It has been 16 years since Fleetwood Mac's last studio album, the era-defining Tango in the Night. Bearing in mind the romantic complications between the two photogenic singers, Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks, and the departure of Christine McVie, it's no wonder the follow-up has been tricky. This 18-track opus is a combination of Buckingham and Nicks's solo efforts and sounds like it.
Though their voices still melt in sublime harmonies and seamless vocals, lyrically they are oil meets water, the broadly politically brushing against the profoundly personal. Buckingham seeks to reinvent the air guitar in dated soft-rock diatribes. What's The World Coming To is mild subversion wrapped up in radio-friendly jingle-jangle, Peacemaker a muddle of screeching axe solos and middle-aged optimism. It's Nicks, with her witchy voice, head in the clouds and self-esteem on the floor, who renders this reunion worthwhile. The trademark textured sound remains glistening, but the lack of consistency proves tiring.
