As long awaited reunions go, this is easily the dullest.
It ought not to have been. With hundreds of millions of words and column inches given over to the feud between Robbie Williams and Gary Barlow, the first time they're musically together again should have been a Doherty/Barat esque bit of songwriting. All spine tingling double entendre. Instead of this, they've cooked up a drab bit of pop music. It's not terrible, it's something far far worse, it's smug.
Whilst this track was never going to be as good as the sum of its parts, you'd at least expect them to go all out. A big, lush orchestral production, with lyrics of betrayal and spite. Not this, a plodding bit of melancholia. They don't duck the option of exploring their history, but there's no real feeling, no anger, no hint at the resentment Barlow must have felt when Williams became the biggest pop star in the world or when Williams was cast out by Take That. They skirt around the issues, smiling coyly in a way that says "Look at us, haven't we done well" rather than lay their souls open. Even the drippy reference to feeling bad at seeing the other’s posters up in a toy shop, smacks as being what rhymed with the previous line rather than a genuine anecdote.
Musically its more Phil Collins than anything else. Predictable and sappy. Really not worth the wait.
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