Robbie Williams: 'Morning Sun'

Life, as Ronan Keating rightly noted, is a rollercoaster. In the past couple of decades Robbie Williams has gone from boyband hopeful to megastar, a "fat dancer" to the biggest solo artist in the country, UFO-hunting drug casualty to comeback king. At last month's Brits, his elder statesman status was cemented with the 'Outstanding Contribution' accolade. Though it's easy to argue that the gong was somewhat premature, the pleasure in having the Robster back and the brilliance of 'Bodies' meant that we were still awfully happy for him.

'Morning Sun', spin-off three from last year's Reality LP and inexplicable choice of Sport Relief single, is a bit like something from mid-'90s Britpoppers Electrasy - a straightforward trad-rock song complete with metronomic piano chords, swooning strings and the rest. Two minutes in, it gets close enough to 'I Am The Walrus' for George Martin to consider giving his lawyer a bell. Sure, it's not the most adventurous release of Williams's career, but it's pleasant to its bones and the lyrics ("In a message to the troubadour/ The world don't love you anymore") have just enough about them to avoid the trap of self-regarding introspection that marred the likes of 'Strong' and 'Come Undone' in the past.


> Click here to read our review of Robbie Williams's Reality album