There’s so much music out there that you can’t possibly hear it all (or at least you can't possibly remember hearing it all…). I’d never even heard of Martin Sexton even though his “Sugarcoating” album takes his discography into double figures and you don’t last that long without doing something right.
Anyway, the proof is in the pudding. It always is. The ingredients, unsurprisingly, are therefore of good quality here with the kind of easy going musicianship that caresses the ear with each song flowing by like an old steamboat on the Mississippi with all those musical influences carried out to the shore by the wind. That is perhaps the most interesting thing about this album. As a whole, it runs right up the middle of the road but the individual songs take little detours in other directions with “Living The Life” visiting Eric Lindell style r&b, “Always Got Away” making for a modern day Nashville style ballad and “Easy On The Eyes” having that urban quirky feel that makes for a good sitcom theme tune.
Between the nicely judged commercial breaks, Martin Sexton writes like a man of conscience – see the title track for the proof - and that’s a very commendable, if increasingly commonplace, approach these days. Personally though, I like a bit of decadence with less “feel good” and more “felt good last night but, on reflection not such a good idea”. A spoonful of sugar, however, does make the medicine go down.