Mike + The Mechanics - Let Me Fly (2017 / 2024) [Hi-Res]

Let Me Fly is the second album from the latter-day incarnation of Mike + the Mechanics, the one featuring Andrew Roachford and Tim Howar splitting lead vocal duties. By this point, any of Mike Rutherford's lingering prog influences are long gone, leaving a streamlined and polished professional pop group. Even when the pace quickens and the arrangements sparkle, the affair seems subdued and, to that end, Roachford never quite gets the chance to stretch his chops. Then again, virtuosity isn't the name of the game here: this is gleaming mature pop, music for well-tailored moods and, to that end, it succeeds. © Stephen Thomas Erlewine