Burt Bacharach - 'At This Time' (BMG) Released 24/10/05

That George W Bush really is one clueless mutha. If further proof of this indisputable fact is required, he and his homies have now managed to stir veteran swinger supreme Burt Bacharach from his sugar-coated snoozes to address socio-political issues on this, his first solo album in the better part of an eternity.

The White House has withstood something of a shitstorm of late, and it's likely that Bush, who's probably a Grand Funk Railroad man anyway, will still be residing in the Oval Office as an embodiment of the can-do American Dream by proving that even the most dimwit ignoramus can become the President of the USA if his dad's loaded when the final notes of 'At This Time' fade, such is the clunkiness of Bacharach's obviously heart-felt stanzas. Bacharach, alas, isn't much of a poet, protest or otherwise, as lines such as "where is the love? Where did it go? Who broke our hearts because we need to know" ('Please Explain') quickly prove. It might be a tad unreasonable to expect Masters of War from the 77-year old pop craftsman, but even a master of romantic songs ('Close to You', 'Walk On By', 'I Say A Little Prayer' etc) should grasp that much more than love, sweet love is needed to sort this lot out. 

Musically, the album's as long on lush orchestrations as it's short on memorable tunes, surprisingly so considering that Bacharach at his peak seemed to have winning melodies flowing from his fingers. In fact, the project ventures close to the territory of proto-breakbeat hero David Axelrod by concentrating on sumptuously arranged grooves, although Axelrod would most likely sneer at the all-pervasive MOR slickness that torpedoes most of these tracks, with the awful saccharine sax in particular bringing to vivid widescreen life 'Where Did It Go's plea to "make it stop". Dr Dre contributes a few beats, but the album's luxurious smoothness swiftly exchanges the g-funk pimp ride of his pomp for a sensible sedan. On the rocking the mic front, Elvis Costello pops in to showcase the full range of his vocal histrionics on the politician-baiting 'Who Are These People?' while Rufus Wainwright does his cod-operatic thing on 'Go Ask Shakespeare', but mostly the focus is on Bacharach's strained croak and the choir of cooing, anodyne backing singers who bolster his wanting prowess on the crooning department. 

'At This Time's not a complete turkey - the instrumental 'In Our Time' is a soaring proof of Bacharach's melodic capabilities - but on the whole this expertly executed blast of plush background muzak fails to add much of note to either the Bush administration's woes or Bacharach's bulging back catalogue.