Putting two more records out on their decade-long reunion like slop dropped onto a lunch tray is an admirable way of getting around the nostalgia grab. Electric Light Orchestra could have, and eventually did, use this tour as a chance to sail off into the sunset with their hits backing them all the way. Despite Alone in the Universe and From Out of Nowhere releasing in the years leading up to their Over and Out tour, very few, if any of these songs, were played more than a handful of times. Limited touring and a global pandemic may be the case, but there was never any chance a song like When the Night Comes would be prioritised over the Out of the Blue or Face the Music hits. Not because listeners do not want contemporary music from the all-time greats, but because Jeff Lynne’s writing throughout Alone in the Universe is underwhelming.
Tame would be the word for it, but even his best songs have a lacking narrative drive. Some call it simplicity, others call it saying what you need with as few words as possible. Either way, Lynne hasn’t got too many masterstrokes when it comes to writing. His skill is making the songs sound like booming, instrumentally rich experiences. He succeeds time and again with that, on ELO’s albums and those he would produce in the decades after their first break-up. What he cannot do is support himself as a songwriter. When the Night Comes suffers as the rest of the album does from a poor mix and poorer writing. Autobiographical efforts are an easy route to creating new work, but those sharper details are lost to Lynne’s straightforward storytelling. He longs for people based on the time of day. Night brings lust, day brings breakfast. Lynne aims for a catchy track but mixes himself out of the best moments of When the Night Comes.
Three-and-a-half minutes of radio-friendly noise is what When the Night Comes offers. It never amounts to much more than that, though it should not need to. ELO has survived before with these lighter tones, but the crucial moment is missing from When the Night Comes. Its repetitive lyrics and the lifeless sound from Lynne on this song are a massive disappointment. The instrumentals paired with it are no better, nothing standing out as the song struggles to organise its strings, acoustic guitar, and percussion. There is never a moment where this feels like an ELO project. This is a Lynne project with a few bells and whistles added. He may suggest the renaming of the group was to differentiate from Bev Bevan and other spin-offs, but there is no instrumental evidence of this.
Instead, listeners are offered a very half-hearted yet sincere song. Honesty runs through the song, and that is part of the problem. Lynne makes an earnest message of thinking on lost lovers sound incredibly tame and redundant. His best tracks are those which incorporate a simple scenario, like Evil Woman, with a groovy and instrumentally effective sound. Lynne offers the simple sincerity on When the Night Comes but fails to bring in an instrumental style which would offer an at all rewarding listen. The trouble is that the production, muddled and inconsistent. It highlights a recurring trouble for Lynne as a songwriter, whose work is often resounding because of the instrumentals around it. Without that amplification, he shows his writing is sometimes the weakest part of ELO’s sound.
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