This Is What I Do

The first studio album from George Alan O'Dowd in nearly two decades, This Is What I Do begins appropriately enough with "King of Everything," a surging, late-period Elton John-inspired power ballad/anthem that finds the newly refurbished (chemically and spiritually) pop icon trying to make amends with pretty much everybody. Boy George has spent the majority of his time away from the studio in the headlines, and This Is What I Do spends the majority of its just under an hour running time explaining why, apologizing, and wondering "What's the word on the street/Have I lost my crown/Or will I be king again." George's voice, once a throaty, alternately cocky and pleading croon that could melt the paint off of the walls, now smolders at a much lower level, and that huskiness lends a mournful and bluesy patina to the 12-track collection that dutifully reflects the artist's newfound maturity. George may have lost a little of his edge, but he's still a commanding presence, even if his reputat