Reading an article about enduring English singer/ songwriter Richard Thompson yesterday, your reviewer got to thinking just how few truly great "roots" rock performers we have this side of the pond who can claim to have recorded three classic albums in a row. There are contenders out there, of course: Thompson obviously, while the likes of Clive Gregson, Jackie Leven, Andy White and a handful of others should also rightly be showered with sales relating to their artistic achievements.
But, in terms of consistency, emotional content and simply putting great songs first, one name really deserves to step out of the shadows: MICHAEL WESTON KING. And with "A Decent Man" he has (to this writer's ears) turned in his third classic studio platter in a row.
To recap quickly, both King's previous stark solo album "God-Shaped Hole" and his 2001 swansong with former combo The Good Sons ("Happiness") were fantastic records, deserving of far wider kudos. "Happiness" - broadly Michael's divorce album - was particularly affecting, and ensured that his first fully-fledged studio album as a solo artist following The Good Sons' split would have to raise its' game to compete.
"A Decent Man," though, soon has you wondering why you would doubt King's songwriting credentials. With new producer Jackie Leven (formerly of great cult band Doll By Doll), partner Lou Dalgleish and a whole host of undersung talent such as Ian McNabb and pedal steel meister Alan Cook in tow, he's again decamped to North Wales studio Bryn Derwen and quietly knocked out another masterpiece.
The resulting album features a roughly even split between full-band songs and close-miked acoustic tracks. Musical contributions are telling throughout and each number is either elaborate or unadorned as necessary. Lyrically, King is as good as ever; still obviously affected by personal events of recent times, he's wrung a series of brilliant confessionals out of his subject matter.
Kicking off with the yearning "Celestial City" (featuring some wonderfully transcendent McGuinn-ish Rickenbacker from Ian McNabb), it's patently obvious King and Leven have worked hard on getting these arrangements just so. There's no waste, and even the bigger-sounding numbers like the morally tormented title track and the suprising Who-esque rocker "High Days, Holy Days" - accented by helicopter noises and McNabb's Les Paul overload - sound lean and passionate, while the pared-down gospel of "When You Leave The Spotlight" (with heavenly harmonies from King and Lou Dalgleish) is a real showstopper.
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If anything, though, the acoustic-based songs are even more resonant. These vary from the wry, deceptively jaunty back porch Country of "The Englishman's Obsession With America (Part 2)", to the tender heartbreak of "The Wooden Hill" and the starker confessionals "Always The Bridesmaid (Never The Bride)" and "Where The Stars Don't Shine". The former finds King letting his guard down about the fickle nature of the music industry and his place within it ("You're too scared to quit now because of your fucking pride" he seethes at one point), while the hurt and anger in "Where The Stars Don't Shine" (sample lyric: "12 months in a year, 10 years in a decade, that's how long it took before I knew I was betrayed") is painfully tangible.
Throw in two brief, but excellent covers of Neil Young's under-rated "Love In Mind" and - surprising as it may sound - Pete Townshend's "Blue, Red And Grey" and you've got a tantalisingly fine album you really should go out of your way to hear, even if you've never crossed paths with Michael Weston King before. "A Decent Man" he surely is, and one deserving of far more than just a flurry of critical plaudits.
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