ACCORDING to some reviewers, Richard Thompson says he has just invented folk-funk. That sounds like a Thompson tease, the sort of playfulness that belies the sometimes gloomy songs.
Whatever, this master guitarist ‘amps’ things up, especially on the opener Stony Ground, which rocks loudly to a folk beat, or Sally B (with its sardonic chorus and blistering fretwork) and the organ-led romp of Straight And Narrow. Another Small Thing In Her Favour is a beautiful yet spiked break-up song, delivered with heartbreaking wit, while Good Things Happen To Bad People is another wry ballad. Saving The Good Stuff For You is a confident step into country territory.
Thompson is always a great entertainer, especially live, and can hold an audience all by himself. But it is uplifting, live and on record, to hear him rock things up with a band, especially on an album blissfully free of production clutter, courtesy of Buddy Miller, which is not always the case with this king Richard.
• Richard Thompson plays Leeds Irish Centre on March 4
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