Michael Messer - Second Mind Album Review

Michael Messer
Second Mind
Album Review

Michael Messer is, according to his official website 'possibly the most important blues man in Britain'. Now this surprises me, on first listen I thought he was American.
As with most blues singers he possess the trademark vocal Yankee twang and has at least three songs on the album with the word 'blues' in the title. His website also describes him as being innovative, creating his own fresh sound, and taking inspiration from a century of blues artists from U.S Delta country through to Stevie Ray Vaughn and Clapton.

His inspirations I can hear clearly enough, it is the fresh sound that I am having a little more trouble finding. Any blues singer to me who's lyrics begin with 'I woke up this morning..' are already falling on tired clichés. He does however have a more varied style than most blues albums I've come across, and interestingly has a DJ in his band whom slips in the odd sample and wika-wika noise when he scratches.

Messer's slide guitar led tracks swing from finger snapping Stevie Ray Vaughn sounding numbers, to vaguely smarmy saxophone embellished tracks (his voice often sounding very reminiscent of Clapton on these) then to tracks that sound as though they have been influenced by old blues gospel singers like Blind Willie Johnson. There's even a song that sounds a little like a discarded early Rolling Stones song that's not particularly interesting. On one track Messer sings in an almost Waits-ish growl while accompanying him self on slide guitar. It somehow manages to make me feel quite queasy, as unlike Waits his lyrics are sloppy and melody very standard and almost cheesy.

Perhaps I'm not the biggest slide guitar fan, or perhaps I just feel that there's very little that is 'innovative' about this album, and its lyrics and cord progressions are hackneyed. Sure, you can tap your foot to it, and Messer manages to incorporate some interesting instruments, such as the accordion, into his songs. A modern day blues fan who likes fret-wanking shenanigans, or perhaps just wants something to get them bopping around the room before a night out or a (strange) love-making session, may well love this. But if I'm honest, it bored me, and it's not different enough for me to listen to it over any of the older blues albums that I put on if I'm in that type of mood.

Bella