THE BLUE NILE Schallplatten & CDs

Review: Paul Buchanan and The Blue High have never been known for letting standards slip. This, their first full length album in eight years and only the fourth in the last 21, more than meets the benchmarks set in previous outings, both in terms of songwriting and arrangement, proving beyond doubt that pop is less of a dirty word, and more a misunderstood mishmash of sound running from throwaway trash to universally resonant masterpieces. Take 'Broken Loves' for example, which shows a band that's more than capable of taking relatively mundane observations and rendering them emotionally powerful through suggestion and implication - in this case a relationship collapsing before the eyes of each partner, with neither knowing what to do, visualised in the way one party is more interested in watching TV than listening to the other. Way back in 1984, this outfit made a major impact with youthful romantic vibrance, the same is not true today, with more than an air of world weary heartbreak about their work, and in many ways it's more impactful than ever.