BARRY ADAMSON

Cut To Black (Barry Adamson Inc)

“It’s not gospel, it’s not soul, it’s not blues and it ain’t rock’n’roll. It’s all of them,” states ex-Magazine bassist and two times Bad Seed Barry Adamson describing his latest album Cut To Black. That description’s bang on the money, too. Album opener The Last Words Of Sam Cooke is a banger in the Stax Records mould, the funkiest Adamson has sounded since 2002’s King Of Nothing Hill.

If any songwriter’s overdue a publication of his lyrics in standalone book format, it’s Adamson. Just a couple of examples of his wordplay here are the gospel ’n’ blues-drenched Amen White Jesus and Waiting For The End Of Time, both emotionally mindblowing and demanding the listener to hit the play button again and again. Although the tracks on this album are lyrical throughout, reflecting on identity, race and fatality, Cut To Black does have a sprinkling of those brooding and dramatic cinematic soundscape flourishes that Adamson is known for.

The rain and umbrellas on the album’s monochrome sleeve art hark back to Adamson’s 1989 debut, imaginary noir Moss Side Story, which could suggest a full-circle arrival with Cut To Black. Either way, there’s hopefully more to come as this return to the fray is sublime.

words DAVID NOBAKHT