Westlife: 'Back Home'

After half a decade of essentially singing The X Factor songbook, Westlife have resolved to give us a "really strong original pop album". Those expecting a crack at Timbaland-style dancefloor innovation will be sorely disappointed - the Irish lads were always more Gary Barlow than Jason Orange in the hipshakin' stakes; their musical output was generally as cutting edge as a Teasmaid; and uptempo moments like 'Bop Bop Baby' and 'Hey Whatever' tended to be their least successful singles. But given that the British pop scene is currently a hotbed of inspiration - even X Factor champion Leona Lewis has pulled a fantastic single out of the bag – the question has to be asked: is there a place for safe, reliable Westlife in the post CD:UK musical landscape?

Sadly, Back Home answers this question with a shoulder-shrug and a mumbled "Well, not really". Alongside another three cover versions, it's filled with the same sturdy, straightforward love songs that Westlife have been peddling for years. The likes of 'Pictures In My Head', 'Us Against The World' and 'When I'm With You' are robust and reasonably melodic, but they could have been recorded at any point since the group’s 1998 inception. Though Back Home's lacquered-on production gloss is never less than expertly applied, and it's fun to play spot the key change while listening along, there's no getting over the fact that this kind of sappy balladry sounds hopelessly dated in 2007.

Worse still, the album's trite sentiments have a tendency to verge on the cringe-inducing. 'It's You' reels out a parade of cliches that even James Blunt would balk at - "A beautiful angel came down to light up my life" might just be the most uninspired, derivative lyric of the year - while a cover of Lonestar's 'I'm Already There' is almost unbearably maudlin. Its tale of a father missing his family while away on a business trip needles the intestines like a sentimental moment from Friends, especially when Junior gives daddy a bell to find out when he's coming home. His reply? "I'm already there - I'm the sunshine in your hair, the shadow on the ground, the whisper in the wind…" It's tempting to shriek at the speakers, 'That's all very well, but who's going to read Junior the final chapter of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows before he hits the sack tonight?'

Still, Back Home isn't entirely without merit. A cover of Brandy's 'Have You Ever' gives the boys a chance to show off their underrated harmonies - even if its slightly gratuitous a cappella intro brings to mind a thousand "Look! We really can sing!" boyband moments from Top Of The Pops past - while the the Motown exuberance of 'The Easy Way' is the most fun that Westlife have been in years. Not coincidentally, it's the one time that Back Home's pace rises beyond a controlled canter.

Utimately, listening to Back Home is an exercise in pleasant but crushingly inessential boyband nostalgia. Pop music has moved on from this kind of glossy, gloopy balladry and, if Westlife ever want to win over any new fans, they'll have to follow suit. That said, it feels a little harsh to dismiss this quartet of affable, unassuming Irishmen entirely - after a decade of perching on their stools with diligence, dedication and virtually no tabloid misdemeanours, they deserve a little respect.