NICK MEARS - ALBUM REVIEW

Nick Mears – Life’s Golden Era 
Nick Mears - Life's Golden Era


Release Date: Out Now

If you give this debut album from Nick Mears a listen (which you can, free Soundcloud stream link below) then you won’t really need me to tell you that this is the work of someone residing in Cornwall. The chilled acoustic riffs and Reggae undertones are perfectly suited for the laid-back beach culture that prevails in the Duchy (not to be passed on the left-hand side). The 9-track collection that forms ‘Life’s Golden Era’ opens up with a mood-setting ‘Take It Slow’ which has a gentle Reggae strum and Mears’ trademark laid-back vocal – think Jack Johnson’s younger English cousin and you’re in the right ball park. ‘Never Comin’ Down’ has a livelier tempo and speaks to that side of you that has wanderlust but also fully appreciates that feeling of belonging that rushes in when you wake up in your own bed for the first time in ages.

On ‘Pale Blue California’ Mears hits his stride as more than just an acoustic strummer as a full band backs him in his Red Hot Chili Peppers inspired endeavour wit louche guitars and the kind of drumming that can pretty much only ever come from a topless drummer with a backwards baseball cap on. ‘Hometown Blues’ shows off a more Blues tinged side to it as you might expect from the title while ‘Freedom’ has the sound of an acoustic outing from the Goo-Goo Dolls or Pearl Jam with that US rock vibe flowing throughout. There’s a standout album moment on ‘Dance in The Rain’ that could easily be featured in a Hollywood Rom-Com and is perfect for a million wedding first dances for those couples that fancy themselves as slightly to the left of the norms of society.

The delicate acoustic picking of ‘1973’ is perfect for a late-night session with a bottle of red and some curious smoky scent in the air but as Mears explores that common fantasy of being alive in a better, freer time that held more wonder and fewer selfies. ‘The Fly High Club’ is slow but steady acoustic strum that builds to a moody crescendo reminiscent of the likes of Cream or Joe Cocker. This debut offering finishes up on ‘Up To No Good’ which has a swagger about it that is indicative of someone who surely enjoys walking down on to the beach as the sun starts to tickles the waves of a morning – despite its political undertones and sense of dissatisfaction with the world. This style won’t suit everyone but if you’ve ever watched a sunrise over a beach or surfed or even just slept out under the stars in the south-west of England or the west-coast of the US then there is part of you that will fall in love with this.



Live Dates:

21st April – Inn on the Shore, Downderry (FREE ENTRY)
23rd April – The Stable, Newquay
1st May – Smugglers Pie & Ale Festival, Newquay
25th May – The Stable, Falmouth
28th May – The Tywarnhayle Inn, Perranporth
9th June – Inn on the Shore, Downderry (FREE ENTRY)
16th June – The Tywarnhayle Inn, Perranporth
7th July – Rick Stein’s, Newquay
9th July – The Tywarnhayle Inn, Perranporth
28th July – The Old Success, Sennen Cove
4th August – The Old Success, Sennen Cove
5th August – Farmers Arms, Saint Merryn
18th August – Inn on the Shore, Downderry (FREE ENTRY)
25th August – The Old Success, Sennen Cove
26th August – Cornwall Folk Festival, Wadebridge
17th September – Sandbar, Penzance
24th September – Rod & Line, Saltash

6th October – Sandbar, Penzance

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