Rick Astley - "Are We There Yet?"

He's never gonna give up

Rick Astley is more of a household name now than he was in his late-80s heyday, largely thanks to the sudden meme-fueled resurgence of his iconic “Never Gonna Give You Up”. And, honestly, it’s great to see — Astley is a great talent whose voice has an unreal amount of depth and timbre.

Astley is in his late 50s now, though, and that incredible voice has aged. There’s more gravel now, and the depth has balanced out at a slightly lower pitch than it used to rest at. But he’s still got it.

This album is most clearly classified as Pop and Blue-Eyed Soul. There are a lot of bluesy moments, and several songs feel like they would be radio hits in decades long gone.

The album’s best tracks, far-and-away, are “Never Gonna Stop” and “Take Me Back to Your Place”.

“Never Gonna Stop” is a spiritual sequel or successor to “Never Gonna Give You Up”. In the chorus, in fact, the musical phrasing on the words “never gonna” is lifted directly from his older hit. It’s a beautiful homage to the song that really made his career, but it also feels like more than that — it’s a love letter to the fans (and memelords) who drove its resurgence. It is ultimately a small detail — a small composition element in a song that is already very good, otherwise. But it’s a clever touch.

“Take Me Back to Your Place” is a fun, upbeat, and aggressively flirty anthem about consensual (and kinky) casual encounters, but with subtle indications that the speaker has more serious emotional issues that the hopeful encounter is meant to cover up, and I cant decide whether it’s that he and his potential partner have history or that he’s dying — or both.

There are several other good tracks here, too, and only two (“Golden Hour” and “Driving Me Crazy”) that I didn’t really like.

Rating: Green