Robben Ford

Purple House EARMUSIC A Ford album on which guitar doesn’t take centre stage.

With an emphasis on songwriting, and the production talents of Casey Wasner, this album from veteran American blues, jazz and rock guitarist Ford brilliantly combines southern drawl, just enough distortion and the recognisable Ford guitar solos we all love him for.

Scene-setter Tangle With Ya is heavier than expected, whereas Empty Handed is sultry, rich in acoustic twang and southern imagery (‘West Virginia bound, I never heard the sound of her frustration’). Shemekia

Copeland provides guest vocals on Break In the Chain, and it’s a shame she didn’t have a more substantial song on which to showcase her evident talent. Wild Honey is reminiscent of our short-lived, World-Cupheatwave portion of the summer (‘Raise up my window, feel the beautiful breeze’). Travis McCready’s vocals on Somebody’s Fool ease the mood into full-on blues-rock territory, while Drew Smithers’s solo in Willing To Wait sounds distant, as if recorded among the rock formations of Monument Valley.