Rating: 5/5
Review:
Great stuff
Chris Smither is one of the truly great songwriters and
guitarists of the last 40 years or so.
Possibly all that need be said about Call Me Lucky is that he has still
got the old magic, but to add a few personal comments:
This is ana lbum of predominantly new songs, several of
which are truly excellent, plus a couple of covers. These are typically original Smither takes on
well-known songs; there's a quiet astonishingly brilliant minor-key, swung version
of Chuck Berry's Maybellene and a slow, soulful Sitting On Top Of The World
which couldn't be more different from, say, Doc Watson's superb version, but is
every bit as good.
The originals are excellent.
I've been listening to this pretty continuously for a week or so since
it came out, and it is settling in very well alongside gems like Drive You
Home, Leave The Light On and others.
There's the brilliance of satirical wit in songs like Nobody Home and
Too Bad, So Sad, the heart-aching depth in Down To The Sound and so on. Just as a brief sample of his lyrics:
"I saw a clown with a comb-over trying to float a loan
With the CIA while he's
tweeting on his phone
But there ain't nobody home…"
Smither's voice is sounding a little older but still in good
form and his guitar work is still breathtaking, of course. The production and his band are excellent,
and the last five tracks are alternate versions of songs on the album. This is often just a space-filling device, but
I love these versions here; they are darker, often slower and really effective.
In short, this is a really good Chris Smither album – which
makes it one of the finest I've heard for some time. Very warmly recommended.
No comments:
Post a Comment