Nine Lives
CDN$ 14.11
- I m Not Drowning
- Fly
- Raging Sea
- Dirty City
- We re All Looking
- Hungry Man
- Secrets
- At Times We Do Forget
- Other Shore
Beautiful and soulful. A must buy! - Steve Winwood, a hugely accomplished musician and one of the most respected and innovative performers of his generation, has had a most successful solo career for over a quarter century, beginning in 1981 with Arc of A Diver through 2003 s About Time. Yet no album has so accurately reflected his versatile talents or vividly echoed the pinnacles of his past as Nine Lives. In his eagerly anticipated new album, NINE LIVES, backed by his incredible band, he demonstrates his ability to create an era-bridging soundtrack of distinctive artistry. 2008 will be a busy year on the road for the Steve and band: in fact he has confirmed he will be joining Tom Petty for a three month run of shows in the US this summer. The new single Dirty City features a guest appearance by long-time friend, Eric Clapton. Like its 2003 predecessor, Nine Lives is built around simple, evocative borrowings from the structures of blues, soul and Latin music: gently rocking stuff you can sit on. There are plenty of things to be irritated by, from soupy soprano sax fills to Winwood s waffly-epic lyric style, but an equal number of ways to be rocked gently to your soul. This well crafted and heartfelt album is a fresh and invigorating rediscovery of Winwood s roots and his personal style. This is pop music with soul, with grit and the grains of revealed truth pouring from Winwood s mouth, not as a survivor but as a man who has seen enough of life to know that the sun really does rise in the morning. Nine Lives is deeper, heartier, and braver lyrically than anything he s ever done. Musically, its only rival is About Time, but it s more reflective and gentler, without giving up any of the hunger which that album evidenced. This is not a comeback, it s instead a rediscovery from one of our most gifted singers, songwriters, and truth-tellers.Thom Jurek My favourite tracks are: Dirty City, At Times We Forget and Fly. I like it.