7/10

Having proved himself as one of the most exciting and diverse artists working today over his impressive tenure, Ariel Pink returns with the first full-length release since his brilliant and highly-accalimed 2014 album 'pom pom'. And while his previous LP certainly brought a whole new collection of ears to his work, the frontman has chosen to take on the concept release for his follow-up as 'Dedicated to Bobby Jameson' offers more than just another experimental collection of art-pop hits.

It only takes a quick look at the album's tracklisting for anyone to see that this record is primarily about death and loss. Not only does the opener 'Time To Meet Your God' offer a bizarre and sometimes strained introduction to the work, it acts as an almost hard-to-get-through filter, discouraging the listener from moving past it. Yet once you do, the album opens itself up to a whole host of incredible pop singles, with influences stretching right back to the soul and disco era, as well as the psychedelic 60s sound.

We aren't familiar with the work of the protagonist is in the album's title, but guessing from what we can hear on 'Dedicated To Bobby Jameson', we can tell that he had an affinity for the music of the 60s-70s and looked to explore adventurous ideas. The concept album is certainly more of a homage than a lesson in death, and for that, it feels so much more welcoming in its approach. A wonderful return from one of today's truly great songwriters.