The title track from Brian’s previous album ‘King of Echo Park’ is a beautifully tender song about the joys and fears of parenthood; it’s an excellent track that gets the message across without being sickly sweet. ‘If I Never Sleep Again’ takes this theme and expands it out to fill the whole album, all 11 songs are related to the experience of being a parent but rather than being over emotional and sugary, the lyrics are a perfect mix of intelligence, humour and serious emotion.
While the focus may be on the words, it’s not at the expense of the songs as this is an album full of excellent musicians and strong performances. Brian is a first-rate guitarist and his acoustic work is detailed, rhythmic and delicate throughout; the backing vocals from Melanie Hersch blend effortlessly with Brian’s and there’s a wide range of instrumental support including piano, dobro, accordion and violin.
There are many memorable songs here, but the standouts include ‘140x’ a track where a parent to be tries to think through what may happen in the years to come; Ellis Paul’s (as yet unrecorded) ‘9 Months to Fix the World’; and ‘Baby Looks Good on You’ possibly the best love song to a pregnant wife you’ll ever hear!.
This is a strikingly honest album; it has no pretension or affectations and it’s this humility that makes it the disarming and accessible disc it is. While it’s obviously going to strike more of a chord with parents, it’s a musically and lyrically sophisticated singer/songwriter disc.

£13.49 (signed copies)