:: The Proclaimers - Restless Soul

The Proclaimers

I have a confession to make. I was a huge fan of The Proclaimers as a young child in the nineties. I’ll never forget singing along at the school disco to “I’m Gonna Be (500 miles)” and “Misery to Happiness”, so it was a nice surprise to be given this album to review. The Reid brothers, Craig and Charlie have just completed their sixth studio album with producers Mark Wallis and David Ruffy and it seems their melodic voices have not changed one bit. The brothers are still able to pull out a good power pop song and mix it up with more bluesy inspired moments. “That’s Better Now” provides a nice lullaby-like ballad which is my pick of the tracks. Clocking in at fourteen tracks and just under the fifty minute as the press release says, the album offers “uncommon honesty and depth.” Whilst uncommon honesty and depth may not be prevalent in many places nowadays maybe it is with the experience and hindsight that the brothers can offer songs containing such personal introspection. Early 2006 will see the artists return to Australia and, until then, I have the new album and my old memories to reflect on.