Albums of the week

Robbie Williams, The Heavy Entertainment Show

POP

Robbie Williams, The Heavy Entertainment Show (Sony)

The cover shot of Robbie Williams’s 11th solo album depicts the star in a boxing ring face-off with himself – perhaps an illustration of Williams’s ongoing struggle between his musical instincts and second-guessing his public’s expectations. This stylistic insecurity has been repeatedly reflected in his genre-hopping back catalogue, with its consequent mixed responses, but it doesn’t stop The Heavy Entertainment Show throwing a dazzling ...