Read My Lips is above all the work of an angered man. As an activist for gay rights and member of Act Up New York, Jimmy Somerville is among a certain number of progressive musicians, often gay themselves, that refuse to get political when they make a record. For Somerville, music is political. With his counter tenor voice, the former lead singer of Bronski Beat and The Commuanrds has decided with Read My Lips to launch himself into a joyful campaign filled with dance rhythms. On the title track for this debut solo album, the Scottish singer begs the listener to take action and make their voice heard (“We’ll shout as loud as we can”). Along the way, you may notice a nod towards disco hit No More Tears by Barbra Streisand and Diana Ross (“Enough s enough”). Similarities are heard in And You Never Thought This Could Happen to You (“There’s a power we command, if united we stand, fighting for our rights”). But, for all that, the album is also a remarkably well-constructed artistic work, with smart and elegant references to the 1960s where we are reminded of hits by Burt Bacharach in Don’t Know What to Do, while covers of the Bee Gee’s To Love Somebody and François Hardy/Serge Gainsbourg’s Comment the dire adieu shine with a gleeful energy. Concerning the latter, while maintaining certain retro flavours (disco strings and trumpet solo), Jimmy Somerville and his accomplice June Miles-Kingston prove with this 1989 hit that they are the kings of reimagining their covers. The contents of this double album - which includes the hit You Make Me Feel - corresponds with the 2012 rerelease (with 17 additional tracks compared to the original record published on CD) © Nicolas Magenham/Qobuz