MIKE SCOTT
STILL BURNING
(Chrysalis)

HAVING belatedly embarked on a solo career with an acoustic folk album—Bring ‘Em All In, released in 1995— Mike Scott has now re-emerged as a born again rock'n'roller on the magnificent follow-up, Still Burning.

As always there is a lovely lilt of indeterminate Celtic origin in his voice, and a poetic thrust to his words. But now there is also a new backing band, built around the formidable rhythm section of Jim Keltner (drums) and Pino Paladino (bass), who inject a tremendous swagger into songs such as Rare, Precious and Gone and the recent single, Love Anyway. “Let's walk through the jungle/Put your arm in my arm/And should this ground start to crumble/We'll come to no harm,” Scott sings in the stunning opener, Questions, to which the Memphis Horns lend an added punch.

Many of the songs are further beefed up by the harmony vocals of lan McNabb, whose celebrated 1994 album, Head Like a Rock, this record in some ways resembles. Both albums share a spiritual bond with Neil Young, McNabb's having featured Young's backing group, Crazy Horse, and Scott's having been co-produced by Niko Bolas, well-known for his association with Young. And, like Young's best work, Still Burning is an album that brings fresh wit and tremendous energy to music steeped in the traditional verities of rock’n’roll.