There I was thinking about the good old days when I remembered that I was supposed to be writing about Jim Byrne's new album "The Innocent". You could well take that as a sign of impending attention deficit or indeed you could take it as a transformation into a parallel universe where weekend entertainment still consists of Sunday Night at the London Palladium. That is, of course, to do no disservice to Jim Byrne as "The Innocent" is his best album to date but it is nonetheless something of an anathema in the cold and calculating arena of modern day popular music.
Sentimentality does seem key in Jim Byrne's song writing but, by seemingly being pulled out of time, he avoids the poisoning by sugar substitute that you might expect. Take "Sleepy Head" as an example. Sonically, this song is presented and indeed performed as a lullaby but you can read more in to it and I was left with the impression that it was more about death than a night's rest. You could likewise take his cover of "Satisfied Mind" as just reverential reinvention or you take it as timely commentary on the casual corruption of our moneyed overlords.The depth is there.
Jim Byrne's trademark subtlety is evident in the production and never more clearly demonstrated than in the immaculately polished "You Are A Good Friend Of Mine". The song just rolls along so smoothly that you would think that it had been recorded with the help of copious quantities of Mr Sheen. The song of the album, however, is "Sweeter Than A Rose". With quintessential good taste and drawing heavily on the ways of the old time crooner, Jim Byrne could - with a little help from a time machine, of course - have captured the ears of 1950's youth with that one.
I seem to recall comparing Jim Byrne to Roger Whittaker on a previous occasion. Or maybe it was Val Doonican? No matter, for the point remains the same. Neither of those two good gentlemen courted controversy yet sold millions of records each. In different times, Jim Byrne would wearing the third hand knitted sweater on their stage and that, despite what you might think, is no insult.