It's worth listening

Daniel Bardsley reviews Level 42's catchy new album. His advice to college folk: don't ignore pop veterans

Level 42 first started putting out records more than 25 years ago and as rock veterans they are probably not the best known band among UAE's students - but they are definitely worth a second look.

Founded by bass maestro Mark King, keyboards player Mike Lindup and brothers Phil and Boon Gould, the UK group started off as jazz funkers but later developed a mainstream pop sound as they tried to climb higher in the charts.

The strategy worked, helping them to reach number one in a string of European countries. They charted strongly in North America too and for a while even toured with Madonna and Tina Turner.

During their mid to late 1980s heyday, they were constantly playing on radios with songs such as The Sun Goes Down, Lessons in Love, Running in the Family and Heaven In My Hands.

Downturn
Sadly, things started to go downhill after the Gould brothers left and replacement guitarist Alan Murphy died. Their recording career petered out in the 1990s when albums such as Guaranteed and Forever Now, although musically accomplished, failed to set the charts alight.

However, the restless King, often dubbed the world's best bass player, secured sole rights to the Level 42 name and continued touring on his own - he even came to Dubai last year.

The band is back
And now the band has been back in the recording studio to create Retroglide, its first album in 12 years - and what an album it is! With lyrics written by Boon Gould, music by King and with Mike Lindup on keyboards, Retroglide happily almost represents a restoration of the original line up.

Dive Into The Sun is a lively opening track with King producing a frenetic bass line and going wild with energy during the chorus.

Other highlights include Way Back Home, a catchy number that was released as a download-only single. There are yearning, bittersweet ballads too, including Ship, which features Boon Gould performing a guitar solo.

Perhaps the best song of all is Hell Town Story, a brilliant satire on the dysfunctional LA celebrity lifestyle. It might be a slightly clichéd song in its theme, but the lyrics are great and King has produced an excellent musical score to go around them.

Level 42, with their mix of styles and influences, have always been a tricky band to categorise and Retroglide is as difficult to pigeonhole as anything they have produced before.

But that makes it all the more interesting. The record is proof that even veterans of the pop scene are worth checking out now and again!

Charlotte Church on TV

Television projects are taking priority for former child star Charlotte Church, who has said she is putting her recording career on hold to concentrate on the small screen.

As many as two million people have been watching Church's current TV programme, which has the imaginative name The Charlotte Church Show and airs on Britain's Channel Four.

She said: "I'm taking a year out of recording to concentrate on the show so it's even better next year."

Church, who comes from Wales, was a teenage soprano but more recently has turned to pop music and developed a raunchier image.

Her tangled love life has made her a favourite of the British tabloids, who have sometimes commented unfavourably on her curvy figure.

The writer is the travelling bard of Gulf News