Legendary rock producer Jeff Lynne is back with new material from his band Electric Light Orchestra, now dubbed Jeff Lynne's ELO, and the band has a new single "When The Night Comes" off the forthcoming album Alone In The Universe. The album is set for a Nov. 13 release date, according to Columbia Records, marking the band's first album since 2001's Zoom.
"When the Night Comes" proves the band isn't looking to simply rehash the style of music that gained the group its popularity in the '70s and '80s. The song is notably less orchestral than some of ELO's earlier hits such as "Strange Magic" and "Boy Blue." However, the song is not devoid of those orchestral elements as the strings provide a nice background on the chorus as Lynne sings with his comfortingly familiar voice above a pulsing reggae guitar line.
ELO has always had a strong rock catalog, with hits like "Do Ya," "Evil Woman," and "Ma-Ma-Ma Belle" to back up the more adventurous tunes in their repertoire. The style of this new single and the group's previously released track "When I Was a Boy" suggests this will be an eclectic album.
"When I Was a Boy" sounds as if it were inspired more by a Beatles piano ballad than reggae. At any moment you could imagine Lynne breaking out into "Hey Jude."
ELO may have been inactive for the past 14 years, but Lynne has stayed busy in that time. He produced Regina Spector's 2009 album Far as well as Joe Walsh's solo record Analog Man before releasing his own solo album titled Long Wave in 2012, that was well talked about in classic rock circles.
According to Billboard, Lynne will be touring in support of the album and even make it to the U.S. for a number of dates. No shows have been officially announced.
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