Since I Saw You Last

by Gary Barlow

Overview

Perhaps the title Since I Saw You Last is a winking allusion to the long time between Gary Barlow's solo records: disregarding the 2012 EP Sing, he's been silent since 1999's Twelve Months, Eleven Days, choosing to shelve his solo career when Take That reunited in 2005. At the close of the millennium, Barlow was pursuing the traditional path of a balladeer, taking his cues from George Michael in particular and latter-day Elton John in general. A decade-plus later, he's happy to consider new pop trends only in passing -- "Let Me Go" has a touch of the big folk of the Lumineers and Imagine Dragons; there's just a hint of Coldplay on "God" -- and while away his time making stately, classicist British pop. Here, the Beatles -- specifically Paul, but with a bit of John -- and early Elton provide the template and, filtered through Barlow's exacting craft and resolutely middlebrow taste, he winds up with a handsome album that sounds a bit like a good early Leo Sayer LP. This isn't meant as a dismissal: Barlow has a knack for mildly ambitious piano ballads that gain strength from their hazily arty design as well as his studied melodicism. This, almost more than John's 2013 The Diving Board, captures what was good about post-McCartney pop singer/songwriters in the mid-'70s, when the best songsmiths never let their ambitions get in the way of a good tune. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Product Details

Release Date:	12/03/2013
Label:	Polydor
UPC:	0602537576449

Tracks

1. Requiem
2. Let Me Go
3. Jump
4. Face to Face
5. God
6. Small Town Girls
7. 6th Avenue
8. We Like to Love
9. Since I Saw You Last
10. This House
11. Dying Inside
12. More Than Life

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Gary Barlow   Primary Artist,Piano,Vocals,Keyboards,Vocals (Background)
Elton John   Primary Artist,Vocals,Featured Artist
John Shanks   Vocals (Background),Guitar (12 String)
Jeremy Stacey   Drums
Karl Brazil   Drums
Dave Bronze   Bass,Guitar (Bass)
Dave Catlin-Birch   Bass,Guitar,Guitar (Bass),Vocals (Background)
Massimo Restaino   Accordion
Lady Madonna   Keyboards,Vocals (Background)
Andy Caine   Vocals (Background)
Dave Arch   Piano
Caroline Dale   Cello
Tim VanDerKuil   Banjo,Guitar,Mandolin,Lap Steel Guitar
Pete Davis   Keyboards
Andy Duncan   Percussion
Steve Power   Ukulele
Gary Nuttall   Guitar
John Parricelli   Guitar
Ryan Carline   Keyboards
Ben Mark   Guitar
Fergus Gerrand   Percussion
Sam Dixon   Bass,Guitar (Bass)
Ami Richardson   Vocals (Background)
Rohan Onraet   Percussion
Neil Taylor   Guitar

Technical Credits

Wil Malone   String Arrangements
James Maddock   Composer
Isobel Griffiths   Music Contractor
Richard Lancaster   Engineer
Tony Cousins   Mastering
Gary Barlow   Composer
Joe Kearns   Engineer
Andrew Frampton   Composer
Steve Kipner   Composer
Pete Davis   Programming
Nick Ingman   String Arrangements
Tim Rice-Oxley   Composer
Robbie Williams   Composer
Mark "Spike" Stent   Mixing
John Shanks   Composer
Steve Power   Mixing,Producer
Phil Poynter   Photography
Ryan Carline   Engineer,Pro-Tools,Programming
Sam O'Kell   Engineer
Rohan Onraet   Engineer,Pro-Tools,Programming