As you might expect of a sixth album, “Everything in the Delicatessen” is a polished affair with Tom Houston demonstrating that he has mastered the many and wondrous ways of the folk seasoned singer songwriter.
His lyrics move smoothly between the acerbic and the insightful whilst avoiding the obvious traps of poetic pretension with Tom Houston firmly grasping the ordering of his observations and duly translating them into songs that are a testament to the ordinary. It would therefore be easy to categorise him as just another worthy on the road to obscurity but there is clearly a plan in here and it is one that avoids flourishes in favour of skilfully executed background persuasion and the hypnotic effect of verisimilitude.
“Everything in the Delicatessen” is a low key affair that tells stories of lives without adventures. It isn’t jamon serrano or campoveja trufado and that, I assume, is kind of the point. Tom Houston knows what bacon and cheddar are and he knows that there are many ears out there who will appreciate his eloquently expressed musings on the mundane.
Available from his website or Bandcamp.