Album review: Paul Casey, The Long Road Back

Derry songwriter-musician-videomaker Paul Casey is another musician upping our expectations of future albums by creating a video for each of the tracks on The Long Road Back, an album essentially comprised of love songs with such conviction that should see him make further inroads into the UK and European markets during the coming Summer.

The opener ‘St Jeannet’ celebrates Casey’s second home in a coastal village in France with seductive guitar figures and a Gauloises-tinged melody allied to his own vocal warmth and a female chorus. 'Peace Bridge' is a collaboration written with UK rocklegend and Casey's longtime compadre Chris Rea. It has a Pogues-lite intro for a provocative song based on two guys from opposing sides meeting on a bridge. It carries a message of peace that reaches across all divides. ‘In The Arms Of My Love' features tasteful vocal harmonies with Alexander Korukovetz’s accordion sweeping it off its feet. ‘Who We Are’ is another response to turmoil for which Casey revs up his guitar for a speedy romp that reflects the urgency of our predicament, and while there’s a pleasant compactness to most of the songs, Casey takes the opportunity on ‘The Long Nights of Summer’ to stretch out a cinematic Knopfleresque track on which you can virtually taste the heat of longing.

Inspiration for Casey’s video-album goes back to 2020 when Casey delivered his take on Van Morrison’s ‘In The Days Before Rock’n’Roll’ for Hot Press’ Rave On, Van Morrison! project through which Casey celebrated the power of music and radio. With such top musicians as Liam Bradley on drums and John McCullough on keyboards, his new album’s general warmth and tenderness serves as an antidote to the hate- fuelled mood of the world as we see it today. This is a cool thing in which to luxuriate in, both sonically and visually.