it sinks in.
High-minded as that might sound, Wakeling took a pragmatic approach to the recording of Here We Go Love, wisely recording with the involvement of the current touring personnel over a period of two years. And along those same practical lines, the record’s not an all-out upbeat marathon: “Never Die” is as quiet as it is open, gentle touches of strings the aural equivalent of the open-hearted vulnerability radiating from the leader’s voice. As with “Drive Her Away,” the personal is the political in this man’s mind and vice-versa. But even as he remains staunchly confident of his point(s) of view, he doesn’t succumb to overstatement: that’s why he can struts off in such relaxed, jaunty fashion with this concluding track, “Be There For You.”
And it’s well-nigh impossible to doubt Wakeling’s word(s) when he sings ‘The love you give lasts forever,’ not just because of the fundamentally optimistic sentiment, but also because there’s just enough vintage Motown in the execution of the melody. In contrast, there’s really not much going on during “You Really Oughta Know,” where an instrumental break (perhaps taken from the charts chipped in to this project by the venerable man with the horn, Saxa ) might’ve made the difference.
The antithesis of the perpetual motion that is “Dem Call It Ska,” that aforementioned cut’s really the only static moment of the baker’s dozen. It’s an ever-so-welcome outcome of Dave Wakeling’s efforts with his group, a result rendered all the more laudable given not just the length of time since Special Beat Service, but also the high-calibre of the band’s work to that point.
