Album Review

Will Richards – Ready To Talk Now

• 30th Mar 2008

Another Male Solo artist? We really need another one of those don’t we, even if it only increases the chances of Robbie Williams and the other usual subjects not getting nominated for best Male Solo artist at next years Brit awards.

Opener ‘Be A Better Man’ sounds like Radiohead would have done on The Bends if they were a lot less angsty and maybe slightly more cheery faced, this comparison is one that can be raised at several other points through the following eight tracks. ‘Travel Sick’ like most of the other songs on the album looks back to the not too distant past for inspiration and sounds a little like Gomez once did, a slight country ish overdriven slide guitar riff works its way over a steady drum beat and is one of the high lights on the album. ‘Ready To Talk Now’ sounds a little like Ryan Adams did on ‘Gold’ and an equal amount like the Counting Crows and is literally begging to soundtrack a memorable scene on some rom com drama about the triumphs and turmoil’s experienced by the everyday lovelorn 30 something.

Things change radically on ‘Sweet & Lonely lullabies’ and it would be hard imagining somebody singing this to their new born. It sounds like one of those jams that traditionally take place at the beginning of every Later with Jools Holland and has some people instantly reaching for the volume control on the TV remote. It’s an orgy of funky wah guitars and over complicated keyboard flourishes that position themselves over a drum pattern that panders along at a comfortable speed. While closing track ‘She’s in love with me’ is an unremarkable and quite forgetful ballad that won’t be covered by any of Simon Cowell’s pop idol contestants anytime in the near future.

Listening to this album it is easy to draw the conclusion that Will Richards is trying to appeal to as greater number of people by covering as many musical styles as plausibly possible but falls short of hitting the right spot on everyone. With a little more focus on his next longplayer Will Richards may give people a very good reason to talk.