The hit-machine that is Robbie “I’m an entertainer” Williams returns with the second single from new album Rudebox: ‘Lovelight’, a cover of a song by the little known soul artist Lewis Taylor.
Having had a go at pop, indie, rock, pop, swing, pop and more the troubled narcissist this time turns his cash filled hand to soul. It’s basically a straight cover, but with a whole load of polish – including a sped up tempo and the usual overproduction – to make it more acceptable to the young girls who will be buying it (and the calendar and the stationery set). Unsurprisingly the disco beat and amount of production on the vocals actually serve to remove most of the “soul” from the song, with the female backing vocals being about all that remains.
Overblown commerciality aside, ‘Lovelight’ is not too offensive. Lyrically it is typical Robbie meets girl fare with the usual “naughty” undertones: “Lay down beside me and do whatever you feel”. The choice of single is quite a shrewd one by the record label – I would guess that the vast majority of Robbie fans will have absolutely no idea that this is a cover and will sleep soundly under their ‘Rudebox’ duvet covers that he is still [co-]writing some lovely pop songs.
Basically, it’s fine. It’s a pretty good song, it just happens to have been covered by the devil and his record company. I’m sure it will go to number one but the best thing the release of this song can do is bring some deserved attention and money to Lewis Taylor, a very talented musician, singer and songwriter whose original composition has all the “soul” left in.
