As the third new Blondie album of the 2010s, Pollinator falls into something of a familiar pattern.
Ever since 2011's Panic of Girls, the revived Blondie have been determined to fit within the confines of contemporary music, riding the remnants of the new wave revival and emphasizing electronics.
Unlike Ghosts of Download, which was buried as a second disc with a collection of re-recordings of greatest hits in 2014, Pollinator pushes splashy guest stars.
Blood Orange co-writes "Long Time" with Debbie Harry, Joan Jett guests on the opener "Doom or Destiny," Strokes guitarist Nick Valensi appears on "Best Day Ever," which he co-wrote with Sia Furler, and the group cover both Johnny Marr ("My Monster") and Charli XCX ("Gravity").
That's a lot of cooks, so it's not entirely a surprise that Pollinator can sometimes seem overheated, only settling into a simmer on "When I Gave Up on You" (which also features a guest in the form of the Gregory Brothers).
That said, the sheets of synths and sly nods to the group's disco-punk past don't seem desperate, no matter how aggressive the production is.
There's almost a charm in the way Blondie push so hard: it's hard to think of another legacy act so determined to play a part of the modern musical dialogue without losing their identity.
If they're not always successful, there's nevertheless something ingratiating about the ambition.
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Doom or DestinyDebbie Harry, Chris Stein | Blondie | Play | 02:54 | 6 MB | 22 MB |
| 2 | Long TimeDebbie Harry, Devonté Hynes | Blondie | Play | 04:35 | 10 MB | 36 MB |
| 3 | Already NakedLaurel Katz-Bohen, Matthew Katz-Bohen, Lucian Piane | Blondie | Play | 04:06 | 9 MB | 31 MB |
| 4 | FunAdiam Feireiss, Erik Hassle, Daniel Ledinsky, Dave Sitek | Blondie | Play | 04:19 | 9 MB | 34 MB |
| 5 | My MonsterJohnny Marr | Blondie | Play | 03:29 | 8 MB | 28 MB |
| 6 | Best Day EverSia Furler, Nick Valensi | Blondie | Play | 03:58 | 9 MB | 31 MB |
| 7 | GravityCharlotte Aitchison, Dimitri Tikovoi | Blondie | Play | 03:47 | 8 MB | 29 MB |
| 8 | When I Gave Up on YouAndrew Gregory, Michael Gregory | Blondie | Play | 04:03 | 9 MB | 29 MB |
| 9 | Love LevelDebbie Harry, Chris Stein | Blondie | Play | 04:19 | 9 MB | 35 MB |
| 10 | Too MuchLaurel Katz-Bohen, Matthew Katz-Bohen | Blondie | Play | 03:08 | 7 MB | 24 MB |
| 11 | FragmentsAdam Johnston | Blondie | Play | 13:33 | 31 MB | 86 MB |
| 52 mins | 119 MB | |||||
| 52 mins | 392 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Charlotte Aitchison | Composer |
| 2 | Blondie | Primary Artist |
| 3 | Clem Burke | Drums, Group Member |
| 4 | Greg Calbi | Mastering Engineer |
| 5 | John Congleton | Producer |
| 6 | Rich Costey | Mixing |
| 7 | Shepard Fairey | Design |
| 8 | Adiam Feireiss | Composer |
| 9 | Leigh Foxx | Group Member, Guitar (Bass) |
| 10 | Sia Furler | Composer |
| 11 | Guy Furrow | Photography |
| 12 | Andrew Gregory | Composer |
| 13 | Michael Gregory | Composer |
| 14 | Debbie Harry | Composer, Group Member, Vocals |
| 15 | Erik Hassle | Composer |
| 16 | Andy Hayes | Layout |
| 17 | Kabir Hermon | Engineer |
| 18 | Tony Hoffer | Additional Production |
| 19 | Devonté Hynes | Composer |
| 20 | Adam Johnston | Composer |
| 21 | Laurel Katz-Bohen | Composer |
| 22 | Matthew Katz-Bohen | Composer, Group Member, Keyboards, Piano |
| 23 | Tommy Kessler | Group Member, Guitar |
| 24 | Daniel Ledinsky | Composer |
| 25 | Johnny Marr | Composer |
| 26 | Korda Marshall | A&R |
| 27 | Lucian Piane | Composer |
| 28 | Dave Sitek | Composer |
| 29 | Chris Stein | Composer, Group Member, Guitar |
| 30 | Dimitri Tikovoi | Composer |
| 31 | Nick Valensi | Composer |
| Quality | Format | Encoding | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| CD Quality | FLAC | 16bit 44.1kHz | FLAC is an audio coding format which uses lossless compression. Digital audio in FLAC format has a smaller size and retains the same quality of the original Compact Disc (CD). |