ONCE upon a time, Kaiser Chiefs were a bit rock and roll - the rockier side of pop, at least - with anthemic guitar tracks, singalong choruses and enough swagger that even the haters had to admit they could knock out a good tune.

At some point since their first album - potentially when Ricky Wilson took on judging duties on a televised talent show - the Leeds band seem to have changed direction away from pop-rock to just plain pop, and Stay Together is probably the culmination of this.

The guitars are much lower down in the mix than ever before, while autotuned vocals and synths are front and centre, especially on single Hole In My Soul, with precision beat drops and dance rhythms clearly stating the Chiefs are aiming for a different market.

Not to say there aren't decent tracks here - Hole In My Soul and Parachutes are great, if less memorable than, say, Ruby, and Good Clean Fun is exactly what it says on the tin - and credit where it's due for experimenting - something most bands with a few hits under their belt wouldn't dare try.

The saddest thing is that the whole thing is so shiny, over-polished and homogenised, you'd never know this was the same band who predicted a riot and sang about getting into fights over taxis 11 years ago.

Kaiser Chiefs will play Leeds First Direct Arena on March 4 2017.