American rock band Blondie is set to release their eleventh studio album, Pollinator, on May 5th 2017.

By Jane Howkins.  

Blondie have a new album Pollinator out in May, and we have exclusive access to it! We’re pleased to announce that the new wave band are still very much relevant to today’s music industry, and Pollinator proves this, being a step up from last album Ghosts of Download (released in 2013).

There was nothing wrong with GOD, and most of the songs on the album were of quality, however it didn’t quite flow right to our ears. Pollinator on the other hand is near perfect. There are some songs that don’t seem to completely work (Best Day Ever gets on our nerves at times), but overall, this is the sound of a band that are more invigorated than ever.

There will be a few people reading this that haven’t listened to anything by the band since their glory days in the 70s and 80s, and there’s nothing wrong with that (the band did break up for a while, and have kept somewhat of a lower profile since), but it should be clear that they don’t sound quite the same as they used to. Debbie Harry’s vocal range is not as large as it used to be, with her voice generally staying at a lower pitch. The production is also a lot cleaner, and this might sound a little odd for those not used to modern Blondie, but overall, the songs on Pollinator are some of the best the band have ever produced.

It’s actually amazing that they’ve still got so many ideas, as after all this time, one would expect that creativity to have diminished. Blondie clearly seem to be the exception to the rule, with Pollinator showing a band that still have a punk spirit and an innovative ear, even after all these years. Long may they continue!