Paul Handyside
Album: Wayward Son
Label: Malady Music
Tracks: 11
Website: http://www.paulhandyside.com

Hailing back to his early days in indie-darlings Hurrah! Back in the eighties, Paul Handysidehas had a career of some thirty odd years in music. After Hurrah! The nineties were spent recording and touring with Martin Stephenson before forming Bronze at the start of the naughties. He first consciously crossed my radar when he started releasing under his own name with "Future Dream" back in 2008, though it transpired we'd shared a pint and a chat a good few years before that when he was with afore-mentioned Martin Stephenson and they played Southampton. I think 5 Guys Named Moe were the support, but I could be wrong. I digress.

"Wayward Son" has been some five years in the pipeline and the first question I can hear you asking is, 'has it been worth the wait?' Quite simply the answer to that one is yes. Handyside has developed as a songwriter, not just as a lyricist, but also as an arranger of songs, this feels far more a complete album than its predecessor.

The main reason is that he's refined the way that he pulls his influences together, to give his songs a 'Handyside sound'. "Future Dream" had its folk, pop and even Americana roots, but they stood slightly away from each other, relying on the considerable strengths in his voice to hold the album together as a whole, this feels a lot more complete, a lot more integrated as a whole.

For me though the top feature of "Wayward Son" is the quality of the vocal. Paul Handyside is blessed with a strong vocal, rich in tone and expressive. This album gives that voice a real quality of material to work with. If you can think of a more Anglicised Roy Orbison you won't be far off the mark. This is an album that is powerful in both voice and word, well worth checking out.

Neil King