We Live In Strange Times will be welcomed by anyone who enjoyed Ian M. Bailey's last album You Paint The Pictures as much as I did. Once again Ian M. Bailey has teamed up with ex Cosmic Rough Rider Daniel Wylie to write and produce a dozen 60's inflected songs of beauty and wonder. Ian plays most of the instruments and provides all the harmonies, anything he couldn't play himself was played by Alan Gregson.
The album opens is a very similar vein to We Paint The Pictures with The last Chime, a super pretty song in love with the 60's Rickenbacker rockers like The Byrds, this evokes sitting on the edge of a village looking out at the fields yet still able to hear the chimes of the church clock.
It's Summer Rain should probably be played just before or after Summer Wine, as once that Summer Rain comes down you'll want a nice glass of wine while you listen to this, waiting for the sun to come back out again, even though your secretly glad the garden and fields are getting watered.
Mother Nature (Giving Out Signs) has the feel of a sitar in places, as the strings sweep through, as Ian makes sure we understand to listen, hearing the messages Mother Nature has been giving us, to change our ways and try to heal the planet, without ever getting preachy as this is far to sweet a song for that.
The Clock Is Ticking the climate is in crisis, what are we going to doing about it, so open your eyes to what's happening at the ice caps, try to be part of the solution. As the hazy lazy music creates a woozy cocoon of blissful sounds.
She Waltzes With The Devil is a psychedelic instrumental freak out, that acts as a sort of interlude, but could easily have been lifted from an early 70's B-Movie as the music to accompany a chase scene.
Dance Around The Room is for a really slow dance with the one you love the most, as you slowly make all your muscles move and twist around each others.
Pray For me is for a troubled soul whose marriage is falling apart, amid all the acrimony and pain all Ian really wants is a few prayers and to find a way for all the healing they both need.
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California Desert Sundown sounds like it was recorded in Topanga Canyon, while trying not to think about the Spahn ranch, this has a sun dappled feel, as if the sun is shimmering across the cactus filled terrain as you sit getting high.
The Sweet Smell Of Roses evokes a love that is bound up in The Sweet Smell Of Roses as much as it might spark thoughts of the Pasadena Rose parade, gentle caresses of strings sweep her off her feet and into your loving arms.
We Live In Strange Times, that's the truth for certain, this harks back to the bucolic 60's while emphasizing that if you've been around like Ian has, you'll understand just how strange our times are.
Country Girl is just the sort of girl Ian would love to spend time with, strolling across the fields, helping with the chores as the strings soar once more, how could you resist a song as charming as this one is.
The album closes with the Moon Floats On A Cloud that has Nick Drake style picked acoustic guitar, with special guest Cellist Richard Curran adding a redolent feel to this gently evocative song closing the album.
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