Madness "Theatre of the Absurd presents C'est La Vie"

After a disparate couple of years which saw the band at their most polarised and fragmented, Madness reunited in an industrial unit in Cricklewood at the beginning of the year, where Suggs, Mark, Chrissy-Boy, Mike, Lee and Woody realised that what united them was always bigger than what divided them. Emerging re-energised and reinvigorated with a fresh bounce in their nutty step, the result was their most harmonious recording experience to date.For the first time ever, a brand new album came into the world that they were all completely agreed on. Theatre Of The Absurd Presents C'est La Vie is the band's inaugural foray into self producing, working alongside engineer and mixer Matt Galsbey (Ed Sheeran, Maisie Peters, Rag'N'Bone Man).

The governing principle behind C'est La Vie, is: "let Madness beMadness"The result is an album of typically timeless brilliancethat also reflects the wonky years of its creation, these 14 songs representing the cream of the bumper crop of tunes the group cooked up, whittled down this punchy, focused set.There are moments ofineffably catchy pop excellence (drummer Daniel 'Woody' Woodgate's beguiling, bittersweet carousel 'Round We Go' Chrissy-Bov'sanarchic anthem to perhaps-justified paranoia'Run For Your Life'),while the album is bookended by two of Suggs' finest compositions. A very special prologue running through the album is supplied by Emmy and BAFTA Awards-winning Martin Freeman.