Another day, another Deacon Blue album I need to get reacquainted with before the gig at the SECC in Glasgow on Saturday.
The band released this album in 2020 to favourable reviews with journalists complementing them on the delivering an album full of crowd pleasers. You know the sort of thing, pop/rock songs with big choruses that go down a treat live.
A prime example is the title track, a rousing song filled with strings, a gospel choir and a chorus that is dead easy to sing along to. It is a love song to Glasgow and I can’t wait to hear them belt it out in their hometown at the weekend.
Elsewhere ‘Hit Me Where It Hurts’ uses the same formula, a catchy track with a chorus aching to be chanted at a gig. ‘Weight Of The World’ shows that Ricky Ross hasn’t lost his touch when it comes to ballads either, he and his Mrs, Lorraine McIntosh, deliver a beautifully touching track before the big choruses start again with ‘Take Me’.
The country-tinged ‘In Our Room’ has a whiff of ‘Hazard’ by Richard Marx about it (a good thing in my book) and already become a live favourite along with ‘A Walk In The Woods’. The band mix it up with some sleazy rock on the excellent ‘Keeping My Faith Alive’.
According to the blurb at the time, the lyrical theme of the record is “the prevalence of hope even in the corners of a little town where no light falls.” This is perfectly realised in the closing track ‘On Love’ which finds Ross narrating a story of love, hope, and dreams.
I agree with the critics, this is a cracking album that shows that the band haven’t lost their passion for delivering great big songs that are capable of filling great big arenas.
This is the HMV exclusive 1921 Series edition. It is a picture disc and suffers from the usual picture disc hiss, definitely not audiophile quality by any measure. It was bought with the heart, not the head.
If you fancy the picture disc you will need to navigate eBay or Discogs with prices starting at over £40. The standard edition will set you back about £25.
Tracks To Try: ‘City Of Love’, ‘Weight Of The World’, ‘In Our Room’, ‘Keeping My Faith Alive’.