Bryan Ferry

Olympia EMI **

There's no denying it: Bryan Ferry is, as they say, "getting on" in years. Is the Roxy Music man past it at 65? Most of his 13th solo studio album suggests that Ferry is bereft of ideas, as the overriding tone is one of gloomy, meandering soft rock. Roping in a bevy of guests, including Nile Rodgers and his old Roxy Music bandmates, makes scant difference; the only collaboration that really zings is Groove Armada's clubby manipulation of Shameless, while Scissor Sisters's turn on Heartache by Numbersis frankly awful. There are moments of ghostly ambience, as heard on Tender Is the Nightand a cover of Tim Buckley's Song for the Siren, but overall Olympiais instantly forgettable stuff from a songwriter who is surely capable of better. Maybe Bryan's ferry really has sailed. See bryanferry.com

Download tracks: Shameless, Tender Is the Night