Further Into Regress is an album with good intentions. The record resembles the post-rock style, but sadly lacks some conviction. More interest is needed with more exploration of ideas and variation in dynamics. Artists such as Mogwai or Explosions in the Sky, have an intensity about them; they use the whole dynamic spectrum available to them to create power beneath their ideas. These influential bands create layers of sound, where actual noise levels are pushed to their limits.

We Can Breathe In Spacehas an amateurish feel; the tools are available to make a great record, but the  artist hasn't quite twigged what's missing. Further problems to the absence of climactic interest and progression in the music, are that some of the actual sounds don't gel. The flat, drum-machine-esque kit used is very mechanical and is an odd choice. In addition, the decision to chuck in voice recordings in part two seems clumsy. Vocals, especially snippets of spoken word can work brilliantly; in the right place, at the right time. For instance, a favourite example would be in Olafur Arnalds extremely moving Variations of Static, where it seems to evoke more emotionality in the music.

The tracks all end with sudden drop-outs, which is almost as immature as the fade-out. This shows the music has no real end-point. (not surprising without any progression or considered structure really aye?.)

This three-part album does contain some hope of something good, the third track providing more optimism. Yet, as a whole there is regrettably a lot missing. Sadly, on Further Into Regress, there is not enough to keep you interested.  

I’m going to give you all a new system for classifying music that will make things a little bit easier. Ready?

Does it rock?

In the case of Empty Lungs the answer is yes. Yes it ruddy well does. Merging the agit-angst of The Almighty circa ‘Crank’ era, the punk shapings of Rocket From The Crypt and the melody (vocally and instrumentally) of Honeycrack and early Wildhearts, Empty Lungs serve up a stunning 6 tracks feast that makes you want to alternately punch the air, punch authority and punch a hole into a keg of good strong booze.

Opener ‘Running In Circles’ cues up the EP wonderfully, displaying it’s melodic and anthemic credentials for all to see. Rattling along with more hooks than a butcher’s fridge and never outstaying its welcome (at just 1:42 it would be hard pushed to). As a side 1, track 1 (as us old folk like to say) it’s hard to beat; deftly and succinctly telling YOU the listener that this is how it’s going to be for the next 20 minutes.

‘Until The Day We Die’ features some fantastic guitar playing from the jagged chords of the intro to the twinkly notes of the verses, it’s a melodic tour de force. But don’t let the upbeat musical nature lull you into thinking that everything is easygoing. Lyrically, (and throughout this whole EP), Empty Lungs rail against losing hope, about fighting the apathy of resistance and a call to arms for the disaffected.

The standout track on this EP as far as I am concerned arrives in the form of ‘Nothing Left to Lose’. Exhorting the listener to “cut loose” and “speak your mind” and laced with “WOAH-UH-OH”s throughout the verses this is a song that just calling out for crowd participation at gigs. A song that you play before you make a stand: politically, emotionally or physically. See the official video here:

Following this was always going to be tricky and ‘Long Road Home’ ably tries but ultimately suffers because of track placement and some hit and miss singing in the verses. That’s not to say this is not a good song, but it’s more restrained playing and structure would have been better suited earlier in the running order.

‘Release The Lifeboats’ is a great mid-paced number that features some wonderfully dual lyrics depending on listener interpretation. They are either an ode to the power of uniting for a cause, of struggling upstream towards an outcome or they concern the struggles of relationships. Either way there is something for everyone to hang their hat on emotionally.

Finally we end with ‘Stand Up’, an ode to the current political and financial climate and the frustrations that seem to be all too prevalent these days - “Stand up, If your pissed off and broke and you feel like you’re just about ready to explode “.

Do yourselves a favour, get this EP. But more importantly play it LOUD. And with a smile of your face of course……

The press release coming with this album opens with the following: “Echtra’s Sky Burial, the first issuance in the triumvirate of the Passage Cycle, is an exploration of the dissolution of our mortal coil. If human consciousness regognizes the inescapability of its own demise, then an essential aspect of becoming truly human is grappling with the inevitability of our own death. This is what Echtra has sought with the Sky Burial project, attempting at the same time to create an aural and visual space in which others may do the same.”

Well, I’m sorry to disappoint Echtra here because I don’t do the same. I’m probably not getting what the band tries to bring or create within me with this 2-track recording. All the pointers, like the artwork, other bits of the press release, were pointing in the direction of another atmospheric black metal recording, but I’m very disappointed this is not the case.

Yes, it has some elements of atmosphere, a lot actually, but the black metal bits are not to be found, with the small exception of the second half of ‘Sky Burial II’, the second track on this album, where the guitars, although sounding quite in the back of the mix, start doing that black metal familiar shredding over some, finally, up-tempo drumming, but it only lasts for a minute or so.

The first track ‘Sky Burial I’ almost needlessly flows into the second track ‘Sky Burial II’, with the use of a very repetitive acoustic guitar part. And with both tracks around or just over the 20 minutes mark, this is a lot of repetition of this acoustic guitar part. The second track definitely has a lot more to offer with drone guitar parts building up over very long minutes, creating nice sounding soundscapes.

Don’t get me wrong, it is not bad what Echtra attempts here, it’s just not my thing. Fans of long-stretched soundscape, drone-like pieces of music will no doubt be happy with this release. I did think it was very relaxing and I listened to it pleasantly whilst doing some work, but I won’t be coming back to this I’m afraid.

Axis Of is a name that’s been popping up more and more in the past year or so. Although releasing very little, their home reputation is unrivalled, especially the live show, which is becoming something akin to legend. This is the same show that they brought around the UK last year, tearing up stages alongside mighty US Punk machine The Bronx. Their first full release, on Derry’s Smalltown America Records, finally harnesses the beast.

Seemingly impossible to classify, the tracks on Finding St. Kilda differ wildly in their style, yet stick rigidly to the core principles of both “loud” and “fucking heavy”. The constantly larger-than-life vocals compliment the music perfectly, aggressive one minute, almost cheeky the next yet with impressive levels of consistency.

Production wizard Rocky O’Reilly has done a great job of capturing the bombast of their live shows perfectly. As always, it’s seriously hard to believe a three piece can make this much noise, leaping from the speakers with their raucous, massive yet surprisingly accessible sound. It’s rare that a band this heavy can deliver so many hooks, but regardless of the style of the track (and there’s quite a range here) Axis Of never cease to entertain.

Their trademark sea shanty approach to song-writing makes for an infectious delivery that, live, audiences can’t help but chant back to the stage. ‘Mendelssohnstrasse’, ‘Stan Winston’s Rough Seas’ and single ‘Lifehammer’ showcase this perfectly; the vocal on ‘…Rough Seas’ in particular penetrates the brain with its triumphant, almost defiant yell. So much so that it’s highly possible that you’ll sing these lyrics loudly on the bus/train/streets without even realising it. Don’t say I didn’t warn you!

It’s rare to find a band that can take so many influences and meld them together into something so fresh and original. With this album finally on the horizon, I can predict 2013 will be a big year for Axis Of.

Is this Punk? Maybe. Is it Hardcore? I’m not sure, but through the twists an turns from skull-pounding riffs (‘Aung’) through jump-around Punk mentalness (‘The World’s Oldest Computer’, ‘Re-Written In Big Ink’) to straight up fist-pumping head bangers ('Mapping St. Kilda’), this is an album in no way lacking in energy.

Don't let the (drunken sounding) wailing at the start of EP opener 'You Will Fall' put you off, there are some pieces of brilliance on this 4 track set. Sounding like a cross between Iron Maiden and Pantera via Glenn Benton's vocal trainer, Scotland's Winterhold manage to unite a number of styles together most evident in 'Built Upon Deception' showing that vocalist Danny Rudden is more than a one-trick pony as well as demonstrating that the band appreciate dynamics in song writing are more potent than balls-to-the-wall heaviness from start to finish.

In fact I found the songs that stayed with me longest after listening were the ones that featured more singing than growling. To be honest I found the growly vocals detracted from the songs. ‘Cabin Fever’ has some stunning vocal work up until the last line of the chorus which then futures some Dani Filth-esque backing vocals.

To my mind Rudden’s regular singing voice is has much more depth and resonance on it’s own without the gimmicks of growls plastered over it. 'Holding Out For Dawn' (bum notes aside) features an utterly brilliant groove riff and a great use of time changes with melodic guitar melodies that really lifts the song and provides a great way to end the EP.

This is Winterhold’s first offering to the world and it is a fine start that will provide them with solid foundations on which to build. Minor quibbles aside, this is something that most fans of metal will be able to get their teeth into. And with a bit more attention to detail in the studio, Winterhold have a bright future ahead of them and I'll be keeping a very interested ear out for new material in the future.

It's beneficial having friends in high places, something Airick Woodhead AKA Doldrums seems to know - a close friend of Grimes who's been singing praises about his debut for months now. Recorded on a laptop he borrowed from her almost two years ago (and subsequently broke) Doldrums has created an LP that clearly draws strong influences from other bands (I felt Gatekeeper's spirit on this LP a lot) and genres (trip-hop & hip-hop amongst a few) but manages to adopt a melting pot style, liquefying these influences to create a narcotic yet aurally bemusing LP.  

Woodhead opens the LP in sly form, 'Intro' lulls you into a false sense of security - the calm before the storm that is to follow. Before long we've fallen deep into the rabbit hole of 'Anomaly' a bass driven beast underpinned by howls of white noise, soothing bleeps which are soon counteracted by piercing synthesised blasts. The whole thing has a nostalgic feel, as if it should almost burst to life and become a classic pop song you've always known but instead lingers at the forefront of your mind, teasing you.  

But Woodhead doesn't let the sonic blueprint he used to create 'Anomaly' become a formula for the rest of his experiments; that would be too easy. Everything is built on; 'She Is The Wave' escalates fast, becoming a torrent of glitches, beeps layered over the top of each other; desperately scrambling for air. It's disorientating but has such a luminous, dystopian beauty about it becomes a fever dream you wish never ends.

Woodhead's androgynous vocals never become a driving force of the music, instead becoming another chemical added in to the mix. His falsetto is bent nicely out of shape, adding texture to an already vivid soundscape. As Lesser Evils progresses it becomes more and more obvious to hear that Woodhead is having fun, a lot of fun, here. He's experimenting and erasing the line where your comfort zone begins and it's remarkably refreshing to listen to a record that sounds as if it was as fun to make, as it is to listen to. 

There's no denying Lesser Evils isn't an easy listen, but you wouldn't want it any other way. The LP Woodhead has created here sounds otherworldly and surreal but still manages to create a wonderful sense of nostalgia about it. Its sheer brazen nature to experiment with arrangements and production has helped Doldrums' LP carve a niche for itself; it's restless, hyperactive and audacious but give it time and it'll get you hooked like a drug and it'll reward you for your patience.  

What makes ambient appealing? Why this endless thirst for ambient? Why do I keep seeking it? These questions started bouncing back and forth while listening to Benoît Pioulard's newest album Hymnal. Another album dominated heavily by an airy and atmospheric approach where nearly every sound made causes an echo.

A part of the answer may be quite simple and maybe even universally rooted. Ambient music is obviously a very clear parallel to the air and atmospere above us and for many it can represent an open and free space, somewhere the mind can escape into. You only need to think about the last time you travelled in the air to induce this feeling. Many artists creating ambient music seems to know how to take an advantage of this fact, Thomas Meluch being one among this sky-seeking crowd.

Seattle-based Thomas Meluch is the man behind the musical alias Benoît Pioulard and Hymnal is his seventh full length release. On the contrary from what you might've thought while reading the introduction, Hymnal does not lack of structure. Lush dream pop is the key ingredient. Even though this is the dominating approach throughout Hymnal it feels as though his ambient world is where the pop 'comes from'. A distinct airiness permeates Hymnal from start to end.

One of Meluch's strengths I especially appreciate is his ability to make the sophisticated accessible. There's often layer upon layer of dreamy vocals, gentle rhythms and airy guitar soundscapes, very similar to one of my favourites, Eingya by Helios. Another strength is his variation between, and distortion of, instruments and field recordings such as harmonica and clinging church bells which I find more interesting than his somewhat tiresome guitar themes. But to make dream pop which is accessible, pleasant and at the same time interesting enough to give it more than a couple spins is a tough task and it's hard to come by someone who succeeds. I can only imagine the scale of the temptation to fall into the trap of making the dreamy too dreamy, leaving nothing more to it but the gaze. Benoît Pioulard seems to be clearly aware of this.

Pick this up next time you're heading towards the airport. This should suit your trip into the skies just fine.

Out of the ashes of cult band I Am Austin rise another project from the terrible twosome. For those that don’t know, I Am Austin were a wet dream for any Death From Above 1973 fan with their mix of drums and bass taking on what is now considered the norm after the success of Black Keys.

As if this wasn’t enough, they have embarked on a new project. Beard of Wolves’ first EP is the fruits of all the thrashing about in the garage and it arrives almost fully formed as if they have been at this for years.

Rolling effortlessly into action with ‘My Father Drives the Death Star’, it is a joyous blast of nu-rave and white noise made famous by the Klaxons but here returned right back to its blues roots. Imagine a rave version of any Nuggets song and your halfway there. It is a truly exceptional track which gets better with every listen

Following this was never going to be easy but Beard of Wolves aren’t afraid of trying. ‘Date Fight’ restructures The Stooges for a new generation while ‘Wet Mouth’ pervades your soul with a delightful tempo change which at first throws you, then makes you grin like a muppet; It’s not for nothing that The Guardian are now picking up on this shit (for further info on The Guardian music tastes, see also Gnod…we’re doing something right here!)

‘Dead Heat’ finishes off making this EP a tornado of noise alleviated by moments of sublime melody. It takes nu-rave and turns it inside out, returning it back to the warehouse (or garage in this case) where it came from. Catch this now before everyone else does.

Inter Arma are one of Relapse Record's newest signings and are gearing up to release their album Sky Burial. I admit I'd never heard of them before Relapse signed them up. Although I've since checked out their debut album Sundown and EP Destroyer.

The promise and experimentation of their debut has been fully realised here. Believe me, you will be hearing plenty more of this great band in the year ahead and beyond. What makes Inter Arma stand out is their genre defying sound. Influenced it would seem by prog-rock/sludge metal/classic rock and a hint of black metal they don't sit comfortably in any one of those styles.

The sound Inter Arma have crafted however is pretty unique and I think best described as simply "heavy". Pointless to try and explain it otherwise, without getting bogged down in tags and name dropping. From the pounding blasts and epic density of tracks like opener 'The Survival Fires' to the acoustic strumming and experimental sounds of 'Love Absolute'. This is a vast album with songs at times over ten minutes and incorporating various shifts in dynamics. 'Destroyer', originally from the EP, lives up to its name. Stomping everything in its path with sludge filled menace.

Around halfway through Sky Burial you're  greeted by 'sblood' an absolute beast of a song. An explosive cacophony of drums, spiralling riffs and bellowed vocals it begins in uncompromising fashion. At approximately 3 minutes in the cacophony intensifies. It builds until it feels like you've strapped a couple of jet engines to you ears. With a giant face melting burst of a riff, the tectonic plate shifting track rumbles to a close.

Elsewhere the subtle prog influence on 'The Long Road Home' makes a gentler but no less of an impact. Featuring some excellent soulful guitar, weaving its way around your senses. The track shifts towards the end to incorporate more furious drumming and heavier sounds. Its a common theme on Sky Burial, tracks blend together variations of styles seamlessly and naturally.

In all everything on Sky Burial is fascinating and essential. The title track that closes the album in monolithic style. The acoustic ambience of 'The Long Road Home (Iron Gate)', which is essentially an interlude is still gripping. At times classic rock collides with modern extreme metal and nothing feels out of place.

Inter Arma have crafted one of the best albums to be released on Relapse Records in recent years. That in itself should tell you all you need to know. Sky Burial is released on March 19th and can be pre-ordered here.

When writing about Belfast sludge behemoths Slomatics, it’s almost impossible to steer clear of cliché. Terms like “wall of sound”, “earth-shattering”, “un- yielding” and “sludge behemoths” (ahem) spring far too easily to mind. Yet however cringe-worthy they might seem, every single one of them is completely justified by, and omnipresent on, their latest effort The Future Past.

Available through bandcamp as a digital-only release, the aptly named collection serves as a stopgap release between last year’s seminal A Hocht and an as-yet un-named new record, scheduled for late 2013. Consisting of two vintage tracks, the first Slomatics song ever written and a track from “their previous lives” (according to their Facebook), The Future Past incorporates everything that’s made Slomatics a force to be reckoned with over their illustrious career so far.

Simultaneously, the new (old) material sees them continuing to explore their new-fangled love for LFO textures and electronic integration, and as always the attention to detail in the sheer depth of this production is meticulous. I know wall of sound is a clichéd term, but this record takes it right down to its bare form, with a low end is so thick it feels a physical presence all of its own.

While ‘Running Battle’ is pretty much classic Slomatics, slow, crushing and monstrous, special attention must be paid to ‘Son Of Ampbreaker’ for its foray into the uplifting. Not in the traditional sense, but in the “medieval army charging into battle” sense (and let’s face it, that’s the best kind). It makes me want to run up to the top of the nearest mountain (Cave Hill for any North Belfast readers) with my homemade broadsword and fight some goblins!*

Newcomers to this three-piece will never believe in a million years that two guitars can be so god damned heavy, while veterans will lap up the bludgeoning, almost concrete solidness of this unrelenting aural barrage. Either way, it’s £2 very well spent. Who the hell needs a bass player?!?

*NB: There is no proof of the existence of goblins up the Cave Hill. Nor do I have a homemade broadsword. Yet.

Termite’s debut EP as a four piece isn’t quite what one expects, that much is for sure. A three track effort from the Huddersfield / Manchester quartet, 'Growth' is a brief snapshot of the band’s current direction albeit one that reveals plenty about their…erm, growth as a band. I can’t believe I just wrote that either.

There is a defiantly retro feel to much of 'Growth'. 'These Clowns' has the influence of The Beatles written all over it, but the music showcases some subtle hints at progressive rock, thankfully in the shape of guitar interplay rather than tasteless keyboard solos. 'Memory Loss' is more plaintive with some echoing guitars reminding one more of the earliest efforts of David Gilmour in Pink Floyd.

Closer 'Kettle of Fish', meanwhile, is built around some jazzy rhythm section work. In many ways, then, 'Growth' pays homage to the music of the sixties. There is a loose feel to the playing that really accentuates the dynamics of the music, especially on 'Kettle of Fish', a track during which you can clearly envisage the four musicians working together in the same room.

It would be foolish, however, to write Termite off as merely the sum of obvious classic influences. There’s enough crispness to the songwriting to suggest their attempts to blend styles are the work of a band attempting to look forwards rather than back. The textural nature of much of the music on 'Memory Loss' and the propulsive garage rock that ends 'Kettle of Fish' suggest that this is a band with a good few more sides to show us yet.

The nice thing about music, is that it's entirely subjective. One man's trash is another man's gold. You can bitch and argue all you want among each other and you're all still wrong. Or right. If you didn't have something to hate, you wouldn't have something to like. My point being, Ensemble Pearl's debut album is entirely subjective. And I believe that's what they had in mind.

Consisting of Atsuo (Boris),  Michio Kurihara (occasionally Boris, Ghost), Bill Herzog (himself) and Stephen O'Malley (Sunn O))), Burning Witch, Khanate, Lotus Eaters etc.), this album was and is bound to be immense. Immense meaning it'll take a few spins to get your footing.  Six tracks that beg to be not only heard, but felt. Guitar notes become howling wind. Cymbals to flashes of lightning. All while you're perched on a mountainside view, taking it all in. Musicians Timb Harris and Eyvind Kang add hints of mandolin and violin that become the water from the sky, and rivers moving below.

If you're a fan of any of the four musicians that comprise this effort then you know this is entirely worth a listen. If not, I encourage you to sit down and give this piece of art a chance. Don't just listen or hear it, feel it. I can't pick a personal favorite track off this album. Move one brush stroke from the Mona Lisa and she's just not the same; get my drift?  But then again, that's entirely up to you.

Ensemble Pearl will be available on 2xLp/CD/digital via Drag City on March 18th. Don't forget to pick it up.

Expectation can lead a listener wrong more often than not. When a member of a band as well regarded as Pelican (Trevor Shelley de Brauw) is involved in a project expectations will undoubtedly be very high. Teith have managed to circumvent any unreasonable expectations in two ways. First by delivering the finest possible post-drone-kraut-noise-doom-psychedelic-ambient record they could and second by promptly breaking up. The latter is incredibly unfortunate because Humboldt Park is an immensely enjoyable record from beginning to end and it’s sub 40 minute length is not nearly enough.

While many of their contemporaries in the instrumental rock world languish in gloom and sadness Teith bring uplifting, positive riffs that border on (gasp) hooks. Opening track ‘Build Me a Tower and Give Me a Gun’ starts with some treated field recordings before the fuzzed out bass and delayed guitars build into an almost Sonic Youth-esqe groove. The second song ‘This Buffalo Wings Cafe is a Wi Fi Hotspot’ continues the trend and slowly picks up the pace as the guitar melodies mutate and transform into white noise.

The third song is the epic 9 minute ‘Table of Tourettes’. It starts of with some ambient noises and plodding bass line. The whole beginning of the song sounds like Geezer Butler being chased by UFOs through an old AM radio studio. Guitars are buried under tape loops of people cheering, jeering, screaming and even singing which all finally gives way to a cacophony of reverb and feedback before fading to a murmur. The melodic kraut-droning in the joyous ‘Don’t Obfuscate Me’ plods along merrily before giving way to the closing song ‘Friends of Italian Opera.’ The closing piece is a cannonade of droning noise competing with catchy melodies (most of which are played on a bass). About 7 minutes in there is a bass line that will be stuck in your head for days, consider yourself warned.

Probably the most endearing part of Humboldt Park is the sense of fun that permeates the whole record. It sounds fun to record, fun to play and it surely is fun to listen to. I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the bass guitar tone one more time, it is the glue that holds the whole record together and it sounds wonderful mixed in front of the more textural guitars. Teith has accomplished that rare blend of experimentalism and approachability that surely could have yielded many more albums, but that is no to be. This is headphone music for you commute on days when you’d rather not be commuting. It’s music to make you curl up with a book or take your dog for a walk to. Buy it. Love it. Hopefully we can collectively convince them to make another.

As soon as opening track 'Chrysalis' begins with roughly 2 minutes of feedback, occasional chords and the odd burst of weird noises, it's clear that Eryn Non Dae. are going to do things there own way. Just when you think you're going to be taking a ride with Sigur Ros, a crackle of snare indicates that we're taking the first of many turns throughout the song, and the album itself. With vocals reminiscent of Opeth/VOD and a juxtaposition of meaty riffs and eerie high pitched notes, Eryn Non Dae. ably move between emotions. In fact so creepy is a latter section of 'Chrysalis' that I almost beheaded my wife with a cast iron pot when she appeared behind me whilst I was listening to the track. That'll teach me to listen to the album in headphones. Whilst doing the washing up.

What strikes me most about this albums is how cinematic the songs are. Much like early Floyd, this album is a headphone album. Each track takes the listener on a journey through some dark places both musically and emotionally. Vocals that range front the guttural to the angelically melodic ensure that Eryn Non Dae. keep you hooked and interested, all too often growl/grunt/cookie monster style vocals can become one dimensional but not here.

Musically Eryn Non Dae. like to start at point A on a map then head over to point H then point Y and then back to point A for a bit then off again. Deliciously jagged riffs segue into wonderfully sombre acoustic-esque sections only to be kicked up the arse by a manic burst of mosh (looking at you 'Muto'). Keep your ears peeled for a fantastical random use of jazz drum patterns throughout 'Ignitus' too.

The album is sequenced so that each song segues into the next to create the illusion of one continuous piece of music and clocking in at just under an hour in length, requires listener commitment. This is an album you can enjoy track by track, but if you want my advice (we both know you do), set aside an hour, grab your headphones and let Eryn Non Dae. treat you to some sweet darkness. Just make sure to leave a light on somewhere.

It seems just lately that everyone is trying to jump onto the Americana bandwagon with varying results. For every near classic there is a sin bin of horrors as the search for that “cosmic” sound over turns all applecarts.

Jimmy Wilkinson seems to fall in the middle of these two extremes with an album which whilst soaked in the classicist songwriting of the early 1970’s tends to misfire at all the wrong places. It is an album which is possibly summed up best by Mr Wilkinson when he sings “I’m not that rock and roll”.

It is this attitude that pervades the first couple of songs on this album. Starting off sprightly enough, the cheerful ‘Getting By’ soon starts to cloy and this is exacerbated by first single ‘Desert Rose’ which does nothing to ingratiate itself with the Americana it is searching for. Thankfully things do improve, they just take time so stick with it.

Jimmy travelled the length and breadth of America searching for inspiration for this album with the best notification of this purpose being in the superlative musicianship throughout the album. At times a country shuffle, at others a menacing Stonesy blues, the songs are aided by a pedigree of musicians who have seen and heard it all.

Against this, Jimmy’s voice sounds just a little pallid, as if there is no edge to it. His soft tones betray a MOR feeling exemplified by a sub Johnny Cash drawl in places. It just doesn’t fit at times but then it would also be fair to say, when it does fit you are in for a treat.

A stirringly emotional 'Black Country Girl' (ironically influenced more by his home town of Birmingham than the America he trawled) comes from the heart and takes the album to another level. This is built on with 'Lady of the Flowers'and 'Long Time Coming' in particular striking a rich vein. Jimmy would do well to follow this muse as this is where his real strength lies. It is almost as if when he doesn’t try so much, the results are so much better.

So, pretty average on first listen. Multiple listens throw up some beautiful moments and show a much grittier side with the possibility of a bit of danger and here’s hoping that this is where we see more of Mr Livingstone in the future.