Joe Jackson has come a long way. Raised in a working-class family in Portsmouth, he emerged as one of the leading stars of the New Wave movement back in the late ‘70s. After many years living in New York, he briefly returned to the UK before relocating to Berlin.

Jackson’s a snake of the music scene, adept at shedding his past. After the Joe Jackson Band, three out of the four original members reuniting for this latest album, broke up for the first time he responded with Jumpin’ Jive, a collection of covers of old-style swing and blues tunes from the likes of Cab Calloway, Lester Young, Glenn Miller, and Louis Jordan. Yet, on Rain, where ‘Too Tough’ invites comparison with Ben Folds more than it does Elvis Costello, ‘King Pleasure Time’ recalls why Jackson was dubbed as punk’s answer to Billy Joel.

Now in his 50s, Joe Jackson has come a long way. And he’s an artist who has matured rather than declined with age. This is one Rain you’ll want to expose yourself to rather than shelter from.

(4½/5)