It must be six years since "The Convincer" a beautiful stripped back album of crooning,country & pop. This album takes the template and adds horns & guest musicians from a wide area of music.

Chrissie Hynde adds vocals to the dark country revenge song "I Trained Her to Love Me" ....so that I could break her heart.
Jazz legend Chris Barber adds trumpet to "The Other Side Of The Coin" which along with "Rome wasn't Built in A Day" sounds like a lost easy listening classic without stooping to the Robbie Williams, Michael Buble impersination mode.
This is witty, intelligent music that covers ground from 60's pop to Johnny Cash and shows a confidence sometimes lacking in past recordings where the lack of belief could be hidden in jokes.
There are well chosen "Lost Classics" - "The Man in Love" an uptempo country number, "Not to Long Ago" which sounds like it should have been covered by Dusty Springfield & "Feel Again" a country swing number about lost love.
His… more »

It must be six years since "The Convincer" a beautiful stripped back album of crooning,country & pop. This album takes the template and adds horns & guest musicians from a wide area of music.

Chrissie Hynde adds vocals to the dark country revenge song "I Trained Her to Love Me" ....so that I could break her heart.
Jazz legend Chris Barber adds trumpet to "The Other Side Of The Coin" which along with "Rome wasn't Built in A Day" sounds like a lost easy listening classic without stooping to the Robbie Williams, Michael Buble impersination mode.
This is witty, intelligent music that covers ground from 60's pop to Johnny Cash and shows a confidence sometimes lacking in past recordings where the lack of belief could be hidden in jokes.
There are well chosen "Lost Classics" - "The Man in Love" an uptempo country number, "Not to Long Ago" which sounds like it should have been covered by Dusty Springfield & "Feel Again" a country swing number about lost love.
His own songs show a real depth built around love won & lost.
The previouly mentioned "Other Side the Coin" is a real highlight simply played with beautiful piano from Geraint Watkins - you could almost listening to an old classic from an MGM musical.

The real innovation for fans is the understated underpinning of many of the songs with a horn section on tracks such as "A Better Man".

On the whole this album is a class act that any lover of simple understated soulful music will love and love more with every play.

Lets hope it takes less than six years for a follow up to this wonderful album up but if it does and turns out half as good I will be delighted.

A second opinion on how great this CD is is now available in UNCUT.