COUNTRY BLUES

Comparisons to the gravelly, tortured hymns of Micah P Hinson and latter-day Springsteen are upheld in the Scottish singer-songwriter’s second low-key release, Campbell’s breed of Americana delivering such poetry combined with a genuine, visceral ambience that forgives a certain prairie twang.

The music is really quite lovely, if chilling, and communicates a loneliness as true of the tower block as the ranch, with 14 songs each possessing the power to halt any listener unwittingly in their tracks and leave them staring pensively into the middle distance. Thus the overall impression is one of genuine talent and unrushed accomplishment.