Matt Backer is one of the most successful session guitarists around at the moment and add to that his 4 previous solo albums and you have an artist with a considerable back catalogue.
He is also an excellent songwriter and this album contains 13 of his alongside a couple of very good covers. He has also been able to call on some of the best sessioneers around, names you probably won’t know but whose talents you have heard on dozens of hit songs and albums in the recent past.
So, a combination of good songwriting, great playing, a fine voice. All put together, an excellent album.
My only real issue with the album is that the songs don’t really have a coherent style. There is nothing I can pin down and say “this represents Matt Backer”.
Individually, each song is damn fine. His vocals are consistently superb and his guitar is inventive and classy but every song stands alone and I found myself listening to individual numbers rather than my usual habit of listening to the whole album.
There are a few standout numbers: ‘The Devil Washed His Hands Of Me’ is dark, moody and has a real sense of threat, ‘All Kinds Of It’ has a top riff, great rhymes and real punch and, my favourite, ‘The Dictators Daughter’ which boasts a super vocal from Susie Webb.
There isn’t a bad number here and no filler either. Very well worth a long listen.
