RIC NEALE's singing, guitar playing, and sympathetic arrangements are polished hardwoods in a culture full of block board and acrylic. Here is a songwriter whose craftsmanship evokes the Brill Building and Nashville just as much as the Brian Wilson reference point that his publicist prefers.
The first of three songs, "Different Than Before" bundles in with a confident lilt and a sweet tune. Like the very title, there's something just nicely askew about the delivery and sentiment that hooks right into your reviewer's psyche. With a soothingly familiar light rock groove, there's that extra dash of the new that makes this the obvious song for radio listing (Whether that's your Huw Stephens or your Bob Harris)
"Free" is a little more European - Scottish even - in its coolness and subtlety. It has a GARY LIGHTBODY / PAUL BUCHANAN sort of fluency. Not that you care, but it’s in the key of Eb, with that teasing lift from D to Eb that makes the heart skip a half beat. It’s a slower, less obvious track than "Different Than Before" but it's becoming my personal favourite in the multiple repeat play stakes.
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These well-produced tracks are a clear indication of high quality in a forthcoming album to be sought out later in the year. A live version of "Brick by Brick", a song from the rated first album "Ric Neale Hasn’t Heard Of You Either" is thrown in for good and generous measure, comfortably making the point that Neale's distinctive and mature voice can do the business with a crowd as well as in a studio. It carries a song with an easy grace.
www.ricneale.co.uk
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