MARK RONSON
LATE NIGHT FEELINGS
COLUMBIA RECORDS
★★★★
Sometimes a simple phrase captures the public imagination. Think of Chris Martin and Gwyneth Paltrow’s “conscious uncoupling”, or Dominic Cummings’“Take back control”.
To these, add “sad bangers”, which Mark Ronson’s has used to describe the contents of Late Night Feelings. If anyone can pull off such a seductive contradiction, it’s a producer as famous as the stars with whom he works Wonderfully, his fifth album’s two lead singles suit the terminology. Nothing Breaks Like A Heart unexpectedly exploits Miley Cyrus’Tennessee twang to reinvent Dolly Parton’s Jolene for the clubbing generation, and the title track showcases Lykke Li’s sorrowful vocal to update 1970s disco. Lykke smoulders, too, on the poignant 2am, but too much elsewhere depends upon Ronson’s choice of singer, and, of course, their hooks.