Consequences

"Alexis Petridis's album of the week" - "For all the lyrical sensitivity, the most striking thing about Consequences is its musical confidence ... There's the inventiveness of Armatrading's own arrangements and production: the rhythms shift around from ska-influenced on Better Life to the pattering hi-hats of dance music on Like; she unexpectedly deploys an explosion of very Queen-esque multitracked guitar amid the intriguingly abstract stew of dubby bass, jazz piano interjections and scattered backing vocals that constitutes the title track. And there's the refusal to do the thing that a lot of artists in Armatrading's position - nearing the 50th anniversary of her debut album, with a loyal and longstanding fanbase - would do, namely comfortingly revisit her past. Instead, Consequences essays pop head on, without for a second sounding like a heritage artist trying to glom on to current trends".

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