Robbie Williams' last few singles have been genuinely different and inventive forms of pop music - it seems that Stephen Duffy has raised Robbie's game by producing such quirky numbers as Radio and Tripping. It seems to have worked as well - there's certainly no chance of him joining his former colleagues on the upcoming Take That reunion.
Advertising Space has been described by Williams as his own Candle In The Wind, and the atmospheric ballad is sure to have mobile phones raised in the air during next year's stadium gigs. It's expertedly done, with some clever lyrics about Elvis Presley ("I've seen your daughter, man she's cute, I was scared but I wanted to"), and the chorus is sure to cause as many people to swoon as Angels did.
Yet it's a disappointment by Robbie's standards. There's something a bit hollow about it, a bit perfunctory and it lacks that maverick touch that the best of his material possesses. A safe bet for the Christmas number one for sure, but he can do, and will do, much better songs than this.
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