Phil Hooley was frontman and founder of the not very well known Alt.Country band The Woolgatherers.
Hooley describes himself as a late bloomer so begins his solo career already sounding a little worn down by recent events.
This album was mostly recorded during lockdown and the somber mood offers a fair indication of the struggle of living with the pandemic. On the opener, Learning To Be Still, he sings of the all too familiar feeling of how ”the days roll into one.”
The ten original songs on the album benefit greatly from the input of Nashville drummer and producer Justin Johnson who made contact with Hooley after enquiring on Facebook if anyone in the Scarborough area was writing country songs.
The chance of finding an Americana artist in North Yorkshire was a long shot but Hooley responded to the post and the two hit it off when they met. Johnson was able to call upon some experienced session musicians to get these Back Room songs out into the public domain.
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A low key, muted mood is maintained throughout. The touching It’s Time We Said Goodbye is both a declaration of love and a document of a breakup. A drinking song, Pour Me A Drink, is the closest thing to upbeat but hardly sounds carefree. There’s a hint of dry humor in this and other songs but the singer’s attempts to “chase away the blues” recounted in A Mystery is clearly still work in progress.
Hear the album on Bandcamp
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