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(EMI)Gary Barlow and co ditch the synth-pop and roam from swirling strings to ska on their laudable if patchy latest outingOn the curious Days I Hate Myself, the sixth track on enduring manband Take That’s ninth album, Gary Barlow, Howard Donald and Mark Owen dip their toes into ska. Ska! It’s a surprising, not entirely satisfying move on an album that takes more left turns than you’d expect from a band who could easily ignore new music altogether and rely on a discography woven tightly into UK pop’s DNA.Recorded mainly in Nashville and New York, This Life eschews the anonymous synth-pop stylings of recent albums III and Wonderland to focus mainly on dusky 70s MOR and rustic pop-rock a la Elton John. So we get rich harmonies and barroom piano flurries on the title track, while single Windows marries a classic, richly melodic Barlow chorus to plucked acoustic guitar and big swirling strings. Continue reading...