Writing about current events without coming off cliché, preachy or cynical is a tricky business. During the struggle for civil rights and the protests against Vietnam, the adaptability of the folk genre to political statement came about naturally as masses of young people organized protests and sang songs by the songwriters who voiced their discontent. This topical song movement died fifty years ago. Those who, in the sixties, took to the streets now inhabit the virtual world of social media, sending out their message by way of a photo, tweet or status change. The songwriter with something to say is now forced to outwit the restraints of political correctness and pop culture to be heard above the noise. Cameron Blake’s latest offering, Alone On The World Stage accepts the challenge and succeeds with empathy, intelligence and poetic power...

Cameron Blake's Alone on the World Stage contains 12 songs (49 min, 08 sec). The subject mater and style is varied from track to track, as are Blake's vocals. On a first listen through you'd be forgiven for thinking this was a various artists folk collection.

Tracks of note include the country-esque 'North Dakota Oil'; 'Piccadilly Circus' and 'Kabuki Theatre', which brought to mind the spirit of Lou Reed and John Cale's Songs for Drella (1990); 'Home Movie', a rather sad, but poetic track that will bring to mind anyone whose parents/grandparents used to show home movies on a projector; and 'Welfare Street' a memorable song about the traps of living on welfare.

It's an impressive album and one that gets better the more times you listen to it. This is an album you'll be listening to for years to come.

9

Nick Smithson