One of my favourite singer, songwriters over the last few years has done it again, Greg Hancock who hails from the south west of England has released another masterpiece, Following on from his acclaimed album ' A303 ' Greg has come up with another gem, his sound is unique, there is a lushness to it, it's warm and inviting and the hallmark vocals are distinctly Greg Hancock.
This album is moving, powerful, funny in places, it's packed full of fabulous musicianship and arrangements throughout, I feel I know the places and themes Greg writes about, how can that be so ? I've never been to that part of the world, yet I do recognize me in stories that he's telling, that's genius right there.
What I normally do when writing reviews is highlight tracks that I'd recommend that are worth closer scrutiny, however, with ' The State Of My Hair ' I'm throwing that out of the window, this is a fabulous release from start to finish, and should be listened to in it's entirety, I am finding it just too hard to single out specific tracks, they are all that good. The placing of tracks on an album is an art form in itself, and Greg really has done his homework with this album on that front, you really are on a journey of many discoveries. Instrumentation is extremely noteworthy on this record too, Greg's guitar playing is sublime as I expected it to be, in addition there is cello, fiddle, keyboards and brass which really add a wonderful atmospheric feel.
The passing of time, memories of old haunts, old friends and personal reflections of character and life are the underlying themes throughout, I caught myself thinking about my own life as I listened to the lyrics which are cleverly deep in places, that's what makes not just a good songwriter, but a brilliant one, the ability to make you think, question and process.
This truly is a wonderful collection of songs that I can honestly say you'd be hard pushed to find on any single album release, packaged and delivered as only Greg Hancock can. A master guitarist, exquisite songwriter and beautiful arranger of music, this is one album I will never get tired of listening to cementing what I already knew, Greg Hancock is one of the finest songwriters in the UK and should be heard by as many music lovers as possible, spread the word folks he's coming to a venue near you as he set's out on his launch tour.
Visit Greg Hancock's website http://www.greghancockmusic.com/