Almost 40 years have passed since T’Pau had a huge European hit with the ethereal, pizzicato pop banger ‘China In Your Hand’ from their 1987 debut album Bridge Of Spies. The English band split four years later, but two original members (singer Carol Decker and guitarist Ronnie Rogers, who co-wrote most of T’Pau’s songs) reunited in 2013. They continue to tour the busy 80s nostalgia circuit and now return with album six, Be Wonderful.

Unfortunately, there is nothing here to hit the power-ballad highs of ‘China In Your Hand’ (inspired by Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein), with its memorable 80s strings and overwrought feelings. Instead, we find country-tinged, bluesy rock and life lessons, made without the backing of a major label these days; just Decker and Rogers’ creative drive and refusal to be sidelined in their 60s. There are radio-friendly rock riffs on ‘Read My Lips’ and ‘Be Wonderful’, the title track a manifesto about living free from inhibitions.

Melodic echoes of Fleetwood Mac or Dire Straits pop up elsewhere, with Decker’s voice reminiscent of the rich raspy contralto of Amy Macdonald, who has toured with T’Pau, or KT Tunstall. The warm, plodding groove and acoustic guitar interlude of ‘Casual Remark’ echoes the reflective, wistful tone of earlier material; only mellower now, without the high drama and with slightly less hairspray. The album’s artwork of a ten-year-old Decker, hands on hips in the 1960s and already dressed like it’s the 80s, is a flash forward to the passionate frontwoman poised to launch herself with heart and soul into the pop charts.

T'Pau: Be Wonderful is released by T'Pau Music on Friday 10 April; picture: Michelle Fredericks.

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