Chris Isaak - Mr Lucky

We’ve been here before, but there’s nothing wrong in that

He’s been a more frequent visitor to the set of his own TV sitcom than a recording studio of late, but on Isaak’s first album of new material in seven years it’s pretty much business as usual. The song’s polished pop craft and stylised quiver of his top range still please, even if there’s nothing fresh or groundbreaking to bring to the party.

Never one to shy away from the Orbison comparisons, the likes of Cheater’s Town and You Don’t Cry Like I Do, in terms of both execution and subject matter, touch as many Big O bases as anything in the Isaak catalogue. There’s a slightly more contemporary feel to the AOR sob story We Let Her Down and the country ballad duet Breaking Apart (with Trisha Yearwood) but, by and large, Chris relishes his role as a curator of bygone sounds.

We’ve Got Tomorrow is jaunty Sun rockabilly played through a shuffling John Fogerty filter, while Big Wide Wonderful World is magnificently bombastic jazz-blues pitched somewhere between Elvis Presley and Ray Charles. As it’s been throughout his musical career, Isaak comes across as the wannabe Wilbury who never got invited onto the bus but keeps strumming away at the station in eternal hope.

3 stars 3 stars 3 stars

Warners | RPRW 518008

Reviewed by Terry Staunton
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