After 6 decades in the music industry and 24 studio albums, you’d think Cher could rest on her laurels, which is exactly what she has done for the past ten years. Well, if you discount the Las Vegas residency, winning a Golden Globe for Best Original Song and winning an Emmy. Somehow amongst all that, though, she’s found time to record a new album, Closer To The Truth, which recently became the highest charting of her career across the pond.
It’s opened by a thumping dance number ‘Woman’s World’, and it proves Cher’s still laying it down to the young’uns like she did back when we were all in nappies with 1997 stormer ‘Believe’. Over a soaring melody she declares, ‘I’m a strong enough to rise above, this is a woman’s world.’ It’s followed up to the halfway point of the 14-track album by a smattering of other EDM tracks, the best of which is the towering ‘Lovers Forever’. ‘I can show you what no human eyes have seen,’ she warns. ‘Surrender to me now, and we’ll be lovers for all time,’ she tempts, proving she’s still saucy at 67. Cher’s in her element here with this aggressive 80s military dance music.
Things suddenly go a bit bizarre as we lurch from EDM to twinkly banjo. While ‘I Walk Alone’ is underscored by some dance production in a Taylor Swift way, the effect is still very jarring. The pace slumps even more with a few ballads, but Cher’s strong vocal keeps you interested, especially on ‘Favorite Scars’ where she takes the ridiculous lyrics, “Love’s when you crash trying to hang glide,” and makes them serious.
Closer To The Truth gets truly country on the second cut from the album, ‘I Hope You Find It’, a gorgeous and contemporary sounding ballad that adds to the sadness of the second half of songs. ‘And I hope you get this message, that I’m leaving for you, cause I’d hate that you left, without hearing the words that I needed you to,’ she says, bidding farewell to a love. This loss is one of the strongest themes of Closer To The Truth’s second, Nashville-orientated half.
Overall, Closer To The Truth is two EPs crashed into one album. Not that they aren’t fairly stellar EPs of their respective genre. The EDM half holds up well against anything Gaga and Co. are churning out, with ‘Woman’s World’ in particular reminding them all that Cher kicked off the auto-tuned dance song revolution when they were all still dreaming of being stars. The country half too is pretty strong. Even if the lead single from that half is a cover, Cher’s emotive voice lends itself well to the genre. It’s just a shame that the effect is so massively jarring midway through as she lunges from genre to genre. A little more astute blending might have worked wonders in turning Closer To The Truth from an album of two halves, into a fabulous overall collection.