Robin Adams’ eighth album has had a long gestation period. The title track ‘Sun Behind the Storm’ was released as a single in 2013 but has never appeared on any of his albums, despite arguably being one of his finest compositions. Adams says he wanted to wait until he had the right songs to accompany it and, a decade later, he finally does.
Fittingly, it’s ‘Sun Behind the Storm’, which kicks-off proceedings. A paean to the human spirit, it offers-up a simple but powerful message of hope. “If we have been beaten by the weather / and our days have drawn cold / we would be wiser to remember / there’s always sun behind the storm,” implores Robin, over a plaintive acoustic guitar refrain. It’s a song that radiates warmth, and it’s clear the passage of time has failed to dim its lustre.
‘Sweet Sturnidae’ follows and features some magnificent fiddle from Graham Smith of String Driven Thing fame, while ‘Pushed and Pulled’ is propelled along with a full arrangement of drums, guitar, bass and even some harmonica. ‘The Devil’s War and God’s Blue Sea’ is a more stripped-down affair, with Adams’ vocals and guitar being accompanied by cellist Pete Harvey of Modern Studies.
‘Hit the Ground Running’ takes the album into more angst-ridden territory, with Adams singing ‘”Hanging on the edge of sorrow / my defences have been stripped’” over heavy, deliberate guitar strums. The brooding intensity continues with ‘Catapult,’ which draws you in with an arresting guitar refrain. “Don’t walk / Don’t run / Don’t go outside in the sun / Don’t have a life that goes beyond the thought of now / I don’t think so somehow,” sings Robin defiantly.
While ‘Sun Behind the Storm’ may be the song the album was written around, penultimate song ‘Losing You’ threatens to steal the show with is poignant lament to lost love. “I’d tear the world apart / to find out if it had a heart / I only found out /w hen I started losing you,” sings Robin. ‘To the Sea’ closes the album in more upbeat fashion, with the hopeful lyrics “On my way to see the ocean / stretching out ahead of me.”
‘Sun Behind the Storm’ may be shorter than most of Adams’ albums, but quality is more important than quantity and every song here earns its place. So much so, in fact, that ‘Sun Behind the Storm’ sits comfortably alongside the Glasgow songwriter’s finest work. Adams may be eight albums into his career, but it’s hard to shake the feeling the best is yet to come.
‘Sun Behind the Stars’ is released on April 6 with a launch show at Glasgow’s Glad Cafe.
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