Saturday 10th January

As promised here are my impressions of Leonard’s latest offering.  Well, it is extremely well produced – what else would you expect; Leonard has always given us immaculate records.  He has his template now and seldom veers from it, lots of beautiful girl singing harmonies to counterpoint his almost whispered lyrics.  Some might question whether an eighty-three year old should even be attempting a new record, but he doesn’t seem to want to stop.  There was a time, maybe a decade ago when he had stopped both recording and performing, but a financial disaster where he lost most of his money spurred him on to reviving his career.  Now one might ask if he is just milking the cow or if he has something to really add to his wonderful collection of records.  I was beginning to think with his last record that that might be the case and therefore approached this record with caution.

But I have been pleasantly surprised.  I don’t think there are any real classics here, but with songs like Suzanne, So Long Marianne, Bird on the Wire and Hallelujah to his credit it was always unlikely he would rival those masterpieces.   Instead we have a really pleasant laid-back and gentle rumination on life as seen through the eyes of an octogenarian who sounds as though he has seen it all.

The record starts with Slow – a simple song but very effective.  Almost like the Blues is possible the best song on the album with superb but deceptively simple lyrics.  My other favourite is Nevermind, an infectious melody with wonderful words.  In between there are a few fillers and a religious song – Born in Chains – I could have done without.  Still he has managed to create a perfectly respectable record; Patrick Leonard co-writing most of it, and a new band of sublime session players.

One wonders what next for our indefatigable hero?  Maybe a tour of the new songs, maybe another book of poems – long overdue, or even a book; maybe a sort-of autobiography – that should be good for a few laughs.  hahaha