It’s debatable what came first, the British media’s venal delight in building people up only to drag them down, or the public’s obsession with the process.
James Righton lives in this world most days, with paparazzi shoving their long lenses into his business: the irony however is that the constant invasions of privacy are because of his marriage to actress Kiera Knightley as opposed to any celebrity status attached to being the former singer in nu-ravers The Klaxons.
Not that they didn’t briefly have their moment, 2006’s Myths of the Near Future going platinum, but having split in 2014, Righton then concentrated on what must be an odd brand of domesticity and parenthood.
The Performer is an album largely about the double life of being able to change both a key and a nappy; on the title track the singer exposes this unseen dichotomy, whilst Edie is a sweet, downtempo tribute to the couple’s first child. Thankfully, not all of it’s songs are as Mumsnet friendly – Heavy Heart mourns the nation’s lost connection to Europe and See The Monster scorns the populist right wing narrative – but mostly the mood is locked into seventies and eighties AOR.
It’s easy to forget that people on our screens are also people, as we’ve seen have tragic consequences more than once recently. On The Performer James Righton tells the kind of stories which the click baiters have no interest in, and it’s best moments are in these intimate snapshots.
You can read the full review here.
The Voice Of Unreason 