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Dec 05, 2014 Web Exclusive By Austin Trunick

It’s an unproven medical fact that one in five children born between 1983 and 1985 were conceived while an 8-track tape of Roxy Music’s Avalon was playing. A night may begin innocently with roses and a candlelit dinner, but once Bryan Ferry‘s voice drifts out from the stereo speakers there’s little doubt where that evening is heading.

Avonmore is Ferry’s return to mid-career romance-inducing form, following the old-timey experiment The Jazz Age. Of the eight originals, the lush, moody closer “Johnny & Mary” (a collaboration with Todd Terje) is the album’s real showstopper. (Other contributions come courtesy of Johnny Marr, Nile Rodgers, and Marcus Miller.) The only stumble is a burbling cover of Sondheim’s traditional “Send In the Clowns,” which adds nothing that hasn’t been said in versions that have come before. Though it may sound like something from his late-era Roxy days, it isn’t on par with those classics. Still, Avonmore is evidence that—even as he approaches his 70th year on this planet—Ferry is certainly capable of recording primo baby-making music. (www.bryanferry.com)

Author rating: 6.5/10