Gaz Coombes – Turn The Car Around review

The soundtrack to a midlife crisis often makes for very awkward listening, so whilst Gaz Coombes will find it hard to shake off the music industry veteran tag, we should be glad at least that he’s content to write about facing up to the maze of difficult choices, guilt and angst that phase of being can throw up.

He could possibly have been forgiven for riding the wave of goodwill that the Supergrass reunion generated, but even though there was never the possibility of new material coming from that direction, Turn The Car Around marks a pronounced further shift away from the past.

Pleasingly there’s no shortage of ambition either, as the compact running order finds time to cover a number of bases, from the screaming desert rock of Feel Loop (Lizard Dream), through Not The Only Things’ spectral folk to closer Dance On’s strummed pomp. Just as fascinating are lyrics which deal with not just with fortifying long term relationships but also of weird dreams and embracing the outsiderdom which the singer acknowedges has made him what he is. Turn The Car Around is a record rooted in the present – and it’s walls are far from closing in.

You can read a full review here.