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With eleven previous albums to boot, it is painfully clear in the new documentary ‘Love Shines’ (available on BBC i-player until Friday) that Sexsmith is frustrated and disenchanted by their steadfast refusal to achieve commercial success. It seems though, that with the wishfully entitled Long Player Late Bloomer, he has pulled out all the stops and made his biggest push yet to deliver an album to catapult him into the stardom that everyone in the industry bar himself seems to think he deserves.
It may come as a surprise that the man behind the desk for Late Bloomer was none other than Bob Rock, one of rock production’s gospel writers; lending his hand in the past to monoliths including Metallica’s Black Album and Bon Jovi’s Slippery When Wet, and more recently artists including Lostprophets and The Offspring. A mellow, introverted and decidedly uncharismatic singer-songwriter might not quite fit his track record, but evidence suggests that the Canadian crooner is far from beyond the realm of Rock’s talent.
Polished banks of piano, slide guitar and twangy Fender tones certainly give record number twelve a fuller and more commercial sound than many of its predecessors, comparable to a number of modern country-pop productions. But it is what comes out of Sexsmith’s windpipe, more at home in the decade of his birth than 2011, which gives Late Bloomer its distinctive sound. It’s probably also that that will make or break it for you. If Cliff Richard pushes your buttons, then this album is likely to be a ray of sunshine not to be sniffed at. If the Botoxed living doll himself isn’t quite your mistletoe or wine, then Sexsmith might not want to be your first port of call next time you’re in a record shop.
Having said that, I would imagine it pretty hard to form a hatred of Late Bloomer, with its thirteen slices of mid-tempo, harmless melodies, and sometimes inspirational, sometimes tortured lyrics (if nothing else, the very Al Murray cover photo should bring a smile to your face). It might not be the most exciting LP to have come out this year to date, but rest assured it will have a considerably longer shelf-life than some.
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