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Track List :

1. Carter's Intro
2. Years Ago
3. Beth on the Trampoline
4. Nothing To Lose
5. Adrift
6. Leaving to Remain
7. Miss You CA
8. May
9. Just Another Story
10. Sand In My Shoes
11. Hallelujah
12. Raining in Glasgow
13. Whisky Hearts
14. Man From Leith
15. Mystery Track

In many respects, Dean Owens, the third solo album is very old. That is not meant as a criticism - it musically references enormous slabs of Springsteen (especially the opener, Years Ago, one of those songs slyly policy with its ripe for rip sax, and rising gloriously Hallelujah) and some of the most relaxed Flying Burrito Brothers' twangy country rock.

Formerly lead singer with the Felsons largely unremarked, like Springsteen, Owens is a gift for simple, direct sentences that summarize common beliefs or feelings, catchy riffs, and to tap into the vibrant, the euphoria of the surface hardworking man.

For some reason, his slightly politicized, optimistic songs like Miss You CA, bounded by West Coast harmonies, work better than the more introspective, quieter numbers. They may not be totally original, either in thought or execution, but they all freeze beautifully.

The title of the album, Whisky Hearts full of Celtic instrumentation, is the perfect swayalong number, ideal for playing in the background during a raucous assembly but bitter at the end of a theatre where American 'aide Pogues would be a little too strong. When you think of the song a big pile of cliches, but by God, it works when you leave you rolling on.

Although many of the catchy and easy to live tracks, especially on the last part of the album, the reference Scotland, Owens's Americanised accent is, as its execution, and the album was recorded outside himself Nashville with a role call of the mature countries playing on talent. Thus, the songs that were meant to be the most personal and the most lyrical Owens are those who do not quite fit in.

Sung in transatlantic tones, Raining in Glasgow ( "I bet it rains in Glasgow / but tonight I would not be getting wet spirit") has an unintentional parody touching about it. And while Man From Leith , the father of the singer, is sincere. It gives us rather bare descriptions of his memories of his father, and not the universal feelings that characterize much of the rest of the album.

This is not a great album (although it is certainly a very listenable one), but it was made by someone taking a slow and cautious path in the right direction, which I am now eager to see live, and I am sure Se develops greatness.

musicOMH