SHAKIN’ STEVENS
Re-Set (BMG)
Is Shakin’ Stevens a much better artist than he’s ever been given credit for? That’s the overriding question that nags at the listener throughout Re-Set, a seriously good album that is just a whisker away from brilliant.
After 50 years in the industry, the man behind Green Door has earned himself a voice rich in passion. Stevens’ very deliberate Americanisms have become naturally subsumed and there is a slight break in the notes that’s reminiscent of McCartney’s current vocal delivery. All this makes opener George and the ode to his mother, May, very moving.
Elsewhere, Stevens dips deeper into a rootsier sound and richer seam of lyric writing than may be expected. Lead single It All Comes Around is a great example and only a couple of times do the post-pandemic themes slip into cliché.
That the playing and production don’t quite get down to the gutsy levels of Johnny Cash’s American series of albums seems a harsh criticism. But finding comparisons between Shaky and the Man In Black is a welcome surprise.
words JOHN-PAUL DAVIES
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