RICK ASTLEY
ARE WE THERE YET?
BMG
★★★★
“Are we there yet?” Good question, if one more associated with kids pleading from a back seat than a star 35 years into their career. Still, Stock Aitken Waterman survivor Rick Astley spent much of that time the butt of patronising Never Gonna Give You Up wisecracks, only to experience a redemptive renaissance thanks to his good-natured response to 2007’s rickrolling meme, his two subsequent albums, and – most unlikely of all – his scene-stealing Glastonbury appearance performing Smiths songs with Blossoms. Consequently, his ninth album’s title reads more like a tongue-in-cheek query: “Are we done with all that nonsense yet?”