The title
World's Strongest Man is a feint from
Gaz Coombes, a rocking singer/songwriter who has never been known to avoid humor. Not that he's in a particularly laughing mood on
World's Strongest Man. Underneath the title boast,
Coombes is exploring the outer reaches of his psyche, camouflaging his anxiety underneath shimmering synths, drum loops, and guitars that aren't so much strummed as used for waves of textures. Once the giddiest of melodicists,
Coombes is pretty restrained on
World's Strongest Man: the hooks are there, but they unfold slowly, either under whispers or cool walls of sound. Listen closely, and it's possible to hear how
Coombes spends the album wrestling either with his demons or his middle age. Although he may allude to digital disconnection, he's also moving forward, embracing the sounds of the late 2010s -- like so many records of 2018, it is clearly cut together on computer, with dense rhythms competing with smooth surfaces -- but also not chasing pop trends. Instead, it's a mature modern album, one filled with questions but also curiously settled, a combination that makes
World's Strongest Man more rewarding with each listen. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine
![Why Do Birds Sing? [30th Anniversary Deluxe Edition]](http://prodimage.images-bn.com/pimages/0888072269125_p0_v1_s90x140.jpg "Why Do Birds Sing? [30th Anniversary Deluxe Edition]")
