Any album stated as recorded in Nashville comes with a set amount of expectation or trepidation, such is the good and bad in the whole Country genre. Starter track Years Ago is very reminiscent of Springsteen in his Born To Run phase and even includes the sax solos, but the opening four minutes can be deceptive too. The second track Beth On The Trampoline is a kind of swing mix of Edwyn Collins Girl Like You. To be honest this is not very “Nashville” after all. It’s a tidy collection of adult pop songs (I don’t mean seedy) that would sit comfortably on any MOR shelf too. Leaving To Remain pitches into Richard Ashcroft territory and this is where the album finds its feet and sense of urgency with excellent guitar funkrock riffage supporting Owens. Unfortunately the pace drops slightly after this and a few lightweight tracks fill the middle of the album until we hit some more worthwhile guitar hooks in Hallelujah. Further Ashcroftian sequences can be found in Raining In Glasgow and these are definitely Owens finer songwriting times where the sing-along country feel is left behind for more serious stuff. It’s a bit of a mixed up album in the sense it’s more a collection of odd songs than a collection with a theme or linking sound. More pick than mix. Good though.