Steve SmythThere’s much going on behind that impressive facial hair. From the Tom Waits chain-gang stomp of Get On, Smyth takes a range of sidetracks.
Melodic delicacy gets juxtaposed with his emotional delivery – Digital Heart could almost have him as the missing link between Augie March and The Drones. Then to the inveterate traveller’s distant melancholy of South Land, even while being a busking boulevardier in Paris. Then there’s the towering, heart-bruised balladry of Written Or Spoken – which still gets in your guts even after repeated listenings. It’s an intimate – but often glorious – little scuffed gem of an album.
