Music

Once upon a time, on a dancefloor far, far away, Donna Summer was the queen of disco. She sang songs like ‘I Feel Love’ and ‘Bad Girls’, and made albums with fairytale motifs and throbbing basslines. Gay men worshipped her. Then, in 1991, Summer was (wrongly) rumoured to have said A Very Bad Thing and released A Very Bad Album called ‘Mistaken Identity’. People burned her records and went to worship at the feet of Madonna instead.

But that wasn’t the end of the story. ‘Your queen is back,’ announces Summer on one of the tracks from this, her first studio album in 17 years. And for those old enough to remember when disco divas had voices as well as attitude, it’s a thrilling prospect. Lead single ‘I’m a Fire’ is classic Summer – big, bombastic and bound to be a huge hit at circuit parties from here to Miami. ‘Crayons’ features guest vocals by Ziggy Marley and has quantifiable ‘soundtrack to the summer’ appeal, with Summer coming over like a more mature Rhianna. ‘Drive Down Brazil’ reworks the bossa nova for the all-important Latin market, while ‘Mr Music’ has Summer plugged into her iPod and urging everyone to rewind to the time when she was always ‘on the radio’. There’s a lot of triumphalist posturing, but it’s pulled off with such aplomb you almost think it’s the Jubilee era again. Your queen is back and no mistake.