You know when a musician has been around a bit and you get that feeling merely by looking at the cover of Colin Linden's "From the Water" album. He's got the beard, he got the shades and he's got the guitar. You just know he will be able to cut the mustard.
This being his 11th album, "From the Water" is a slick affair. Quality musicianship abounds and the result is an album that sounds polished without ever appearing to try too hard. You can feel the influence of the blues throughout - which is no bad thing in my book - but the strongest impression is of a man at ease with his music. There's humour too, and surely Jerry Lieber and Mike Stoller would have been proud to have written a song like "Trouble Only Comes in 3s". If you're feeling mellow then "I Have Seen a Miracle" will be just the song for you while "Later Than You Think" shows that Colin Linden is a man who truly respects his roots.
All in all, this is a warm and musically rewarding album that will make a lot of people happy. That includes me, by the way.