You are hereAlbum Review: Reg Meuross - All This Longing (Hatsongs Records)
Album Review: Reg Meuross - All This Longing (Hatsongs Records)
The black and white shot of a typewriter on the cover indicates something that we've all known for some time, that Reg Meuross is first and foremost a writer; a storyteller in song form. Following hot on the heels of his 2008 release DRAGONFLY, which brought the singer-songwriter to prominence as a solo artist after spells with The Panic Brothers and Hank Wangford, ALL THIS LONGING showcases another dozen well crafted self-penned songs in a similar vein.
Strong on melody and with a soft gentle voice reminiscent of early Paul Simon, Reg's songs are never lyrically cluttered nor sparse, neither are they ambiguous nor over-simplified. Well rounded story songs like this are immediately engaging, whether they address a prodigal's return in Angelina's Coming Home, the symbiotic love of a fine artist and a musician in The Drover's Road or whether they concern true life stories.
Reg writes about legendary heroes (or villains) particularly well, as he did previously on Dragonfly with Lizzie Loved a Highwayman and William Brewster Dreams of America. Whilst The Heart of Ann Lee tells of the 18th Century Manchester-born 'Shaking Quaker', who set out to the New World to spread the word, maintaining an allegiance to God whilst rejecting sexual relations of any kind, despite being forced into marriage by her father, Looking for Johnny Ray on the other hand, is a tender love poem alluding to the fact that sometimes we need an alternative to hard men, a search for a more sensitive kind. Addressing relatively more recent history, Victor Jara is a heartfelt homage to the Chilean theatrical director, brutally murdered in the early 1970s in Santiago for his outspoken beliefs. The song's attention to detail is particularly well handled, making note of the fact that Jara's last poetic words were hidden in the shoe of a friend, later to be discovered but never named.
Reg is joined by Bellowhead's Paul Sartin on oboe and violin, Andy Cutting on accordion, Fairground Attraction's Roy Dodds on percussion and Simon Edwards on bass together with Jackie Oates on viola, and current touring partner Bethany Porter on cello, each providing sensitive accompaniment to yet another outstanding album.
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