Robbie Williams – Swing When You’re Winning (Vinyl LP)

Swing When You’re Winning was inspired by the praise Robbie Williams received for his contribution to the soundtrack for Bridget Jones’s Diary. Recorded with an 18-piece band in Frank Sinatra‘s old stomping grounds, the Capitol Records Studio in Los Angeles, this collection of finger-snappin’, Rat Pack standards and new material features plenty of guest collaborations, such as the much-hyped Nicole Kidman effort on Sinatra’s “Something Stupid.” The tracks reflect the karaoke sessions of Williams’s childhood in Stoke-on-Trent, England, and have been given the full “tribute” treatment, with no funny business going on in the production to take away from their classic appeal. There’s never been any doubt that Williams sees himself as an entertainer in the most traditional sense of the word (not to mention as a bit of a swinger), and his old-time-crooner fantasies are certainly given free rein to charm the pants off us all on this classy album.