Red Hot Chili Pepper's 'The Getaway' review

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If we were to treat last album I'm With You as a bedding in project for guitarist Josh Klinghoffer replacing John Frusciante then The Getaway makes sense as a continuation. Their 11th studio album release is an accomplished transition of the Chili's reclined style that peered through the blinds five years ago. 

Now it's not to say that they have tore up their rickety-bass-slapping style and Keidis' has stopped spouting just about anything that thematically fits; each Chilli's song is as hallmarked the next one, but the Danger Mouse produced The Getaway is engineered in a less-frontal capacity than past ventures with Rick Rubin. 

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When Frusciante's godly digits were taken out of the equation in 2009, you'd hope to the lord that lies above that the next man didn't try to emulate his string-pinging might. Thankfully Klinghoffer is as a direct replacement as they come, but there are still signs of their past in this new evolution. 

'Dark Necessities' is about as close as you're going to get to Stadium Arcadium era Chilli's; Flea's bass line even comes off as a loungey rip of 'Can't Stop': albeit an informed decision when measured up with the songs piano-dabbling mid-section that paves the way for a Klingoffer catwalk to finish things off. 

There's definitely a new-found expansiveness to their sound; 'Goodbye Angels' dips its fingers in reverb-heavy blues, 'Feasting In The Flowers', a song about a dead friend, prunes gospel harmonies and harks country tones. The J-Dilla name-checking 'Detroit' shows another hand, sounding like Tom Morello checking in with a heavy riff. 

Introspection has, and always will be central to their song-writing. Well, aside from Kiedis periodically flaunting his hyper-sexualised thoughts: the dreamy-synth propelled 'Go Robot' includes, "I want to thank you and spank you on your silver skin, robots don't care where I've been". Interesting. 

But if anything, it's loss or personal battles that often saturates their lyrical projections, which is why there newfangled approach carresses a melancholic story-telling more fittingly than slap in-your-face funk.   

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