Dean Owens
Album: New York Hummingbird
Label: Songboy
Tracks: 10
Website: www.deanowens.com

New York Hummingbird is the fourth solo offering from Edinburgh based musician Dean Owens, and marks a continuation of the maturing process of this promising singer-songwriter.

Owens was previously connected with Americana band 'The Felsons' before departing to take the lone road with the UK produced solo albums' The Dome Tapes' and 'My Town', albums, both of which were influenced heavily by the beauty of the Scottish Highlands graced with contributions from the wonderful Karine Polwart and also Martin Green of Lau.

The third solo offering 'Whisky Hands' saw Dean move his musical canvas over the Atlantic to Music City, Nashville, working with amongst others, Al Perkins of Jayhawks and Mavericks fame.

The Owens website biography quotes one of the tracks on the fourth and latest album New York Hummingbird' as being 'unashamed country pop', The track in question 'Desert Star', is in fairness far removed from anything vaguely resembling country music, but is in itself a curious choice for an opening album track.

I'm not sure what the rule of thumb is these days for album openers, be it that it should be the strongest song on the album, a current or future single, or just a representation of the current musical style, but in the case of 'Desert Star', it is none of these.

What we have is a quite bland opening track, and definitely nothing to tug you by the shoulder and make you want to shout at the kids to get them to pipe down.

Whilst 'New York Hummingbird' may well be an album with a declared style of Country/Americana, (and this made all the more credible by the Nashville production credentials), it can for me only really be regarded as an example of 80's brit-pop, in the vein of Prefab Sprout and Crowded House.

The 80's musical overtones are ever-present, no more so than on 'No ones a failure' in which Paddy McAloon's breathy and concise harmonies are so much on evidence in Owens' delivery.

Probably one of the strongest tracks on the album happens to be the longest and also the most stripped down in production terms. As a song 'Springtime' works so well. Lyrically interesting, musically simple, but nevertheless well delivered, and with just the right amount of production applied.

Definitely not sure about the track 'One that got away', which according to the blurb is meant to be based on the crackly quality of medium wave reception, but for me sounded more like a song based on the even more crackly opening riff of the Bee Gees 'Tragedy'. The sheer drudgery of the ever present synth type drum beat was not eradicated by the pedantic key change part way through the song.

Thankfully there are stronger tracks on the album, 'Lost Times' being one which, without coincidence, is presented in a more stripped back form, minus the 80's studio treatment. The beauty of this song lies in its simplicity, which allows the quality of the songwriter to be judged on his own merits.

'Baby Fireworks' begins promisingly enough, but builds to nothing more than an average pop song, from the 80's I should add. And for anyone buying the album, I can only imagine 'Snowglobe' being nothing more than a skipped track at any time other than Christmas or when confined to the home because of severe wintry weather. Canadians take note.

On first hearing this album, I didn't notice the break between the tracks 'Snowglobe' and 'Solo', and it's not hard to understand why. Enough said again.

'Wander On' is a song based on firm foundations, well constructed, but could be so much more if it was devoid of the Hammond overtones and over produced sound. Let this song breathe naturally, with maybe just a piano, acoustic guitar and bass, and a subtle sprinkling of harmonies, and it would undoubtedly be the strongest song on the album, period.

Instead, the vote goes to 'New York Hummingbird', why? because it is a song that is not evocative of any particular era, neither 80's or 90's or present day. It is, as all good songs are, time-neutral.

Okay, if you really pressed me for a musical bracket, I'd say that this track, and a good portion of the album has Neil Finn running through it like a stick of Edinburgh rock, but that's definitely not meant as a criticism.

I'm going to catch Dean Owens live this coming Friday, and in doing so I'm hoping I'll get a better understanding of the foundations upon which his songs are built. Watch this space.

Phil Carter