Ian McNabb - Great Things

Long-serving maverick on top pop form

Were you to casually isolate McNabb’s career highs by decade, it might read something like this: fleeting fame with The Icicle Works in the 80s, Mercury Prize shortlist glory with a Crazy Horse collaboration in the 90s, surprise Top 40 hit (Let The Young Girl Do What She Wants) in the 00s.

He may well have a headstart on success for the 2010s, as Great Things is undoubtedly his most accomplished and accessible work since 1994’s Mercury-nominated Head Like A Rock. Recorded on a budget that makes shoestrings seem like luxuries, it’s nonetheless a polished and expertly-played distillation of the music that’s fired McNabb’s imagination over the last 40-odd years.

All About A Woman kicks off with ELO strings before settling into a vampiric industrial groove, This Love is the kind of acoustic ballad Macca can only dream about these days, and the chiming vintage teen pop of Pinin’ includes a lyrical reference to McNabb’s beloved Beach Boys. Tongue is firmly in cheek on the mocking closer I Can’t Help It If I’m Great, but sometimes words uttered in jest turn out to be undeniably true.

4 stars 4 stars 4 stars 4 stars

Fairfeild | FAIRCD 009

Reviewed by Terry Staunton
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