Blue Reflections

The Vow; One Last Time; You Should Know; Look What You Started; Candlelight Fades; The Day The Earth Stood Still; Where I Come From; Waste My Love; All About Us; Neon Honey; Beautiful Spiritual; Souls of The Underground; Find That Feeling

(Cooking Vinyl)

When Blue scored their first hit with their debut single, All Rise, in 2001, many would have been surprised to find that the former boy band would still be around in twenty-five years' time – and sounding even better than ever.

In the intervening years, the band have represented Britain in the European Song Contest; individually, there have been acting and singing careers, but nothing has equalled the success of them together in Blue.

They could have easily taken the easy route and re-recorded their hits or done an album of cover versions; instead, they have given their fans a record for them – and the band themselves – to be proud of.

The Vow opens the new album with a rousing number that will reverberate around the concert halls resolutely when Blue tours the country in the spring. The momentum continues with One Last Time – sounding uncannily like a track you would expect from Stereophonics, prepare to hear Blue in a new light as the track takes them out of their comfort zone. A rockier edge permeates the number; why the track was not a huge hit when released as a single last autumn beggars belief.

Beautiful Spiritual comes with a funkier edge but still possesses the unmistakable Blue harmonies; the track was left over from Lee Ryan’s solo album and has now been given a makeover.

Souls of the Underground comes with a hook that is sharper than a tiger's tooth with a lyric that mentions Marvin Gaye, James Brown and Blue's twenty-fifth anniversary, with the album closing with the ballad, Find That Feeling, where Blue have not only found their feeling but also got their hunger and muse back on this fine return.