Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

The Universe is a strange beast, it offers so much that is new and yet the heart always yearns for what has been, what it remembers well. A new Galaxy could form infront of Humanity’s eyes and yet we would still look upon our own glorious night-time satellite rotating in the sky with wonder and amazement.

So too do we look to old heroes to keep our lives in perspective, the Roman legends, the Greek myths, the tales of the Incas, of ancient Britons and the misplaced celebratory of fabled Gods and yet in some that legendary status is worthwhile, it carries with it responsibility, of perhaps leaving the thoughts of what should have been consigned to a period where the music they offered was suddenly silenced and in which left a hole that even the darkness of space could not fill.

Jeff Lynne is arguably the greatest musician to come out of Birmingham, respected by Paul McCartney and George Harrison, lauded by Roy Orbison and the man who put Shard End on the map, his work across the board is of such high quality that Paul McCartney once called him “The son of a Beatle”, such praise is dominant in thought when recalling E.L.O’s mighty contribution to the world of music and is huddled closely with amour as for the first time since the 1980s Jeff Lynne’s E.L.O. returns and with a bang in the brand new album Alone In The Universe.

It might seem that that is the case, that across many truths feeling the loneliness that the cold night sky offers is perhaps the most profound and yet as the Birmingham master’s creative juices rise once more in the fusion of classic movements and deeply personal lyrics, Alone In The Universe is just a statement that defies convention; for how can you be truly alone when you have Jeff Lynne whispering poetic beauty down your ears?

Tracks such as the album opener When I Was A Boy, the catchy observation in Dirty To The Bone, Ain’t It A Drag, the philosophical revenge of I’m leaving You and the finality and wonder of the album’s lasting retort of Alone In The Universe all combine to be something beautiful, something reminiscent in parts to Roy Orbison and George Harrison and the ghosts of the mighty never truly leave the world when there are those willing to capture the essence in their own musical standards.

Alone In The Universe? Not whilst Jeff Lynne and E.L.O. have any say in it, an album of great thought and reflection, it has been far too long without any contact.

Ian D. Hall