The Boyzone singer’s tenth solo album is romantic and sincere in its intentions, but lacks in conviction to make it truly successful.
Having recently remarried, Ronan Keating is still very much in the honeymoon period both in terms of his personal life as his career.
Time of My Life has a more relaxed and romantic vibe to it then perhaps some of his other albums have had and to an extent it works, with its country and blues influences clear throughout – but perhaps overall just lacking slightly in emotional engagement vocally.
Just by reading the titles of the songs on the album from ‘As Long As We’re in Love’ to ‘Shine Like Gold’, you get a real sense of the romantic qualities of the album – before you have even listened to a note.
The strength of the album really lies in the stripped back and poetic qualities of the songs, that is gentle and flows quietly from one song to the next without disrupting your own internal thoughts and ideas as the album progresses.
However, the problem is that it doesn’t provide you with a different perspective of love that we haven’t heard before. So despite the wonderful soulful qualities that Keating brings to the album – there isn’t a strong message about the album to take away from listening to it.
But there are still some worthy tracks to listen to such as ‘Let Me Love You’ and ‘Falling Slowly’ (from the musical Once – which Keating starred in towards the end of its run) both sincere and emotional in a perfect way.
It is an album that is completely different to anything that Keating has released before, heading back to his roots in Ireland and completely stripping back vocally to be a little more open with his fans through his music – which works really well on ‘In Your Arms’ and ‘Breathe’ but can come across as trying too hard on ‘Time of My Life’.
Vocally it has plenty of charm and charisma about it, but sounds slightly lacking in emotional connection in places such as ‘Don’t Think I Remember’, sounding as though Keating could have got even more involved with the song and drawing out the emotion even more.
But overall, it a strong offering from the Boyzone singer and offers fans something different and a little more soulful to listen to. A refreshing album to listen to.
Time of My Life is available to buy and download on Amazon now.