Al Stewart - Sparks Of Ancient Light

Veteran singer-songwriter heads back to the library

A wine connoisseur with an award-winning cellar, Stewart once parlayed his passion into a typically esoteric album, 2000’s delightfully off-the-wall Down In The Cellar. Returning to a more familiar vintage, Sparks Of Ancient Light sees him – not for the first time – leafing through the history books for inspiration.

The jaunty chamber pop of opener Lord Salisbury concerns itself with the Victorian-era Prime Minister while also name-checking Oscar Wilde. Hanno The Navigator celebrates the voyages of a 450 BC Carthaginian explorer, and the folky Like William McKinley alludes to the 19th Century US President’s imperialist agenda. Clearly, this is a lyricist for whom “dance/chance/romance” just doesn’t cut it.

Musically, Stewart remains on cautious ground, his melodies and chord structures never veering too far from standard folk-pop templates, but he’s a constantly surprising and considered wordsmith fully at ease spinning yarns about people, politics or pinot.

3 stars 3 stars 3 stars

EMI | 234 8702

Reviewed by Terry Staunton
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