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It’s been 16 years since Gang Of Four last released an album of original material in 1995’s 'Shrinkwrapped'. Such an exorbitant amount of time between records begs the question, “Why put out 'Content' now, if at all?” As luck would have it, this politically motivated four piece from Leeds, have an irrefutable answer, “Our fans paid for it.” Despite having reunited way back in November 2004, a call went out in April 2010 for fan donations towards a new album via Pledge Music and 435 aficionados dutifully coughed up their hard earned cash to ensure recording went ahead.
From this perspective it is hard to criticise 'Content' for being largely contained to the angular post-punk sound the band debuted on 'Entertainment!', their hugely influential 1980 debut. This is, of course, the sonic palette most devotees would have had in mind when they put up their money upfront for the project.
In that respect, the staccato driven delights of ‘You Don’t Have To Be Mad’ and ‘I Can’t Forget Your Lonely Face’ fit into the Gang Of Four back catalogue without any trouble at all. “Send me a picture of you on your escape, send me a picture of you on holiday,” deadpans singer Jon King during the latter track’s typically combative tale of a female prisoner’s escape from a compound.
For those less au fait with a band whose most high profile public outing of recent years has been to soundtrack a set of Microsoft Kinect adverts, despite the anti-capitalist sentiments of their earlier output, Content is not quite as essential. Age has tempered the hue of this iconic collectives aggression towards a more anthemic direction than befits the ‘us against the world’ identity they’ve previously carved out for themselves.
‘Who Am I?’s reflections on the quest for identity in modern society is wholly neutered by a sing-a-long chorus that could have been churned out by any band since U2 first unleashed 'War' upon the world. Likewise, the lyrical aplomb lavished upon an insipidly titled ‘I Party All The Time’ manages the impressive feat of coming off even more vacuous than the lifestyle it seeks to critique.
The closest to experimentation 'Content' gets is a heavy use of vocoder across the otherwise uneventful ‘It Was Never Gonna Turn out Too Good’. Considering this is the seventh Gang Of Four record though, innovation was never going to rank as a top priority.
Ultimately this is an album that succeeds on its limited terms of providing a respectable number of additions to the reunion setlist but struggles to make an impression outside such narrow territory. If you’ve already bought 'Entertainment!' and fancy more of the same then by all means give 'Content' a go. If not, then your money is better spent elsewhere.
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