With the release of this ninth album, Take That’s long journey is evenly split: three as a boy band, three as a reunited man band, and three as the truncated trio of Gary Barlow, Howard Donald and Mark Owen. That ought to give each era an equal weighting, but their shrunken size as a unit today can’t help but make it feel like greater days are behind them – less the explosive split of their first incarnation, more the slow dissolving of an aspirin.
Other factors also make This Life feel surprisingly understated. Since their last original release, Wonderland, in 2017, there has been a greatest hits collection and a hits-stuffed live album , as well as a jukebox musical in theatres which became a feature film starring Aisling Bea in the summer. They’re also still in vast demand as a live act, with six nights at The O2 next April already sold out. Nostalgia is the theme from outside sources as well, with ex-bandmate Robbie Williams topping the Netflix charts in a new career-spanning documentary. All these things are reminders that the back catalogue is so beloved that it’s increasingly hard to find room for the new material.
Chief songwriter Barlow will be as aware of this as anyone, so it does sound like there are fewer attempts to provide singalong blockbusters for the arena crowds on this collection. We Got All Day winds up with a nice repetition of the title that’s an arm-waving moment waiting to happen. The finale, Where We Are, is a more blatant attempt to reawaken the spirit of Never Forget, their last single as the original quintet: “Just look at where we are/The years behind us, we’ve come so far,” they sing over grandiose instrumentation.
But elsewhere, they’re trying other things. The title track is a retro, bouncy piano number that unfortunately sounds like the theme tune to a Seventies daytime soap opera. It hasn’t made the singles chart. Windows is better, a moodier acoustic song with an emphasis on vocal harmony that transports the band to Laurel Canyon. Owen leads on a few highlights, including the easygoing strum of Time and Time Again, which has a country pop feel, and the low-key ballad Brand New Sun.
Throughout, This Life is pleasant company, but can’t help but feel small in scale compared to past work. That seems deliberate, so if the band are enjoying themselves today it won’t stop the fans from getting what they want as well at next year’s concerts.
