Deborah Harry 'Necessary Evil' (Eleven Seven) Released 17/09/07

A heavy groan left my lips when I read the words ‘solo album’ and ‘Debbie Harry’ in the same sentence. Not because I have anything against Harry herself, but rather because I am inherently prejudiced against the work of aging rock stars whose musical heyday was over a generation ago. But then again, who could have predicted that Harry could have made such a comeback as when, out of nowhere, she helped take Blondie back to the top of the charts with the 1999 single ‘Maria.’ So perhaps it would be worth keeping an open mind and giving Necessary Evil, Harry’s first solo album in fourteen years, a chance.
 
Sadly, there’s no equivalent to the undeniably catchy ‘Maria’ here, just a smattering of radio-friendly pop-rock amongst some largely uninspiring attempts to branch into both alternative rock and RnB. Although this genre-bending sounds a little strange and definitely unfocused, it’s hardly surprising given Blondie’s history: not only were they a seminal New Wave band, but they frequently and successfully ventured into musical territory that included punk, disco and even hip-hop (‘Rapture’ was, after all, the first ever number one rap song). It can’t be said that ‘Necessary Evil’ lacks ambition, but it mostly just fails to deliver.
 
Album opener and lead single, ‘Two Times Blue’ is probably the highlight: an up-tempo pop-rock runner that immediately lets us know that while Harry is certainly no spring chicken, she’s still got more power in her voice than most 62 year olds. The problem, of course, with putting the best track at the start of on an album, is that it’s all down hill from there. There are plenty of little snippets of intrigue – the off beat electronica on ‘Love With A Vengence,’ the African sounding chants and Joy Division-esque guitar line on ‘Jen-Jen,’ or the pulsating sounds of ‘You’re Too Hot,’ – but too many of the songs have unexciting, melody-driven MOR at their centre.
 
Where production duo Super Buddha have succeeded in doing, is to help Harry produce a thoroughly modern sounding album which doesn’t rely on the crutch of past glories. Unfortunately, it instead relies on aping contemporary styles with pale results: ‘Dirty And Deep’ sounds like it wishes it could have been produced by Timbaland, but ‘Maneater’ it is not. And even Nelly Furtado can rap better than Debbie Harry.
 
Compared to the efforts of most artists’ in their sunset years, ‘Necessary Evil’ is intriguing and determined; but with seventeen tracks and not enough hooks it’s all too easy to forget.