Tom Jenkins - It Comes In The Morning, It 
Hangs In The Evening Sky (Xtra Mile Recordings)
Release Date: Out Now
I don't know about you but I am dragging myself to the end of 2022 and I have lost the will to blog much more but I wanted to use the last vestiges of my energy to let you know about the new album from Tom Jenkins. 'It Comes In The Morning, It Hangs In The Evening Sky' is a mouthful of an album title but just wait until you delve in to this beauty to sample its tasty morsels. The album opens with 'In It Together', a song full of grief, anger and passion in the stomping rhythms and furiously strummed guitars that bring Frank Turner at his most melodic to mind. Former single 'Back Roads' is still a slice of small town beauty full of sunshine, memories and first loves while the album title track is an almost choir-like, semi-religious experience played out in the style of Jeff Buckley.
'2086' is the first of three year-specific songs on the album which opens with the line "the year is now 2086 and half the world is now gay" which catches your attention when juxtaposed with the gentle acoustic strum. 'Cocaine Hearts' is the the pumped up romp that the title suggest were this song to have come out of Camden in the 90s but is instead a Sigur Ros-esque slow build of a song to soundtrack the slow meander of rain drops down your window. There is, however, a more uptempo energy on 'Magic Mushroom Island' which swaggers with confidence before 'Be There For You' brings a countrified Kings of Leon sound to proceedings. 'Under The Sun', another former single, is the stand-out anthem from the album and should, by rights, be an absolute festival favourite by this time next year with crowds singing "under the sun we've got nothing to lose, under the sun we've got one life to choose" back at Jenkins with faces turned to the sky.
'2020' is heartbreaking song about long goodbyes with someone you don't want to ever say goodbye to but the more I listen to this one the more I fill with grief for so many loved ones so I'm moving on to the next track. Fortunately, the beauty of 'If I Can't Love You' is both magical and soothing as the guitars ripple and intermingle with the energy of water over smooth pebbles on a crisp autumn morning. Triumphantly, there's a Bruce Springsteen vibe to 'Products of the Western World' with organ slathered over the tub-thumping drums for maximum value. The closing track '2066 (Write It On My Grave)' completes the trio of year-themed songs with a lo-fi and folksy vibe that is the perfect way to settle in to the end of the year. Yet another huge songwriting and performing talent from Wales and one that we'll be hearing a lot more of I'm sure.
More information: https://www.facebook.com/tomjenkinsmusic1
Live Dates:
DECEMBER8 - Gorilla, Manchester*9 - University, Newcastle*10 - Thekla, Bristol*14 - Y Theatre, Leicester15 - KK’s Steel Mill, Wolverhampton*16 - Stylus, Leeds**supporting Skinny Lister