Kevin Coyne - Underground

  by Jamie Rowland

published: 17 / 5 / 2006

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It wouldn’t be fair for me to try and make this review into an obituary for Kevin Coyne, as I could never do the man justice, so I’m going to focus purely on the songs that make up his last, posthumously released album, 'Underground'. Opener and title track, ‘Underground’, is a brilliant blues number, the kind of song you can imagine listening to on a long journey; Coyne’s vocal is strong and carries all the emotional weight of a man longing to get home. The record jumps between genres masterfully, from the jazz rock of ‘The Way of the World’ to the rock and roll of ‘Hard and Loud’, to the brilliantly dark prog-rock of ‘Time Moves On’. In my opinion, Coyne’s song writing really shines ion the more blues-based tracks, such as the traditional-blues style ‘Silence Silence’, or the faster-paced ‘Why Why Song’. The most poignant song on the album is the closing track ‘Baby Billy’, a song for Coyne’s grandson. It’s a fantastic piece of pop music, and a beautiful celebration of family and love. Obviously, with Coyne’s passing, the song now has a feeling of melancholy about it, but the singer’s joy and love for the baby of the song’s title keeps it for the most part a happy listening experience. This album is the perfect farewell from Kevin Coyne, in parts moving, humorous, challenging and, overall, a thoroughly enjoyable listen. The only down side to this record is that it’s the last we’ll hear from one of the UK’s most interesting and eclectic song-writers.

Track Listing:-

1 Underground
2 The Way Of The World
3 Paper Romance
4 Low I Try
5 Mr. President
6 He Knows Everything
7 Time Moves On
8 The Why Why Song
9 She Said
10 Hard And Loud
11 Silence Silence
12 Golden Light
13 Baby Billy

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