At any school for aspiring pop song writers, Prefab Sprout’s main man, Paddy McAloon, would easily qualify for the head teacher’s job; such is his natural ability for crafting perfectly constructed pop gems.

Sadly though, the man that penned classics in the 80’s like ‘When Love Breaks Down’(from the album ‘Steve McQueen’) and ‘Cars And Girls’(‘From Langley Park To Memphis’) rarely makes music these days having just got jaded with the industry in the 90’s and also due to a number of health problems – he suffers permanently from the ear condition tinnitus and in the late 90’s he needed a series of eye operations after his retinas detached – and he has pretty much led a fairly reclusive existence since he disappeared off the scene.

But fans of Prefab Sprout and all lovers of perfect pop have continued to wax lyrical about McAloon’s talents over the years whilst at the same time lamenting the passing of the band.

And so it is a great surprise and an absolute joy for all fans of McAloon/Prefab Sprout to find that a ‘new’ album from the group has just been released.

Well actually, it’s not exactly a new album in the true sense because ‘Let’s Change The World With Music’(Kitchenware/Sony Music) is a collection of songs that McAloon began working on in 1992 and which was intended to be the follow-up to the band’s ‘Jordan: The Comeback’ album.

However some differences with the record company over its content led to McAloon withdrawing the album from release and gathering dust on a shelf is where it has remained until recently when McAloon finally decided that he wanted the record to be heard.

“It should have come out when I recorded it”, says the McAloon, adding that “I listened to it and was full of regrets.

"It was a sore point for me that we hadn’t released it back then.”

Thankfully though, we now have the album and upon listening to it the only regret is that fans of the band have had to wait such a long time to hear, what is undoubtedly, a beautiful collection of songs.

All the Paddy McAloon trademarks are present in the songs from the lush arrangements and pristine production, crystal clear vocals, fabulous song structures and great uplifting melodies.

Lyrically, there is much humour interwoven with romanticism and idealism in the songs, again very much McAloon’s songwriting signature.

Songs like ‘Let There Be Music’, the exquisite ‘God Watch Over You’, ‘Music Is A Princess’, ‘Sweet Gospel Music’ and ‘Ride’ and ‘Last Of The Great Romantics’ are all vintage Prefab Sprout and evidence that, when it comes to penning pop songs, Paddy McAloon has few equals. ‘Let’s Change The World With Music’ is a most welcome return of one of this country’s finest songwriting talents and an essential purchase for all those who cherish the art of elegant, perfectly formed pop music.