''Life'' is the sixth studio album by British band

Culture Club Culture Club are an English pop band formed in London in 1981. The band comprises Boy George (lead vocals), Roy Hay (guitar and keyboards), Mikey Craig (bass guitar) and formerly included Jon Moss (drums and percussion). Emerging in the New ...

, credited to "

Boy George George Alan O'Dowd (born 14 June 1961), known professionally as Boy George, is an English singer, songwriter, DJ, author and mixed media artist. Best known for his soulful voice and his androgynous appearance, Boy George has been the lead singe ...

and Culture Club". It was released on 26 October 2018 through

BMG BMG may refer to: Organizations * Music publishing companies: ** Bertelsmann Music Group, a 1987–2008 division of Bertelsmann that was purchased by Sony on October 1, 2008 *** Sony BMG, a 2004–2008 joint venture of Bertelsmann and Sony that wa ...

. It was Culture Club's first studio album since 1999's ''

Don't Mind If I Do ''Don't Mind If I Do'' is the fifth album by the British new wave band Culture Club, released in 1999 by Virgin Records. The album was released only in Europe and Japan, though some promo copies also circulated in Australia. Overview ''Don't ...

''.

Background and composition

After the band reformed in 2014, the album originally began as ''Tribes'', a project that the band offered through

PledgeMusic PledgeMusic was an online direct-to-fan music platform, launched in August 2009. It was started to facilitate musicians looking to pre-sell, market, and distribute projects; such as recordings and concerts. It bore similarities to other artist p ...

that was initially set to be released in 2015, then early 2016 through the band's own label, Different Man Music. ''Tribes'' was recorded in Spain, with a documentary titled ''From Karma to Calamity'' filmed and aired on

BBC Four BBC Four is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was launched on 2 March 2002

, and a tour planned that was later cancelled. The album itself was later shelved, with all those who pre-ordered the album refunded. In July 2018, it was announced that the album had been reworked as ''Life'', and was to be released on 26 October 2018. George stated about ''Tribes'' and ''Life'':

"We started it four years ago, we were recording in Spain, and we had a really great time doing it. I'm kind of really glad that we did it this year because everyone was in such a much better place. The songs were better, the communication was better. We're really happy that we did it now and not then. I even allowed people to have opinions on this album, which is shocking! "I mean, my job is lyrics and melodies – I sort of provide the story – so I've always been quite protective and a bit precious about that, but on this particular record I was very open to 'what do you think about this?' and trying things, which is quite different. If you don't know me, you'd be alarmed really."

George also stated that he had been working on material for years and wanted to put out more than one album over the ensuing time period, and that while he "really enjoy the creative process", "trying to sell them is not so great".

Singles

Prior to the album, the song "Let Somebody Love You" was released as a digital single and video. The title track was released as lead single, followed by a limited edition issue of "Runaway Train" which was re-recorded as a duet with

Gladys Knight Gladys Maria Knight (born May 28, 1944), known as the "Empress of Soul", is an American singer, actress and businesswoman. A seven-time Grammy Award-winner, Knight recorded hits through the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s with her family group Gladys Kn ...

and released for Record Store Day 2019.

Critical reception

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

review, written by Stephen Thomas Erlewine, gives the album 4 out of 5 stars, with the author stating, "Everything on Life seems considered and light, whether it's adopting relatively recent production flair or the many allusions to the past. Some styles may be retro -- there's some disco, Northern soul and Motown, reggae and arena rock -- but the sensibility is modern, particularly in how certain contradictory sounds are woven together." Furthermore, Elewine states that Boy George's voice "gives this often slick music a real human dimension, and helps the album live up to its title: this is the music of a life, maintaining memory, focused on the future while living in the present."

Writing for ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'', Clarisse Loughrey said that the album "now arrives as a kind of belated apology. Thankfully, Culture Club's musical journey of late has been detached enough from the contemporary music scene that the album's content doesn't feel as if it's missed the mark, or its time. In that sense, it's a satisfying delivery for fans, though it may achieve little else." Loughrey stated that "There are club scene tones present in the baseline to "God & Love" and "Resting Bitch Face", a calypso-inspired approach in "Human Zoo" (although it feels inauthentic), but ''Life'' is otherwise largely dominated by

reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, " Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use ...

and

soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun ''soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest attes ...

Will Hodgkinson Will Hodgkinson is a journalist and author from London (born in Newcastle-upon-Tyne), England. He is the chief rock and pop critic for ''The Times'' newspaper and contributes to ''Mojo'' magazine. He has written for ''The Guardian'', ''The Indepen ...

of ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

'' said that "Now the band's name has had Boy George's stuck in front of it, tdemeans the whole thing somewhat", but called the album "pretty solid. "God & Love" showcases George's now deeper, still remarkable voice against tribal rock, "Let Somebody Love You" goes back to Culture Club's trademark light-hearted reggae, and the stomping soul and soaring strings of "Runaway Train" and "Life" evoke power and passion". Hodgkinson continued that "Maybe the world doesn't need a song called "Resting Bitch Face" or indeed an entire album that makes a grab for Culture Club's Eighties glory", but still rated the album three stars out of five.

Track listing

Personnel

Adapted from

. ;Culture Club *

– vocals, backing vocals * Michael Craig – bass guitar, rhythm guitar, keyboards, string arrangements, backing vocals * Roy Hay – brass arrangement, guitar, keyboards, orchestral arrangements, string arrangements, backing vocals *

Jon Moss Jonathan Aubrey Moss (born 11 September 1957) is an English drummer, best known as a member of the 1980s new wave group Culture Club. He has also played with other bands, including London, the Nips, the Damned and Adam and the Ants. Early li ...

– drums, backing vocals with: *Iyiola Babalola – drums, percussion, programming, synthesizer *Dick Beetham – mastering *Reuben Fowler – brass arrangement, flugelhorn, trumpet *Future Cut – engineer, producer *James Gardiner-Bateman – clarinet, flute, saxophone *Derek Green – backing vocals *House Gospel Choir – choir/chorus *Darren Lewis – drums, percussion, programming, synthesizer *

London Chamber Orchestra The London Chamber Orchestra (LCO) is a professional chamber orchestra based in London in the United Kingdom. The name has also been used by historical ensembles dating back to 1921. LCO performs at small concert halls across London and has previo ...

– strings *Jeremy Murphy – engineer *Chris Parker – engineer *

Dan Parry Dan Parry is a British Mix/Recording engineer. His career began in 2001 working at Soul II Soul Studios in Camden Town, before joining Metropolis studios in 2004. Progressing through the ranks at Metropolis Studios Parry eventually became ful ...

– mixing *Mary Pearce – backing vocals *

John Themis John Themis is an Australian-born musician, songwriter and record producer, best known for his long-term work with Boy George and Culture Club, collaborating on many of their songs and albums since the 1990s. He also worked on ''Taboo'', a music ...

– guitar, producer, string arrangements, backing vocals *Daniel Thomas – choir master *Nichol Thomson – trombone *Will Vaughan – assistant, programming *Tom Walsh – flugelhorn, trumpet *Peter Whitfield – conductor, string arrangements *

Youth Youth is the time of life when one is young. The word, youth, can also mean the time between childhood and adulthood ( maturity), but it can also refer to one's peak, in terms of health or the period of life known as being a young adult. You ...

(Martin Glover) – co-producer, programming

Charts

References

{{Authority control 2018 albums Boy George albums Culture Club albums BMG Rights Management albums albums produced by Youth (musician)