The Proclaimers: Life With You review

Bespectacled Scottish pop stars return to fray with toned-down, but no less pleasing MOR

Presumably to their chagrin, Scottish brothers Craig and Charlie Reid are best known for two ubiquitous songs. Meanwhile, their recorded output is significant and extensive and Life With You, their first release since 2005’s Restless Soul, is their seventh album. Although their finest collections spawned the hit singles I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles) and Letter From America, these are more notable for the vein of agitation, politics and independence shot through them. Life With You is a more mellow affair.

"We’re not barbarians, like we were way back when" the duo sing on one of the album’s comparatively rare moments of social comment. Life With You consists mostly of tender, slick songs about love, romance, loss and lust. This time around, the focus is mostly on humour and racy poetics. The high levels of production don’t ever draw attention away from the uniqueness of the vocals, melodies and instrumentation – they still sound as good as they ever did – and while it would be nice to see a bit more rawness in the content, this is another fine effort from the Reid brothers.

The Proclaimers: This Is The Story The Proclaimers: Sunshine On Leith Bill Drummond: The Man