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Billy Joel, Turn the Lights Back On review: Joel's first new song in 17 years is an old-fashioned love song from a man who’s still got it

Billy Joel’s first new song in 17 years is a heartfelt, classic ballad that proves the great singer songwriter has lost none of his class

Released today, in time for an appearance at the Grammy Awards this weekend, Turn the Lights Back On is an understated, bittersweet ballad about forgiveness, hope and rekindling a relationship too long taken for granted, “trying to find the magic that we lost somehow.” It starts with no preamble, with Joel straight in pleading “Please open the door,” his piano ringing out stately chords. Apart from the streaming friendly absence of an intro (it is the modern way to get straight to business before listeners can click on something else), this is a very old-fashioned ballad, with simple, heartfelt verses opening out to a lush chorus on an arrangement that focuses on Joel’s elegant piano playing and steadfast, evocative voice. Yet you can certainly hear Joel’s very trademark mix of cynicism and romanticism in these verses about a couple “stuck on a hill / Outsiders inside the house we built / The cold settles in / It’s been a long winter of indifference.”

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