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**Spandau Ballet - TRUE**
★★★★☆

In the annals of New Romantic excess, few bands embodied the movement's contradictions quite like Spandau Ballet. By 1983, the Islington quintet had already weathered the transition from Blitz Club peacocks to chart-bothering sophisticates, but it was with their third album that Tony Hadley's operatic wail and Gary Kemp's increasingly ambitious songwriting would find their most enduring expression.

The road to TRUE began in the aftermath of Diamond, an album that had seen the band grappling with their post-punk origins while eyeing the mainstream. The early eighties had been kind to Spandau Ballet – "To Cut a Long Story Short" had announced their arrival with typical New Romantic bombast, while "Chant No. 1" proved they could make the dancefloor move. But by 1982, the scene that birthed them was fragmenting, and bands faced a stark choice: evolve or become footnotes in pop history.

Enter the Compass Point Studios in Nassau, where the band decamped with producers Steve Jolley and Tony Swain. The Bahamas might seem an unlikely location for five London lads to craft their magnum opus, but the tropical setting seemed to liberate Spandau Ballet from their more mannered tendencies. What emerged was their most cohesive statement – a collection that married their art-school pretensions with an unashamed embrace of American soul and funk influences.

The album's masterstroke arrives early with its title track, a sweeping ballad that transforms Gary Kemp's romantic yearning into something approaching the sublime. Built around a deceptively simple guitar arpeggios and Steve Norman's tasteful saxophone, "True" finds Hadley in full crooner mode, his voice soaring over lyrics that manage to be both deeply personal and universally resonant. It's a song that shouldn't work – its earnestness borders on the preposterous – yet it remains utterly compelling, a testament to the band's ability to invest even their most overwrought moments with genuine emotion.

Elsewhere, the funk-driven "Gold" showcases the band's rhythmic sophistication, with John Keeble's precise drumming and Martin Kemp's elastic basslines providing the foundation for another of Gary's increasingly confident compositions. The track's celebration of material success might have seemed crass in other hands, but Spandau Ballet invest it with enough wit and self-awareness to transcend mere aspiration. "Lifeline" continues this exploration of contemporary soul, while "Communication" finds the band at their most politically engaged, addressing the breakdown of human connection with typical New Romantic obliqueness.

The album's production deserves particular praise – Jolley and Swain's work creates a sonic landscape that feels both of its time and timeless. The use of space and dynamics gives these songs room to breathe, while the integration of electronic elements never feels forced or gimmicky. This is sophisticated pop music that doesn't sacrifice accessibility for artistic credibility.

Not everything here reaches those peaks – "Pleasure" veers dangerously close to lounge-lizard territory, while "Foundation" feels undercooked despite its ambitious arrangement. But these minor missteps are overshadowed by the album's considerable strengths, particularly Gary Kemp's development as a songwriter. His ability to craft melodies that feel both immediate and lasting had never been more evident.

The commercial success that followed – "True" topped charts across Europe and established the band as global stars – sometimes obscures the album's artistic achievements. This was Spandau Ballet's creative high-water mark, a record that successfully bridged the gap between underground credibility and mainstream acceptance without compromising either.

Four decades on, TRUE endures as both a perfect encapsulation of early eighties sophistication and a reminder that the New Romantic movement produced music of lasting value. While some of their contemporaries became trapped by their own stylistic conceits, Spandau Ballet used this album to transcend their origins, creating something that feels genuinely timeless.

The album's influence can be heard in everyone from Duran Duran's later work to contemporary acts like The 1975, proof that great pop music transcends its immediate context. TRUE remains Spandau Ballet's finest hour – a gleaming monument to ambition, craftsmanship, and the enduring power of a perfectly crafted song.