Fish Records - ROBERT EARL KEEN - WHAT I REALLY MEAN

Full Review

Robert Earl Keen – What I Really Mean

Robert Earl Keen is one of the best ‘cinematic’ songwriters around, his character descriptions and vivid backdrops make his songs both dramatic and memorable, and while his recent output has been a little patchy, ‘What I Really Mean’ is consistently excellent and easily as good as anything he’s produced over his previous 8 studio albums.

As ever, his songs are mainly convincing reflections of real life, punctuated by the odd surreal track, and nowhere is this better illustrated than on the second and third songs, ‘Mr Wolf and Mamabear’ starts as an old fairytale but quickly turns into a dark and twisted story, and this is followed by the title track, a beautiful and evocative lament of a touring musician missing his wife.

Keen’s vocals are easily the best of his career, his voice is warmer and more controlled than before and this really adds an extra depth to his excellent songs. As ever there is a good variety of styles and instrumentation, acoustic and electric guitars dominate and are backed up by slide, mandolin, banjo and percussion.

‘What I Really Mean’ is one of the best and most accessible Texan singer/songwriter albums around – great songs are backed up by excellent vocals and playing throughout. It’s his best album in years and a disc not to be missed. Highly recommended.