It may have been seven years since UNKLE’s last studio album, but James Lavelle has been far from quiet. Inspired by his curation of 2014’s Meltdown Festival on the Southbank, he has kept that same collaborative spirit going and ventured back into the musical mainstream with his fifth studio album. Lavelle has always been a creative pioneer, sadly always seemingly a year or two ahead of everybody else and never quite reaping the commercial reward that he deserves. Whether it is creating a hip-hop themed collective based loosely around one individual as others dip in and out (sound familiar Mr Albarn?) or fusing street art, fashion and DJ/band cultures, he has always been ahead of the curve. Now, The Road, Pt. 1 looks to merge all of UNKLE’s disparate influences with the sounds of modern-day multicultural London into something new.

Reflecting the rollercoaster nature of his journey, the album begins with a voiceover from actor Brian Cox asking simply: “Have you looked at yourself?/And have you thought about the mistakes you’ve made, and the road you’ve walked?/This is your story.” This introspectiveness seems to drive much of the album, as well as being an ode to Lavelle’s London over the preceding years. Opening track, ironically called ‘Farewell’, builds slowly from a simple piano intro into something with a large but low-key gospel finale, with an effective repetition of: “Don’t let go, hold me in your arms” adding a plaintive quality. The opening trio of songs are incredibly strong, as Mark Lanegan adds a touch of brooding menace to ‘Looking For The Rain’ before a combination of Elliott Power, Mïnk and Y?ee call back to UNKLE’s Psyence Fiction beginnings with the album’s first hip-hop moment on the sublime ‘Cowboys Or Indians’, again mixing in gospel elements over a big house beat.

The Road, Pt. 1 is definitely more successful when basking in those soulful moments and is by far his most cohesive album despite a huge list of collaborators, with the exception of ‘No Where To Run / Bandits’ which feels like something from a completely different album entirely and jars with what sits around it. Lavelle has always been renowned for pushing boundaries and being one of the most progressive artists in the music business, but sometimes the album’s theme of looking backwards seem to stop him from doing just that. ‘Arm’s Length’ and ‘Sunrise (Always Comes Around)’ in particular sound as if they could have been written in any of the 19 years since Psyence Fiction. While there is nothing particularly wrong with that, it is in the more euphoric moments such as the twitchy and haunting electro of ‘Sonata’ that the album really soars.

As the album closes on the sublimely beautiful ‘Sick Lullaby’, there is a feeling of the sun setting on the first part of Lavelle’s journey as UNKLE. Having rediscovered his creative mojo, perhaps this is his last look back over his shoulder before moving on but, regardless of where he goes next, there is more than enough here to be excited about his next step on the road.

Jamie MacMillan

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