Grant-Lee Phillips

Lightning, Show Us Your Stuff YEP ROC

Tenth solo album shows singer-songwriter maturing to fine vintage.

At 56, Grant-Lee Phillips isn’t exactly Father Of The Rock House, but it’s an age at which a person might well feel the passing of time. And the reflective, autumnal hues of Lightning certainly reflect this. Ain’t Done Yet is defiant-ish but subtly weathered by a feeling of age, padding along at the pace of an old dog. What’s great about this album is that it conveys a feeling of lethargy, tiredness, the onset of old age, while never sounding tired, lethargic or clapped out. The musicians assist ably, including bassist Jennifer Condos, Eric Haywood on pedal-steel, and

Danny T Levin adding sepia tints with euphonium, trombonium and coronet. The low brass, acoustic swish and enervated country drone of tracks like Leave A Light On offer a sublime whisky comfort in the face of forces beyond our control. ■■■■■■■■■■