{"id":28511,"date":"2026-05-27T05:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-05-27T04:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/?p=28511"},"modified":"2026-05-22T23:34:22","modified_gmt":"2026-05-22T22:34:22","slug":"one-the-juggler-imperial-way-cadiz-music","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/?p=28511","title":{"rendered":"One The Juggler – ‘Imperial Way’ (Cadiz Music)"},"content":{"rendered":"
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“May you live in interesting times” is often used as a threat as much as a wish. The world couldn’t get much stranger, but the continued resurgence of One The Juggler is something to rejoice. Two years after ‘Memoir Days’,  they’re back with ‘Imperial Way’, and, if anything, it’s an even stronger set of songs this time round. I don’t say that lightly, because I love the previous album. For me, it was the natural successor to ‘Nearly A Sin’.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The lushly coloured album cover suggests the treats that lie within, and it doesn’t disappoint. ‘Imperial Way Intro’ gives a taste of what to expect, before ‘Fantastic Fun’ reminds us of their way with a tune that hooks you immediately. Sham’s voice is instantly recognisable, and, for sure, the Bowie-style melodies remain throughout. No complaints here, when it’s always been part of their sound. Aim high! ‘Jennifer Glows’ is a classy response to ‘Jennifer Heaven’, it’s hard to imagine any other band writing these songs. For long-term fans, everything you’re waiting for is here.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 I imagine Ronno would smile at the vocal of ‘I’m Only A Man’ echoing ‘Only After Dark’, but Colin Minchin’s guitar work here is perfect. A tribute, rather than a rip-off. Gorgeous stuff. The piano-led ‘Wait For You To Come’ should get you waving your scarf from side to side, with a flavour of Mott in their pomp prime. ‘Calico’ could be about a cat, or not; “should I take her in?”. It’s moments like these that I realise Jonny Cola And The A-Grades were their natural successors. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00a0‘Twist City’ adds some groove to proceedings, while ‘Libertine’ slows things down with more deft melodies from Mr Minchin. A touch of class. ‘Hypnotised (Again)’ sounds, well, like classic One The Juggler. Between Sham and Jerry’s harmonies and the strength of their songwriting, they have something unique. These are the kinds of songs that used to jump out of the radio at you in the 70s, and are all too rare now. They remain in their own world, which is a bonus for us. If they’d released this album and ‘Memoir Days’ in the 80s, they would have deserved to be huge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

‘Madame Callenza’ has a smoky sound which I would call ‘arch’, or ‘mauve’, the story of a faded, reclusive star. ‘Stoned On Love’ cranks things up a notch, tipping a hat in a glam direction, before the title track whisks us away somewhere only Sham, Jerry and Colin can take us in 2026, and for that I’m very grateful. ‘Imperial Way’ is as great as it is unlikely. Long may they continue. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Buy Here<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Author: Martin Chamarette<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“May you live in interesting times” is often used as a threat as much as a wish. The world couldn’t get much stranger, but the continued resurgence of One The Juggler is something to rejoice. Two years after ‘Memoir Days’,  they’re back with ‘Imperial Way’, and, if anything, it’s an even stronger set of songs […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":28512,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-28511","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-review"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28511","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=28511"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28511\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28513,"href":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28511\/revisions\/28513"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/28512"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=28511"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=28511"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=28511"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}