Black Star Riders frontman looks back to his youth.
Give this double album some of your time and you’ll find many a musical highlight – from the sassy brass of That’s Where The Story Ends and the brazen punk‘n’roll of Toffee Town to the somewhat unsurprisingly Thin Lizzy-tinted If You’re Not Gonna Leave Me.
Yet it’s Warwick’s poetic, down-to-earth lyrics which flirt most profoundly with your emotions. It all plays out like a selection of campfire songs; even with the overdrive cranked up you can feel the warmth of flickering flames as the Irishman’s whisky-soaked voice croons through tales of childhood and love. There’s a real presence to the deep, naked guitars of Way Too Cold For Snow, which work well to complement an excellent vocal performance, while The Year Of Living Dangerously sounds compellingly vulnerable.
It feels like hearing the very heartbeat of a fantastic modern troubadour and songwriter.
