Today’s Pop Rescue from a fate unknown, is 2002’s Hometime – the fifth studio album from British singer and songwriter Alison Moyet. Will this album be something to write home about, or will you want to leave early? Read on…

This 11 track CD opens with Yesterday’s Flame, opening with a wash of vocals and guitars before shifting aside for Alison Moyet’s fantastically soulful and mellow vocals. She’s flanked by percussion and bass, and the layers of the song gently shuffle along until about 1m 50s where the song erupts with beats. It’s a nice downbeat brooding sound which Alison’s voice suits well. We’re off to an interesting start to the album.

Then it’s lead single Should I Feel That It’s Over and this track starts off much more brighter than the previous song. However, the melody takes a bit of time to get used to as Alison throws her voice around with seemingly great ease. It’s a melancholic guitar-led song, which suits the heartbroken lyrics, strings, and lovely vocal harmonies. Sadly, the track stumbled and fell at #144 in the UK singles chart. The downbeat feeling continues here in this track, and that comes at probably no surprise to find Adrian Utley (of Portishead) on guitars.

More follows that. The track was the album’s third and final single. This track is wonderfully brooding, giving us a nice late-night feeling mysterious song. The bass is thick and swaggering, and this sits alongside Moyet’s sultry vocals perfectly whilst a synth gives us a catchy little riff. The strings get plenty of time to shine here, and they help me to get echoes of Garbage meets Portishead here, and that’s a really nice thought to have Alison in that camp. Sadly, this track also stalled in the charts – where it got stuck at #127.

Next up is titular track Hometime, which gives us another nice mellow sounding song, with an affected vocal and track that very much reminds me here of Beth Gibbons and again, of Portishead. Alison really sounds great singing alongside a plodding downbeat track.

Acoustic guitars usher us into the next track Mary, Don’t Keep Me Waiting, which seems to consist of Alison singing about some secret adventures in a car. The track is a wash with guitars and nice backing vocals that momentarily make me think of Saint Etienne. It’s a nice drifting song.

Say It is next and this gives us a great range of Alison’s vocals with her reaching big and high in the chorus, but plunging deep (like earlier songs here) in the verse. At times, she gets an almost gospel sound going with the backing vocals. It’s a track that builds and grows and that gives the album a sort of burst of energy to it.

Then we’re on to Ski – which gives us a song about the leisure/sport, rather than the yoghurts (sorry folks!). The track gives us a nice set of rich vocals from Alison set against a minimal track of bass synth and soft percussion. It’s an upbeat and those synths keep it evolving and sounding interesting.

That’s then followed by If You Don’t Come Back To Me, which is loaded with violins, violas and cellos. Here we find Alison giving some very bittersweet big vocals. She sounds fantastic here flanked by this slow sad track. Again, Portishead is in my mind, and that works a treat. It’s a fantastic (and sad) song.

Next up is second single Do You Ever Wonder, and this gives us a wonderfully upbeat track – again loaded with strings, and this has a catchy melody and Alison’s vocals are playful here. Sadly the track fared not much better than the other two singles here, and fell at #113 in the UK charts. Despite this, it’s a really nice epic song with a great vocal performance, dramatic drums (timpani i think).

The Train I Ride is next, and this gives us a nice beat and bass from the outset. A beeping synth joins in as Alison’s vocals take command. Electric guitar roars in for the chorus, giving it a contrasting harder sound for a while. It’s a really nice song.

The album closes with the aptly titled You Don’t Have To Go – oh, but we do Alison, you’ve come to the end of your album, you see! Here we find Alison singing alongside a Hammond and Church organ, and it’s a really nice sound that allows Alison’s vocals to build. It’s a nice slow track but it builds nicely, with Alison giving some glimmers of some harder more rock vocals. This all comes to a head with guitars, beats, swirling strings and big vocals in time for the finalé. The perfect ending to this brooding album.

Verdict

Over all, this album is a brooding, slow and mature album, that doesn’t have the pop hits, but will give you plenty of fantastically polished tracks.

I’m sad that the singles from this album didn’t perform better in the charts, but then the approach that this album takes – a more mellow, downbeat, and musically rich delivery, doesn’t necessarily lend itself to chart hit singles. Despite this, there are some wonderful gems here, and these are led by Do You Ever Wonder, and Say It from the catchier viewpoint, and continues in the richness of More and You Don’t Have To Go.

Alison’s vocals are thrown around with expert skill, and across the whole album you can witness her flawless delivery. What some listeners might be trying to find though is a catchy pop hit, and that may come as a surprise as this album is more downbeat and mellow, and the echoes of Portishead are strong here in several tracks (c’mon, collaborate on a whole Portishead album!).

The album’s weaker points are found in Mary, Don’t Keep Me Waiting, Hometime, and Should I Feel That It’s Over, which whilst they’re not bad, they just lack either the richness, build-up, or catchiness that other tracks have.

This is certainly an album that deserves some hometime with you. Put it in your ears.

• POP RESCUE 2024 ALBUM RATING: 4 / 5
• 2002 UK ALBUM CHART PEAK: #18, certified Gold by the BPI.
• POP RESCUE COST: £1.99 from a Discogs.com seller.

---