Where are we going with this one? Round and round it would seem as Colin Clyne - singer songwriter from Stonehaven - exports himself to the USA, absorbs the Americana vibe and releases this album.
Nothing grates here and songs like “Good For Something” and “Pockets and Envelopes” drift easily over your ears. Like so many of his contemporaries, Mr Clyne takes the opportunity to break out the harmonica and some vocal affectations to show that he knows the ways of classic Dylan and, to show that he is still close to his roots despite disembarking to warmer climes, he expresses his homesickness through recollections of the culinary delights of the deep fried Mars Bar (“The Pain of the Mississippi Queen”) and random football violence (“Stonehaven Radio Station and Me”).
Listening to this album left me impressed with how tasteful and polished it was with production standards well above what you would expect of a Scottish singer songwriter. Mr Clyne’s vocals are pleasant enough if somewhat forced but his songwriting too often tends towards the anodyne to truly convince. In fact, the only real feeling that I got from it was that it was just the kind of album that an enterprising American record company wanting something parochial from the old country might release – a Scottish accent is fashionable these days, I’m told….
Available from CD Baby and the usual download outlets.