Robbie Williams

Swing When You’re Winning
by Michael McCarthy

Robbie Williams has followed up his Sing When You’re Winning album with a collection of swing/jazz/big band tunes entitled – wink, wink – Swing When You’re Winning. It’s supposedly inspired by the kudos he received for his rendition of “Have You Met Miss Jones?” from last year’s Bridget Jones’s Diary soundtrack, which also appears here, but his voice and smirking attitude settle into these songs – most of which are covers – so well that you have to suspect that he’s been itching to make this record since his Take That daze (pun intended). “Mac the Knife” and “Mr. Bojangles” never sounded better, thanks in part to the many talented musicians who worked on the project, including The London Session Orchestra led by Gavyn Wright. Other highlights include “Somethin’ Stupid,” a silly yet sultry duet with Nicole Kidman, and an amusing duet with Jon Lovitz called “Well Did You Evah?” Another noteworthy duet is “It Was a Very Good Year” with the late Frank Sinatra. The reminiscing lyrics suit Robbie as well as they ever suited Sinatra and, heck, one could argue that they never suited Sinatra better, which gives the song a slightly disturbing vibe and not so much because Sinatra is no longer with us but because our boy Robbie still is and he’s already singing this.