Say what you like about Robbie Williams, but he's never dull. Rudebox is a quite baffling album, either the mark of a misunderstood genius, or - more likely - the work of a bored multi-millionaire who's thought "I wonder if my fans will buy any old crap" and released a collection of half-arsed cover versions and self-indulgent raps.
Happily, the version of Lewis Taylor's underground disco classic Lovebox is by far the best track on Rudebox, making it the obvious choice to be released as a single. Produced by Mark Ronson, fresh from working on two of the best albums of the year with Lily Allen and Amy Winehouse, it's a shimmering disco funk number, reminiscent of Scissor Sisters or George Michael in his pomp. Even Robbie's falsetto, which he's adopted here, doesn't prove too irritating.
He's obviously in a bit of a weird place right now, and while Lovelight certainly isn't the best thing he's ever done, it's enough to save him from the commercial suicide that surely would have taken place had most of other Rudebox's tracks been released as a single.
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