There’s a song on CeeLo Green’s fifth solo album called CeeLo Green Sings the Blues, and he has certainly got his reasons for singing them. The Goodie Mob, Gnarls Barkley and Voice star has displayed what you might charitably call some regrettable behaviour of late – last year he pleaded no contest to a count of slipping a woman ecstasy at a restaurant, then caused justifiable uproar by airing some truly appalling views on what constitutes rape. You won’t find too much self-examination here, on his first album since 2010’s hit the Lady Killer: the aforementioned track resorts to self-pity (“My heart is filled with unconditional love / How could anyone hate me?”), and elsewhere he chooses to ignore things entirely. While Heart Blanche occasionally reminds us of Green’s quirky songwriting nous, it ends up a confusing jumble of styles and mixed messages.
