New York born, Gwil Owen has been around a while. Inspired by the Stones he began playing guitar in the 1970s and relocated to Nashville with friend Jeff Finlin to cut one album as 'The Thieves' in 1989.
Since then, his focus has been on songwriting rather than on recording. He co-wrote 'A Soft Place To Fall' with Alison Moorer which was included on the soundtrack for 'The Horse Whisperer'. In 1997, hero Keith Richards recorded a song - 'Deuce And A Quarter' he'd co-written with Kevin Gordon.
Gwil's songs on this album are grown up reflections on love , life and devotion although in spite of the mature perspective he retains an irritating fondness for calling his woman 'baby'.
His nuggets of wisdom range from the existential - "I try to keep my mind on the here and now" (Mississippi Moonrise) ,the fatalistic - "time rearranges the heart in mysterious ways" (One Of These Lonely Days) to the confusing: what, pray, does the request "Don't break funky on me" mean?
|
It also contains the dubious affirmation that two hands on the wheel of a Cadillac is more lasting than fame and fortune.
The quirky couplet on the title track - "As long I got you baby / Everything else is gravy" is about as good as it gets.
The major flaw to the album is that the conservative brand of laid back R'n'B gets tedious after just the first two or three tracks. There is no sense that there's no passion or individuality behind the words making it all too easy to disengage.
As a consequece the lacklustre songs gathered here are instantly forgettable.
11t 42.58m
|
