Search - Mother Earth :: You Have Been Watching

Can it be the Traffic revival is at hand? Remember them? Steve Winwood before he turned to utter crap? That slightly loose, tasty blend of songs, a little lyrical whimsy, and some great jamming? Paul Weller brought it back, and since then we've had more good Traffic albums under the Paper Sun than the band itself ever put out. Like this new one from Mother Earth. They've had that vibe before, but now it's vocalist/guitarist Matt Deighton doing his best soulful Stevie, and the rest of the band following him. Christ, from the sleeve pics they've even gone away to "get it together in the country, man." OK, taking the piss aside, this happens to be a top record. Nice slabs of sound, even if you keep expecting Weller (or Winwood) to make an appearance. Grand playing, and they actually sound like they're having fun. (Is that allowed nowadays? Have the rules changed and no one told me?) Look, if you like the reference points, you'll love this. --Chris Nickson