A MODEL LIFE

What I know about Mitchell's work resides strictly on a few Arena and *Frost albums, no Kino, no It Bites, and certainly no Lonely Robot, so this is my first step into his poppier side. A Modern Life is the 3rd studio album under the moniker Lonely Robot, and John does basically everything here, except for the drumming, Jeff B is the responsible for those.

The great guitar work is very present, all over the place, as expected? particularly in songs like "Species in Transition", "Starlit Stardust", and "In Memoriam", but what really caught my attention were both his elegant and accesible songwriting abilities, and the warmth of his vocal style, a cross between Peter Gabriel and Seal? the music is very pop oriented and there's an obvious "look and feel" of a what a lonely robot would sound if singing his thoughts, sadness, and loneliness? at least to my ears?

Even though my favorite Pink Floyd music was recorded and released in the mid-late 70's, I've always been a fan of albums like The Division Bell and A Momentary Lapse of Reason, the melodic and less psychedelic Gilmour version, and this LR album sounds at times a lot like those PF records, so there's a lot of immediate and attractive flavors to its music. The opener song "Recalibrating" kicks things off in perhaps the fastest tempo of the whole record, and somehow reminds me of some passages from Day and Age (*Frost), cool song. The more melodic and catchy stuff can me found in songs like "Starlit Stardust", the title track "A Modern Life", and "Rain Kings", all sing-a-long tunes. The most interesting tracks, those where I find all the desired ingredients and my preferred mix of elements are "Digital God Machine" and "Duty of Care"? those two songs make my listening experience worthwhile? in sum, a solid output by a much loved guitarist and singer. Cheers!