Singing Adams MovesReview

Singing Adams is the current project from Steven Adams, formerly of mickey-taking turned actually-really-good Cambridge country and western outfit The Broken Family Band. Following last year’s debut Everybody Friends Now, the four-piece (Adams joined by Matthew Ashton on guitar, Melinda Bronstein on drums and Michael Wood on bass) returns with album number two.

Avoiding, as ever, the lyrically obvious or trite, this time we see a contemplative Adams, ruminating on lessons learned and hard-won insights. From Black Cloud’s anguished self-interrogations (“What kind of man am I?” “What kind of life is this?”) to the gentler reflections of What Happens Now? or the terrific, oblique take on last summer’s riots London Trocadero (“We try to keep our heads above the water, but it’s rising”), the album seems infused with a kind of downbeat wisdom.

It entertains more than it preaches, though, albeit with greater focus on the negative than the upbeat; this despite the presence, behind layers of irony and detachment, of a few tales of positivity amongst the gloom. “Let’s start again, instead of giving up,” the band suggests on the perky Good Luck.

The occasional touch of alt-country sheen remains from times gone by – found in the twang of No Rock Song’s strings, Black Cloud’s lovely harmonies, the steel guitar of Theme From ‘Moves’. Elsewhere, the use of static-laden electric guitar (Building a Wall), piano (on the beautiful ballad What Happens Now?) and even synths (You Drew a Line) demonstrate a widening of the musical palette.

Throughout, Adams’ expressive voice is at the album’s heart, his delivery switching from dry, detached sarcasm to a heartfelt melancholy, then back to a deadpan humour perfectly matched to his words. Comparing the dour and downbeat vocals that open the album (No Rock Song) with the emotionally rich singing at its end (What Happens Now?) provides a neat demonstration of his range.

And what better voice, and gentle musical framework, to deliver these words of knowledge and experience?  Never ones for stating the obvious, Singing Adams have constructed an album that is as thought-provoking as it is entertaining. Smart moves.