This is, surprisingly, Judie Tzuke’s 24th album since her 1979 debut with Welcome to the Cruise. After early stints with Elton John’s Rocket Records and later Chrysalis, Polydor, Columbia, then her own Big Moon label, it follows on from 2023’s Jude the Unsinkable which emerged out of the Covid years and her own confrontation with cancer.
She’s had just the one chart entry in all those years, at No 16 in the UK charts for “Stay with me Til Dawn”, but anyone who heard that way back then, or saw her on Top of the Pops, or heard it in the decades later, tend to not forget that moment. Her voice is amazing, her songs well crafted and well played. It’s surprising that she hasn't had a bigger career.
Now or Never is a slice of classic-era songwriter rock, with her husband Paul Muggleton co-producing, and featuring regular collaborators Mike Paxman and Rhino Edwards (and daughter Bailey). It opens with a cascade of “whooos”, a tumbling bass run and driving keyboards that kick off the banger that is “All the Matters”, a song that fastens on to you and won’t let go over repeated plays.
Second track “So Hollywood” dawns in a mist of musical sheen, and there are times here that the production teeters across the line of “overblown” – such as on the reiterating, ponderous chorus of “Keep the Faith”, complete with wailing 1970s guitar solo and the kind of spray-on glow that only Pledge provides. But the voice is still great, and on the aptly titled “Strange Days” with its minor chords, and the sprightly, stripped-back leave-taking song “Better Plan”, it soars on soft electric keys and a juicy coupling of drums and bass lines. The album’s emotionally incisive, intelligent lyrics are a draw, and in a parallel universe, this would be a big hit all over the radio. So, what kind of world are we living in?
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