Released on 16/07/2001
Label: Polydor

Will Cast be forever seen as Britpop nearly men? Not if they have anything to do with it. For John Power and the chaps have ditched their tired indie guitar sound in favour of, well whatever they could get their hands on really. Talk about going from one extreme to another. 'Desert Drought' features the 'works' - namely horns, flutes, electronic loops and gospel singers and, of course, Power's rather grating vocals. It must have been a squash in the studio!

It's not that the track is bad because it isn't. It's just severely overcooked. The problem is there's just too much going on at once that it mashes your head without leaving anything of note behind. By trying to be so different Cast have compromised their simplistic appeal in pursuit of the wacky.

If it had been any other band it probably would have been applauded for innovation but with Cast's past record this will be seen as smacking of desperation, which is a shame.

    by Chris Heath