As both a collection of songs and as a showcase for the usual thrilling guitar solos, Electric is the most consistently satisfying album Richard Thompson has made in more than a decade. Even though he has rarely made a weak disc, you might have to go back to Mock Tudor (1999) to find him so clearly at the top of his game.
There?s still plenty of acid-tongued accusation in his lyrics, although the wisdom of age is now factoring in the futility of wasting too much energy on anger, as one can see in the surprising denouement to the dark ballad Enemy.
At its core, the disc is a trio project, with Thompson and a rhythm section blasting out raging rockers and breaking up the tension with gentler, more tuneful stuff, assisted only by some occasional sweetening from extra instruments.
The album title is mostly apt, as it features a rich procession of solos that never go where you think they will. On the booming opener Stony Ground, Thompson?s guitar break evokes an ominous gust of wind, while on the explosive shouter Sally B, it is the sound of taunting adversary. Thompson can hit with a sledgehammer, but he can just as easily glide around the fretboard with beauty and grace.
Even though the insistent backbeat of Good Things Happen to Bad People and the garage psychedelia of Straight and Narrow bear witness to a rock n? roll heart, for example, nothing overshadows Thompson?s still-wonderful gift for simple, affecting melodies like those belonging to Salford Sunday and Saving the Good Stuff For You, jaunty toe-tappers with a slight country accent.
At 63, Thompson remains as true to his muse and as indifferent to the whims of the marketplace as Neil Young or Bob Dylan, although they get all the press for their artistic integrity. And even if Thompson has always had devoted followers who never miss a new album, he remains a criminally undervalued artist. The plain truth remains that few writers and guitarists are in his league.
Rating: **** and ?
Podworthy: Straight and Narrow
Here?s Thompson discussing Electric:
And click here to listen to a stream of the whole album.
Bernard Perusse
Twitter: @bernieperusse
Source: http://blogs.montrealgazette.com/2013/02/03/new-music-review-electric-richard-thompson-new-west/
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