Old Magick [CD]

Second solo album by Steven James Adams, former songwriter/singer/guitarist from the critically acclaimed Broken Family Band. While the album title hints at Adams's interest in the dark arts, the lyrical content of Old Magick covers a lot of ground. On the upbeat Kings of The Back of The Bus, Adams contrasts the posturing of youth with the choices we make as we get older. Elsewhere, desperation is in the air, as the delud-ed protagonist of Ideas tries in vain to rescue a relationship gone wrong, a theme echoed by French Drop, an old conjuring term for a trick in which an object appears to disappear without having gone anywhere. The bad, sad trip of Sea of Words pilfers the phrase the news from nowhere from Wil-liam Morris while The Golden Bough is a rock 'n roll song about neurosci-ence and the "spiritual" choices people make in Western culture. A genuine entertainer, a truly gifted songwriter, and perhaps the closest thing there is to a British Bill Callahan, Adams has produced a high water-mark of a record in Old Magick, proof that his reputation is deserved.

• Format Detail: CD
• Format: CD
• Genre: Rock