CHRIS WHILE & JULIE MATTHEWS - The Best Of…Vol.2
Fat Cat Records FATCD038
It may seem like only yesterday that I reviewed the first Best Of… by this superb duo – but it was 11 years ago (Issue 72 for those with an interest in these things). Coincidentally, here we have 72 minutes of the best of the recent output (although three of the tracks predate the original compilation). Never ones to shy from difficult issues, here they deal with a multitude of serious issues, from suicide and anti-Semitism, to acts of nature, and women working in industry. The seam that binds these disparate topics is derived from the fact that these two artistes care so much about the composition process that they are able to immerse themselves in the subject matter. It would be disingenuous to group the remaining songs as ‘just’ love songs, as they are some of the most carefully crafted songs dealing with emotions of recent years.
The tracks where Howard Lees is allowed to let rip on lead guitar are lifted bodily to a higher dimension – for example Inconvenient Hero, which deals with the respiratory problems of 9/11 firefighters, exacerbated by their health insurance being curtailed by the US government, and The Coldest Winds Do Blow, the song which opens this collection. The bassist on 11 tracks is the excellent Neil Fairclough, who manages to add a sympathetic air to each of his contributions.
Quite simply this is another corker – destined to join its predecessor on repeat in my player. Brilliant again.
www.whileandmatthews.co.uk
Grem Devlin
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Many CDs we review are available from The Listening Post. Check to see if this CD is available. The Listening Post is the CD mailorder service of The Living Tradition magazine. This album was reviewed in Issue 122 of The Living Tradition magazine. |