After having taken a breather from the limelight of the music industry for almost 4 years, pop idol Gareth Gates is back with his newest album, Pictures of the Other Side.

This is the British singer’s third album and the first with entirely original material. Being a songwriter as well, he’s also co-written several of the tracks with veteran British singer-songwriter Judie Tzuke, whom he’s been working a lot with since 2004, even singing backing vocals for her. As with most comeback albums of young artistes, Gates tries to shrug off his teeny-bopper image from his previous albums, What My Heart Wants to Say and Go Your Own Way, of the early millennium.

Prior to the release of Pictures of the Other Side, 2 singles from the album, namely “Angel On My Shoulder” and “Changes”, had already made it to the airwaves. Both also made it to the UK Top 40 but sadly, managed to stay for only 1 week. Unknown to many, the 8th track “Angel On My Shoulder” was actually written by Gates for his mother. With words of thanks to his mother for her unconditional love, it features a lyrically beautiful and moving chorus, setting it apart from all of his other songs.

Allowing more of his personal self to show in his music, he wrote the melancholic ballad, “Changes”, recounting some of his experiences of the past 3 years.The song exudes honesty and sincerity without resorting to being “emo” rock in style, where words are shouted or screeched out instead of sung.

In a bid to display his maturing musical talents, his latest attempt also sees him going slower beat with most of his music, featuring only 4 fast tracks in the entire album. In the process of reinventing his sound, he also gave a more electronic feel to the album. One of the songs that distinctively feature this is the title track “Pictures of the Other Side”. The mature sounding tune carries a huge, infectious chorus that is sure to have you hooked and crooning along, “We come and the stars shine in our eyes, we’re taking pictures of the other side, and then we slide…” out loud after a couple of listens. Another gem is the last track of the album, “Talking Minds”, which has a slow but pleasing electro beat in the background.

Experimenting with other styles like slow rock as well, the songs “Can’t Believe It’s Over”, “New Kid In Town” and “Electric” will have you bobbing your head to it soon enough. “Electric” even has a slightly Cuban feel to it with its percussions.

Although not a big supporter of this pretty boy, my personal favourite is one of the faster tracks, “Afterglow”. I suspect this is really because the tune sounds like it could be one of Robbie Williams’. With an intro similar to that of Williams’ “Let Me Entertain You”, the song is of a faster tempo as compared to the other ballads.

On the whole, Pictures of the Other Side is a valiant effort on Gates’s part to revolutionise himself as a singer. Coming a long way from his teeny hits like “Anyone of Us (Stupid Mistake)” and “Say It Isn’t So”, he’s succeeded in establishing himself as being more dynamic with his musical abilities in this latest album. However, he would still fail to stand out against the tough competition of other talented pretty faces in the current music industry like Maroon 5 and The Click Five.

UrbanWire rates Pictures of the Other Side: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Pictures of the Other Side is available in all record stores.