Anyone shuddering at the thought of Charlie, James, and Matt, now in their 30s, adhering to nostalgia and thrashing out twelve mindless pop songs about teenage teacher fantasies and an underwater future, will be relieved that ‘Night Driver’ couldn’t be further from anything the band managed over a decade ago. Everything that Busted represented before has been pushed aside and replaced by a neon-pink, ‘midnight’ aesthetic, more akin to Nicolas Winding Refn’s cult film Drive than anything that would feature on the cover of Kerrang!
The film noir, nighttime mood transitions to the music seamlessly, but in this case that may not be such a good thing. Working in LA with renowned songwriter and producer James Fields (Jonas Brothers, Pink, Miley Cyrus), the tracks that fill ‘Night Driver’ sometimes feel too polished and pruned to fulfil any potential they may have had.
Given that the charm of Busted has always been their unpretentious simplicity, ‘Night Driver’ seems to suffer in all the places it shouldn’t. Both over packed and overproduced, the team behind these songs have forgotten the essence of what made this band work and are intentionally driving it as far from the previous concept as possible in an attempt to prove that Busted still have something to offer the modern music landscape.
The synth-heavy, gleaming energy of the album’s title track, as well as some dynamite choruses throughout, manage to offer ‘Night Driver’ some glimpses of promise, but it’s too detached from the Busted of old to get fans really excited about this release.
That said, Busted have managed something genuinely different and unforeseen with their latest effort. Taking clear influence from the triumph of bands like the 1975 and Bastille, Busted’s moody, electronic descent back into the mainstream is by no means terrible and offers some genuine insight into how all three members have been shaped, influenced and transformed by their decade apart. There’s certainly no nostalgia to be had here, but nothing earth shattering either. Instead, Busted deliver a well though out, slightly ambitious attempt, that may well turn a newer, fresher faced crowd onto the band.
SEAN LITTLEWOOD