Andy White has never been short of a few words. Before he ever picked up a guitar in anger, the Belfast native was a performance poet, his writing backed by a Roland drum machine. The 61-year-old has, by his own admission, always tried to cram as many words as possible into his songs.

This debut spoken word album sees White going back to his roots, becoming arguably Belfast’s oldest MC in the process, from his adopted home of Melbourne, Australia. When it works, it’s brilliant.

Opening track and state-of-the-nation address, ‘The Revolution’ is a nod to Gil Scott-Heron’s 1971 classic, ‘The Revolution Will Not Be Televised’, White’s Belfast brogue waxing subversive over a funky guitar backdrop.

The jazzy ‘Ghost Writer’ provides a fitting musical foundation for White’s drawl, while the military tattoo of ‘Book Of Poems’ works incredibly. Meanwhile, the slow groove of the title-track allows White to sing properly for the only time on the album, serving as a reminder of what we’re missing.

Less impressive are ‘Password Of The Beast’ and ‘The Day You Were Bomb’, where the backbeats are a little too repetitive to allow White’s verbosity to shine, while ‘Best Of Times’ and ‘Cake Yo Me’ sound more like promising home demos than finished product.

I can’t help feeling that had White made a more conventional album, with a few of these spoken word gems thrown in, it would have made an easier listen, as occasionally it all gets a little too wordy and overwhelming.

7/10