Reviewed by Ian Phillips.
By Rag ‘n’ Bone Man, Sony Music 2021.
It’s been some time since we’ve heard from the Rag ‘n’ Bone Man but he’s back with a new album, Life By Misadventure, which is slated for release in April and All you Ever Wanted is the first single.
Rory Charles Graham, aka Rag ‘n’ Bone Man, burst onto the scene in 2016 with the world-wide hit single, Human, and followed that up with his debut album of the same name in 2017.
The response to both the single and album was phenomenal with the single reaching the top 10 in most countries and hitting number one in Austria, Belgium, Germany and Switzerland.
The album went on to win the BBC Album of The Year and in the process achieved two Brit Awards and two Echo Awards, with the single picking up another Brit Award and a slew of other awards and nominations.
It’s hard to follow up this sort of success and it’s taken him three years to do so.
One thing is certain, there’s going to be comparisons between Human and Life By Misadventure.
If All You Ever Wanted is anything to go by the wait for the new album will be worth it.
Although the song doesn’t have the same instant appeal that Human had it is still a really good song.
Rag ‘n’ Bone Man has moved away from the heavily blues influenced approach on the previous album to embrace a classic rock feel for All You Ever Wanted and the new album.
He said that he’s approached the whole project with a “renewed sense of purpose… having given the songs enough time to breathe on their own.”
It was a new way of working for Rory who usually wrote and recorded his songs quickly.
The album was recorded in Nashville in 2019 before the pandemic and apparently the producer Mike Elizondo, who produced Eminem, 50 Cent, Alanis Morissette and others, set out to record it as a live album, our to at least sound like one, and All You Ever Wanted certainly has a live feel.
One thing has stayed consistent and that is the use of song for social commentary.
All You Ever Wanted is about Brighton and London and his response to the renewal that been occurring. He said, “I feel sad that all the cool places I loved aren’t there anymore.”
