Thompson's 1994 follow-up to his classic folk-rock LP Rumor And Sigh sees RT dropping back into less acerbic mood, substituting (albeit beautifully, and, in fair measure, bombastically,) some of the more vicious themes of Rumor And Sigh with more standard English folk chestnuts - love, loss, rural innocence, countrified odes and green fields are all included here in abundance, but Thompson still finds time to weave his dexterous harmonic tapestry over less traditional subjects, even managing to toss in a cheeky sideswipe at McDonalds, and a baroque soliloquie dedicated to a classic car, sounding as though it could be plucked straight out of the 14th century!

The slow pace of much of the writing and lack of any great Thompson standards may, however, spoil the enjoyment of this highly accomplished work to all but the most ardent fan; "I Can't Wake Up To Save My Life", a marvellous tongue-in-cheek relationship analogy involving nightmares, sounds like (almost) classic Thompson, but needs an injection of the great energy and captivating influence he can cast so easily upon a live audience to rise above the merely average. At least three or four of the album's earlier songs are solid but instantly forgettable, and it isn't until we come to the beautiful folk ballad "Beeswing", the highly amusing and life-affirming "Fast Food" (which tosses aside the normal Thompson trademarks in favour of mechanical noises, scratchy riffing and a hugely rousing and catchy chorus line), "Mascara Tears", and the wonderfully melodic and pitiful "Taking My Business Elsewhere", an acoustic "song-for-the-stood-up", which evokes pathos-drenched images of dirty, rainy streets, sad and lonely people shuffling moistly by, and a lone harmonica player lighting up under a shop awning. Just the sort of situation in which one could imagine Thompson being a little too cynically at home, in fact, as we return to the more folk-based work of some of his previous releases.

Richard Thompson remains one of the great, almost unknown, innovators of British music, however, and the craftsmanship of this album is undoubtable, even if it doesn't quite get the toes tapping to quite the extent some of his previous music might have done; but, ahhhhh, stuff it, because "Fast Food" is a marvellous number, the album hangs together as a fine modern folk-rock LP, it made me laugh and, errm, the sleeve is beautifully designed........

Yes, as you can see, I'm running out of things to say about "Mirror Blue". Why don't you go out and buy it and see what you think? You can always use it as a coaster or a paperweight or something if you don't like it......

Recommended.



Recommended: Yes