The sometime Roxy Music man’s sixth solo album (hence the title) is his first for five years, and the Roxy reunion has drawn in Eno, Andy Mackay and Paul Thompson, not to mention David Gilmour, Chrissie Hynde and Robert Wyatt?many of whom guested on his 1975 debut Diamond Head. Recorded in his own west London studio, it has the feel of an ambitious if occasionally unfocused collective effort. Manzanera claims it’s ’60s-influenced, but it exudes a faint arthouse aura, with his detached vocals contrasted against the jagged pop of “Broken Dreams” and “Green Spikey Cactus” (where Hynde’s backing whoops are stellar). It climaxes in a 15-minute concept piece, “The Cissbury Ring”. Never less than inventive.
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