Edward Abbiati is back with his latest album Beat The Night this time around he is "solo" rather than with Chris Cacavas, ACC or Lowlands, but this is very much a band album of great country rock and dark contemplation from Pavia Italy as Ed explores surviving a brush with death and becoming a father.
The album opens with the bruised and burnished country rock of the title track Beat The Night that sounds like it's made for drive time radio perfect to help you get into the mood for a good Friday night out, even if lyrically it's about ending up shot full of drugs and in the emergency room being cut open.
I Got Hurt is slower and more contemplative song about picking yourself back up after being hurt. It has some great lap steel from Mike Slo Mo Brenner that goes beautifully together with Joey Huffman's organ playing very subtle comedown song.
Look At Me is slow and languorous string laden and gentle prayer for better times and recovery sort of fells like Tindersticks style melancholia stark baring of the soul as things improve.
Hold Me Tight is a sparsely beautiful song looking at recovery from illness and the hopes that things are getting better once more. In Harms Way is giving thanks at having survived and got rid of his suicide notes with Michele Gazich's violin seeming to lead him away from danger.
Judgment Day #2 feels like an almost upbeat Steve Earle style country rock song that also feels like it could almost go murder ballad on us in the need for judgement.
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45 is another song of survival and making it home again in one piece at 45 years old having survived and got to live another day when tragedy struck but he's coming out the other side as he didn't die that day. It's musically rueful and bruised as it should be.
Three Times Lucky is as much about the joy of becoming a dad as well as with the rest of the album the joy at still making music and being with us over some more woozy lap steel a nice song of gentle celebration.
Sleepwalking is about waking up to the need to change and become a new man that may have been forced on him either way he now has a new purpose, and this nicely strummed folk song should help him along the way.
I Can't tell Ya is a song about writing a song about surviving everything and ending up making a song that sounds like early acoustic Dylan and a nice gentle way to end a rather moving and emotional album.
Find out more at www.lowlandsband.com
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