I have been a die hard , bore my friends and family stupid, RM and BF fan for almost 40 years . I have a degree in fine art and I understand completely the layers of meaning in BF's music and his tastes in Art. It has been a yard stick of wonderment and quality for me nearly all my adult life . There's no 'Here we go again" about it - It's disappointing for me to reach this point where his 'latest' album leaves me cold . As I said I hope he has a hit ...but the Record sound's dull and dated to me - flat melodies and mamouna funk mush - awful cover and dreadful title .

Certainly not as good as Erland's 'Tiger gold perfume' - or whatever it's called - you know the minor masterpiece that he keeps telling us about - the song inspired by Bryan who's bassist he once had a drink with about 20 years ago ... whaaaaaaa... Attababy

Regressive 90's-era aural soup. Too bad.

Agreed.
I prefer positive energy to negative. But, at least, I console myself with the thought that most energy is better than lethargy.

Next year our hero will turn seventy. In the last few years we have got the avantgarde album "Olympia" with its´diamond, "Reason or Rhyme", an interesting jazz project, one excellent tour after the other and now "Avonmore" is around the corner. Perhaps the new album is without a diamond, but as far as I know - I have only listened to it with my left ear waiting for the vinyl to arrive -, it is good and solid as a whole.
I am so pleased. BF;s music has given me so much inspiration. Even my wife admitts listening to "As time goes by" when I am out.
I should not ask for more, but still I do: 1) cd/dvd from jazz ages concerts. 2) Bring back Ollie and Colin on the ship!

I have ordered the vinyl as well as the CD but have no turntable It will be nice to look at though

The title track "Avonmore" is a Ferry/Thompson composition.

Ahh .. Ollie co wrote it ...i thought there might be a reason it sounded better than the others ...

When i think of it.... Out of all the albums since and including Frantic - there are only two songs i ever listen to - 'Reason or rhyme' and 'I thought'. I loved the idea of the Jazz age and enjoyed listening to it a lot at the time but now it hardly ever crosses my mind.

Cher Monsieur Oberon,
You are clearly a Roxologist of impeccable, refined taste.
Windswept is in complete agreement with all of your observations, he would just add Chris to your point 2)
Salutations,
Windswept

Debauched Dilettantes, Maturing Modernists, Philosophical Philanderers, Happy Hedonists, Elegantly Ageing Hipsters & Ne'er-Do-wells of All Persuasions,
Thanks to the cyber postman arriving first thing and the human version following shortly after, Windswept now has both digital and vinyl versions and has spent the morning giving himself a huge FerryFix.
After several listens, Windswept thinks this a great addition to the canon and has awarded it his cherished and sort after wwww rating.
He also declares the title track an absolute out and out stonker (well done Ollie!) and is also particularly liking 'Soldier Of Fortune', 'Send In The Clowns', 'Johnny & Mary' and 'Driving Me Wild'.
Although he doesn't find the album deeply innovating in the way that say a 'TJA' was, he does find it a solid return to terra firma with our hero ploughing a familiar furrow with the multi-layered soundscapes that are second nature to our hero and Rhett Davies and which are guaranteed to transport any self respecting Ferryista to Ferryville in nano seconds.
As per normal, a cast of thousands have been thrown into the soup, Ferry has stirred slowly, adding ingredients as he saw fit and we are eventually served with an extremely intoxicating brew. That said, by the time the album is finished, Windswept would hazard a guess that even those that have played on the opus have trouble recognising who's who in the zoo and replicating some of the tracks live is definitely going to be something of a challenge.
All in all,this is probably a more complete album than 'Olympia' and very much has the consistency of style embodied in the noir trilogy ( B&G,BN & Mamouna).
If it has a fault it is probably that some of the best tracks have been in the oven a little too long and suffer from being a touch overcooked. For instance, the fabulous 'Send In The Clowns' was doing just fine until Bollywood showed up. Nobody loves strings more than Windswept but sometimes, less can actually be more.
Finally, now that Windswept has the actual item in his hot sweaty little hands, a word on the controversial — at least on this site — artwork. It is in it's vinyl glory, quite beautiful and reflects a retro style that is actually very appropriate for the album and for a 69 year old icon that is quietly saying; "I was good then and I'm still good now".
We are so lucky to have him and it's fair to say, he's knocked one out of the park again with 'Avonmore'. Even Mrs.W is loving it!
must fly Windswept has to play the album again and start planing his wardrobe for June's fandango.
a bien tôt,
W2

Je suis d`accord avec M. Windswept - comme toujours!
"Avonmore" is my favourite. Credits to Ollie as well. I hope to see him next year back where he belongs - in the band. (That goes for Colin and Chris, too,)
After "Mamouna", "Avonmore" might become my second all time favourite album.
Someone complained about lack of variety since "Avalon". Well, think about "Mamouna", "As time goes by", "Frantic", "Jazz Ages"... Who else but BF has such a colourful, diverse, interesting ouvre?

I love this album, deeply. Loop de Li is the feeling of the entire Avalon and Mamouna albums distilled into 4 minutes. Every track is a winner but I've fallen in love with Special Kind of Guy the most, it's heartbreaking and so full of regret and yearning, it may sound strange, but after playing that I viewed my beautiful girlfriend with fresh eyes and adoration.

One Night Stand is so funky it had me jigging around to jigdom come.

I think the haunting trumpet on SITC may actually be a reference/coda to Love is the Drug.

Got the denim shirt and spotted tie on at work today.

Thank you Bryan, you're the greatest.