Kyle Falconer – Almost Pleasant (Riverman
Kyle Falconer - Almost Pleasant
Records)
Release Date: Out Now
This is the second collection of
covers from an established artist I’ve received recently (see Hafdis Huld
album) and it’s the second collection that’s hugely impressed me. Sometime
frontman of Scottish sensations the View, Kyle Falconer, is making a hell of a
name for himself as a solo artist but he’s taken time out to record this little
clutch of covers and it’s a delight. Kicking off with a cover of Tina Turner’s ‘What’s
Love Got To Do With It?’, Falconer settles in to a soulful groove which is like
a more youthful (and less creepy) Rod Stewart making a song his own. Next up is
‘Black Eyes, Blue Tears’ which I have to admit I had to look up (it’s by Shania
Twain) but is wonderfully laid back and countrified as you’d expect from a Twain
song.
Falconer’s powerful, gravelly vocals
give a completely fresh voice to the Fleetwood Mac classic ‘Go Your Own Way’
and, frankly, if they played this at my funeral, I’d be happy and there wouldn’t
be a dry eye in the house/crematorium/Viking burial hut (I’m still undecided on
that). Then, one for the Toy Story fans, ‘You Got Friend in Me’ gets an outing
with a disarmingly intimate vocal, sparse instrumentation but I suspect the
junior Falconer’s love hearing their daddy sing this one. The EP closes out
with ‘Four Seasons in One Day’ which takes on a slightly more dark and menacing
tone but there’s still real heart and soul here. Not many would take on Crowded
House, Tina Turner, Shania Twain, Fleetwood Mac and Randy Newman in one EP but
Falconer is clearly a man enjoying making music and we should all be able to
enjoy that.
More information: https://www.facebook.com/KyleFrancisFalc/
Live Dates:
2nd May – The Live Rooms, Chester
3rd May – Fibbers, York
4th May – The Old Fire Station, Carlisle
5th May – The Crauford Arms, Milton Keynes
6th May – Patterns, Brighton
7th May – Arts Centre, Norwich
8th May – The Leopard, Doncaster
9th May – The Yorkshire Taps, Lancaster
10th May – Sin City, Swansea
11th May – Redrum, Stafford
12th May – The Parish, Huddersfield
29th May – The Lemon Tree, Aberdeen
30th May – Fat Sam’s, Dundee
31st May – Liquid Room, Edinburgh
1st June – The Tolbooth, Stirling