One Week was the ludicrously catchy track littered with pop culture references that first turned on a whole host of listeners around my age to the Barenaked Ladies in the late 1990s. It remains the band’s calling card and biggest hit, and still serves as the best introduction to their work for anyone who has not yet (somehow) heard them. Though, thanks to the sheer runaway success of the TV show The Big Bang Theory, for which the band created the distinctive theme song, that title is arguably under threat. 

With a career spanning more than thirty years and record sales topping fifteen million, you would, I’m sure, have forgiven the Canadian outfit for slowing down a bit, and perhaps even contemplating retirement, particularly when you add the departure of founding member Steven Page in 2009 into the mix. Detour De Force though, their sixteenth studio album, quickly dispels any suggestion that that might be the case. It’s very much cut from the same cloth as so much of their back catalogue.

Opening track Flip is a joyous beginning, while new single Good Life sounds like a thanksgiving for their long and successful career (“I did my best to write and sing / You know I wouldn’t change a thing”) and Flat Earth combines some neat effects with a wonderful chorus. Bylaw and Live Well offer some mellower moments, and New Disaster makes a case for the album’s standout track with its slow build and rousing message. 

Barenaked Ladies are bonafide experts at what they do, and the harmonies, songwriting and silliness are as strong on Detour De Force as they’ve ever been. There’s also room for some quiet reflection, such as on God Forbid or Here Together, where they seem to acknowledge their longevity, singing “Nothing lasts forever / You just say whatever / And change the song”. But based on this offering, the band won’t be going anywhere any time soon, and still have lots left in the tank, despite all they’ve achieved so far. 

Detour De Force tracklist:

1. Flip
2. Good Life
3. New Disaster
4. Big Back Yard
5. Live Well
6. Flat Earth
7. Here Together 
8. Roll Out
9. Bylaw
10. God Forbid
11. Paul Chambers
12. The National Park
13. Man Made Lake
14. Internal Dynamo

Watch the official video for Good Life here.

Author: Joe Sharratt

Joe Sharratt is a writer and journalist based in the UK covering music, literature, sport, and travel.