Pity poor Diana Ross, supreme Motown superstar, who arrives with her first album of original songs in 22 years and finds that hers isn’t even the biggest comeback of the week. While ABBA hog the column inches, she might be regretting the fact that Glastonbury 2020 was cancelled, where she would have occupied the Sunday Teatime Legends Slot and benefitted from the glowing reassessment of her back catalogue that usually ensues from that high profile booking.
The 77-year-old may still get to do that gig next summer. Until then, here are 13 new compositions recorded during lockdown in her home studio, which all suggest that she spent her pandemic feeling incredibly optimistic about everything. She offers a stream of lyrics that Walt Disney would send back for being too saccharine. When pain appears it’s there to be danced away, struggles are for rising above and the dark can’t last for too long. “All is well,” she sings. “It will be all right if you just love.” The Answer’s Always Love is her take on the sentiment of John Legend’s Imagine, so much so that she even sings “You say I’m just a dreamer,” with a piling on of sickly strings instead of piano chords.
The list of collaborators suggests a contemporary touch. There’s Troy Miller, who has worked with Amy Winehouse and Laura Mvula, pus Sam Smith’s co-writer Jimmy Napes and Taylor Swift’s producer Jack Antonoff. But aside from the more understated groove of In Your Heart, Thank You is far too sugary to stick.
