There are album that offend. There are albums that sell millions. There are albums that win awards and there are albums that just are. Such an album is “Stronger Than Before” by Luthrie Lockdown.
These eleven songs highlight the ability of Luthrie Lockdown – Colin McEwan, Yvonne McLeod and associates – to tell ordinary stories in song without making it obvious that is what they are doing. Fluent in presentation, Luthrie Lockdown takes the traditional approach of the folk flavoured singer songwriter and decorates it with musical fluency and a generous sprinkle of sentimentality. Straight talking rather than metaphorical musings are the order of the day yet this adds to the appeal of this album as all that is here would roll just as well with only an acoustic guitar as accompaniment.
There are pubs – or at least there used to be – pubs that would have musicians like Luthrie Lockdown on every Thursday night and, as many listeners will testify, there isn’t anything wrong with being a Thursday night band because, when it comes down to it, we all wish we had the ability to turn the mundane into song.
Best song: “Nobody’s Whistling” – almost a song for our times.