Stephen Fearing
Album: Between Hurricanes
Label: Lowden Proud
Tracks: 11
Website: http://www.stephenfearing.com

It's been some eight years since the last solo album, "Yellowjacket" from Stephen Fearing, if you ignore his best of compilation, "The Man Who Married Music" released in 2009. It's the longest by a long shot that this normally highly prolific songwriter has had between solo albums, not that he's been slacking, nope definitely not. There's been albums with Blackie And The Rodeo Kings, Andy White and a duets album. Add to that a divorce, remarried and becoming a father, you can sort of give him some slack.

In fact that level of turmoil might go someway to explaining the songwriting strength of "Between Hurricanes". Not that this is an album that wallows in an emotional sea, well not that much anyway. I admit there were a couple of times when I found myself hoping that the next song would be one of his more observational numbers like "Cold Dawn" inspired by the real life events around a helicopter crash in Newfoundland.

I don't think the album has quite got that balance right. It's not that there's a bad track on the album, more that over the eleven tracks it can sometimes get a little too much, but if you were to ask me which song I'd cut, I couldn't pick one, more I think adding another song would make the album feel a little shorter, if you get where I'm coming from.

"Between Hurricanes" is actually a restful album, one that has a laid back feel, that sort of leaves a lingering contentment. It is an album that I'm happy to recommend, with that caveat. Stephen Fearing is over towards the end of the year, so hopefully a chance to catch him perform a number of these live.

Neil King