Love from London

Released near his 60th birthday, Love from London is another fine collection from senior psychedelicist Robyn Hitchcock. The apocalypse is never far from his mind, and that tension makes the joy of his bounciest tunes feel like a man overcompensating for his gloom. Album producer Paul Noble plays bass, guitar, and keyboards here. Jenny Adejayan adds some mood with her cello, while a quartet of ladies shadow the tunes with backing harmonies. "Harry's Song" starts things at the piano, as if Mr. Hitchcock would like to call us all into the great room for a little doomsday talk before hitting the road with the motor-away of "Be Still," which rebels against its title. Elements of John Lennon and Syd Barrett are inevitable, and "Stupefied" takes trippy lyrics worthy of the first Pink Floyd leader and fuses them to a melody that sounds lifted from somewhere in Lennon's solo career. "I Love You" could be from Hitchcock's first band, The Soft Boys, such is his consistency. "Strawberry Dress" is more reminiscent of his days in the '80s with The Egyptians. "Death and Love" and "The End of Time" prove he hasn't lost a step.