Michael Head and The Red Elastic Band – Loophole review

Not many a musician’s autobiographies come with its own soundtrack, but as the saying goes, Mick Head isn’t many musicians. The Liverpudlian’s struggles with both life and fate will definitely make for an unputdownable read, the latest chapters in a career renaissance that’s arrived following a lengthy period of relative sobriety.

Nobody’s here to preach of course, and it’s true that 1997’s The Magical World Of The Strands was recorded whilst the singer was in the grip of heroin addiction, the irony being that the end result was one of the decade’s most criminally overlooked albums, topping anything the Gallaghers or Albarns produced at that time, or, more truthfully, ever.

Loophole follows in quick-ish succession from Dear Scott, itself a high watermark that reconfirmed a talent for writing songs about characters abounding with warmth and empathy. A master raconteur, Head carries his well-worn tales with a natural gift, flitting from acoustic rock to jazz to the hazy psychedelic folk of past lives and all points in between. Peaking with opener Shirl’s Ghost, The Human Race, Ricochet and wonderfully uplifting finale Coda, if some of the other material isn’t quite as consistent as its outstanding predecessor, it’s an easy enough quibble to forgive. In word or sound, Head is never less than fascinating.

You can read a full review here.